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Photography and Social Media for Businesses: Why are they so important?

Imagine for a moment that you are meeting someone new. Straight away, you make first impressions. First impressions are formulated from many factors, such as the tone of voice used, or the feelings conveyed while talking. Your mind starts evaluating if the discussion with this person is beneficial and worthwhile.

Visiting a company's social media account for the first time is like meeting someone face-to-face. First impressions still exist when someone clicks onto a social media feed for the first time, and usually, the first thing they see is imagery. The images that a brand uploads on their social media is a digital representation of their organisational persona, and plays a part in whether or not someone clicks away from their profile. More often than not, companies are putting themselves at a loss by not understanding the need for fresh and high-quality visual content.

Visually Engage your Audience

In today's climate, social media is integral to a company's success. However, a typical challenge for businesses and their social media is the inability to create lasting engagement with their audience. When using social media, do you find yourself scrolling through and filtering out posts that aren't relevant to you? As a business, how do you ensure that your audience isn't scrolling past your posts?

High-quality photographs are a great way to communicate your brand and message to your audience visually. Not only are high-quality pictures great to look at, but they will also have a lasting impact in the minds of your audience. By posting photos, people passively form relationships with your business and what's on offer.

If you post an appealing photograph, people will be drawn to your business and envision themselves a part of it.  For example, if you own a smoothie bar, a great way to start would be uploading a glowing image of one of your fan-favourite items and drawing attention visually to its key aspects. By paying attention to detail and creating a sense of appeal within your pictures, your audiences will find themselves soon imagining that smoothie in front of them.

Increase your Reachability and Share-ability

How many times have you seen a funny photo online and saved it to share with your friends and family? If you create a business headshot photography image that people want to show to their peers, you automatically create a ripple effect of reaching more people. By putting thought into your visual presence online, you begin to reach a wider audience through shares alone.

Create Content that Lasts



If you're concerned about the resources required to produce high-quality images, consider repurposing them for future use for your company. Consider the photographs you take and upload as an investment for your business, and identify ways you can reuse them in the future. Reusing the pictures you take doesn't mean posting the same images every week, but carefully thinking about when they will be most relevant to your business next.

A simple method to plan when and how to repurpose your images is to create a calendar of your upcoming social media posts. By using a social media calendar, you can look at a time frame quite broadly to assess any holidays that might be upcoming, as well as any essential dates for your business. Then, you can plan and schedule the reposting of your images. The content and context surrounding your reposted pictures don't necessarily have to be the same either, as long as it makes sense. This means that any photograph that can be repurposed within your company really is an investment. Win, win!

Maintain your Professionalism

By optimising the quality of the posts and images that your company uploads, you are passively creating a sense of professionalism within your business.

Think about it, if a social media account isn't up-keeping the standards of what they upload, it appears to the audience that they don't necessarily care about their presence. If you were a prospective client, what would draw you in more, a company with low-resolution images that posts on social media irregularly - or a social media account that is maintained and regularly posts quality content?

But How?

With all of this information in mind, how do you make the most of it to start producing and posting high-quality photographs? There are quite a few options, and it can get quite costly, so make sure the one you choose is right for your business needs.

You could temporarily hire a photographer to take the images that your company needs, however, it is essential to question how often your company will require new photographs? Having to hire a photographer regularly can get quite expensive and time-consuming very fast.

To get the most out of your resources, it's a good idea to learn how to photograph yourself. By undertaking a photography course, you're qualified to take the best photos yourself. Taking classes in photography will not only expand your skillset, but it solidifies you as an asset to your company.

In the grand scheme of an organisation, new and updated photographs are always necessary. By learning the tricks of the trade yourself, you don't have to worry about the cost and time it will take to hire someone else.

You only get one chance to make a first impression to your audience, but you get a multitude of opportunities to keep engaging your audience. Make it count, and make your company's photographs stand out by paying attention to content.
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