Wieting Design

How to Win At Visual Content Marketing With Your Own Photos

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As much as we hate to admit it, appearance is everything. We are visually stimulated and our brains can decipher an image instantly compared with reading text. When it comes to web copy, people rarely read a piece of content word for word. On the other hand, images stick with readers longer and are more likely to give you a greater return on your content investment.

As a small business owner you or your team should be taking pictures regularly and maximizing the value of each image to boost your visual content marketing.

 

Why should you take and use your own pictures in your marketing?

The internet is packed with images and most of the time you can find a picture of exactly what you need, so why should you go through the effort of taking your own? Because chances are that image has been used over and over again and possibly by your competitors. A personal image boosts your trust factor and allows your audience to relate to you and your business faster. If the stock photo you’re using is at all similar to another website that created a negative experience for the visitor, subconsciously, they’re projecting their negative experiences onto your stock photograph, reducing trust & adding friction to the process. In marketing studies, when visitors see real images they are 35% more likely to sign up and make a purchase. Think about it this way: if someone asks to “be your friend” on your personal Facebook account, or requests to follow you on Twitter and the only images they have available are cat pictures, or an image of a celebrity, are you going to accept their request? Chances are most people won’t unless they are pretty sure that they know this person. Otherwise there is no telling who is really on the other side of the computer.If you are dead set on using a stock photo, go to Google Images and drag the photo in the search bar and Google will pull up all the of the exact instances of that photo so you can see who else is using that image.

 

Need some ideas for the types of pictures to take?

  • Showcase your facilities
  • Show Before and After Images
  • Ask your best customers if they would be willing to take a photo with you
  • Photograph people in your business enjoying your product
  • Capture behind the scenes moments
  • Share team photos

 

Where can you use these images in your marketing?

Everywhere! You don’t need to be a professional photographer to create captivating images, and you don’t need a fancy camera. Make sure your phone has at least an 8mp camera and start snapping some photos. As you get comfortable, play with the lighting and angles to help you share your story. Afterall, that’s all marketing is is telling a story and having your audience buy in.

  • You can use your images on your website.
  • Use your images in your blogs
  • Use your images on your social media accounts

Every visual you create should be simple which in turn will make it easier for repurposing. Think about the longevity of your visuals and keep in mind where it could be used after its initial purpose. We’re not saying these images should replace a professional photographer, but if you don’t have a budget yet or your main focus is social media – a camera phone is all you need to get by.

 

How do you maximize the value of each image in your marketing plan?

The great part about images is they are evergreen and will always be useful, even the outdated ones will be great for a #ThrowbackThursday post now and then. Create a folder of images that you can pull from over a period of time. Save them all in a place where you and your team can easily access the photos when you need them, like Google Drive or similar cloud storage location.

To recycle images more than once you can:

  1. Add text overlays like your favorite quote or a testimonial
  2. Use a filter and