What do Apple, Nike, McDonald’s, and other successful big-name brands have in common? They all know the power of using the right images for marketing and capturing the attention and interest of their target market.
Studies show that people retain 55% more information if an image is included in the material. In turn, all digital marketing strategies now incorporate visual elements like photos, videos, or infographics to boost engagement and get the customers to follow through with the desired actions.
But it is not as simple as picking the best-looking images for business and calling it a day. The wrong choice can send your customers running to your competitors, while the right ones can generate more sales than you hoped.
So how does one know which marketing photos will hit the mark? This article will answer that question and give you a roadmap that can help you create eye-catching images for marketing campaigns.
Images for Marketing: Why Is Visual Content Powerful?
Would you buy a piece of clothing or a new gadget without knowing what it looks like? It’s the same for your target audience. There is no marketing without visual elements that help prospective customers form an idea of what the product looks like or the value it brings.
In the old days, people used illustrations or drawings and words that painted an attractive mental picture in the minds of their audience. Today, we use more sophisticated and advanced visuals to do the same.
Everything, from your logo and web design to the choice of pictures included in your content, helps you communicate your ideas effectively. Visual content like images and videos get more impressive click-through rates than text-based content. This rule applies whether your audience is individual consumers or other businesses. 95% of B2B customers will evaluate a company based on their visual content. All these underscore the effectiveness of images in marketing.
Besides, the right image helps you build a credible, convincing brand that people want to identify with. As you market your product, you want your customers or target audience to be able to recognize you and differentiate between you and your competitors.
The more skillful you are at choosing proper images for marketing, the more successful your efforts will be. These will boost your web rankings and lead generation.
Does Every Business Need Images for Marketing?
The short answer is yes. We live in a visual world, and marketing photos are key to developing the right bond and building a lasting relationship with your target audience. It is nearly impossible to think of a single marketing strategy that won’t benefit from adding a collection of creative images to the mix.
Whether you want to grow your business, expand your reach, improve your search rankings, or build better backlinks profiles, utilizing the right photos can give you faster and better results.
For example, if you use creative and unique photos in your marketing campaigns that go viral, other websites will want to link back to you. This will mean brand awareness, increased rankings, and higher web traffic.
Of course, hiring a photographer just to build links isn’t a solution for everyone. But the truth is that you might not even need it, as you can also buy high PR backlinks to boost your backlink profile.
Even if you choose this way, you will still need images, illustrations, and videos to promote your business.
How to Choose the Right Marketing Photos to Promote Your Business
It’s important to note that not all pictures are created equal. So in choosing your marketing photos, you want to be intentional about using the ones that send the right message about your brand. Here are a few things to consider.
#1 Relevant Quality Pictures
This one is obvious but is worth mentioning. You must emphasize the need for quality when talking about images for business. How else can you make that lasting first impression that convinces your audience that you are credible and can be trusted?
Low-quality marketing photos do the opposite. They serve as a business repellant and signal that you are shoddy at best or illegitimate at worst.
For business owners and influencers hoping to expand their Instagram reach and boost their SEO rankings, the first step is ensuring they use only high-quality, relevant images that inspire trust and attract attention.
A clear, tasteful, professional shot can do more than anything to boost your views on social media channels. The more visually appealing your content is, the likelier your audience is to share it.
When more people engage with your images, it can improve your SEO rankings and generate more leads as a result.
#2 Highlight Your Product Features and Values to People
Marketing is getting more competitive than it used to be. Plus, people are now less tolerant of fake shiny personalities or products that are constantly shoved in their faces.
So how do you stand out from the crowd and convince your target audience that you are the real deal? The secret is to show them rather than tell them. Choose marketing photos that show real people using your product.
Doing this makes it easy for your viewers or customers to connect better with your business. Besides, these kinds of images highlight the features and benefits of your products or services.
Seeing real people enjoy using your brand boosts credibility and convinces others to try it out for themselves. This is how you build your social proof and increase conversion rates.
#3 Humanize Your Brand
One easy way to increase your viewership, boost retention rates, and build brand loyalty is to add a face to your company. You want your customers or audience to know who you are, which is the first step to a lifelong relationship.
Post high-quality photos of your team, founders, business partners, location, and more on your social media accounts and web pages. These types of marketing photos help tell your brand story and make you more real.
There are many benefits to integrating more humans into your campaigns. If you do it right, you can expect a more positive interaction with your audience and customers. All of which means an improvement in lead generation and conversion rates.
Yet, remember that using stock pictures of people and making them look like a part of your team or your clients can create the worst possible impression.
This way, you might end up losing the trust and loyalty of your customers. And those are the hardest to recover.
#4 Elicit the Right Emotional Response
Everyone and their dog knows a picture is worth a thousand words. Besides, humans love stories, especially when we can visualize them. Marketing is no different.
Savvy digital marketers frequently tap into this when they create ads that bring the audience to tears and get us nostalgic for simpler times. How can you recreate that experience while choosing images for business?
Use strong descriptive photos that appeal to natural instincts and feelings. The Lysol “Protect Like a Mother” campaign is one perfect example. We can all relate to wanting to keep our loved ones safe.
That ad got thousands of shares and is still an example of emotional marketing done right. Your audience must connect with your choice of marketing photos.
This is just one of many things you have to consider if you want to grow bigger on social media. It is especially true for getting more followers on new platforms, such as Threads.
Pro Tip: How to Increase Threads Followers: Step-by-Step Guide
Tips for Creating Social Media Images for Marketing That Appeal to Your Customers
The game takes on a whole new dimension when it comes to using social media marketing photos to appeal to new customers and retain old ones.
Depending on what you want to achieve, there are certain tips you must keep in mind. Some of these include:
Find your unique style
Every big influencer or business owner has a unique signature style. This sets them apart from others in their niche and helps them attract people with the same tastes and interests.
Identify how your values and presentation make you different and play up these differences to your advantage.
Colors and lighting can enhance meaning
Everyone who has ever done any kind of digital marketing knows that colors can enrich mood and add meaning to content. For example, red, yellow, and orange make us think of warm sunshine and happiness.
You want to pay attention to how the natural lighting and color choice affect the meaning or mood you are trying to create in your marketing photos.
Feel free to splash on the right equipment
The truth is that this one may be challenging for some to implement. Still, there is so much you can do, even with the latest phone cameras. Plus, you will naturally want to take more professional photos as your audience grows.
This will mean getting better equipment like tripods, new flash, and a more advanced photo editing software subscription.
Don’t hesitate to utilize tools that make your work easier
There’s probably an app for everything you can think of. Some applications enable you to schedule posts days ahead of time, like Hootsuite or Canva.
Some will even suggest relevant tags or generate captions for you. While most advanced software requires a subscription, there are also free or low-price options that can enhance your workflow.
Take the time to learn some basic editing skills
Ok, let’s face it. Even the best pictures taken with the world’s most expensive camera will still need a touch or two. Learning basic photo editing skills will help you develop stunning and eye-catching images for business.
You might want to learn to polish and finetune pictures like a professional, but even simple color adjustment and background removal can go a long way. This is an essential factor that can increase the shareability of your content.
Pay special attention to size requirements
Each social media platform has recommended sizes, orientations, and more upload specifications. Paying attention and following the guidelines when creating your marketing photos is essential.
Doing this will help you avoid uploading badly cropped images for business or weird unattractive photos, especially if it gets auto-cropped.
Put your SEO knowledge into practice
This is essential if you are serious about creating social media marketing photos that customers will love. SEO gives you a special kind of power. It feeds you the data necessary to understand what your target audience wants, why, and how to give it to them.
Plus, SEO tips like hashtags, alt texts, and keywords can help you reach a wider audience.
Jump on trends or start a new one
There is always a new trend on social media platforms like Instagram or TikTok. Keeping up with these trends is essential, especially as they present a unique opportunity to tune in to a new audience segment. They can inspire new content ideas.
Besides, if you participate in them, it shows off your brand’s fun side, making you more relatable to your audience. Pay attention to the trend but avoid any that seem controversial.
Protect your images
As you create appealing marketing photos, the natural result will be a high engagement rate and shares. That’s exactly what we want. However, this also comes with some layer of caution and work on your part.
You will want to brand your photos or add your logo where appropriate to avoid people stealing your work or reposting it without credit. Also, branded images are a great way to boost your credibility and improve your SERP score.
Ask for help
As your business keeps growing, you will find that you will have to make lots of major decisions. Sometimes you may need assistance getting the perfect social media marketing photos, content creation, or anything else.
There will be times when you get so much on your plate that you would simply want to delegate some of your tasks. Whether you’re an influencer or a business growing your Instagram account, you can always work with any reputable social media agency like AiGrow.
Conclusion
You must consider many factors when choosing proper images for business promotion. The goal is to only focus on using high-quality photos that reflect your core brand values and packs the right punch. Those are the pictures that capture attention and rouse the interest of your target audience.
The tips outlined here will help you identify and create visual content that boosts your sales and push growth. With practice, you will be a pro.
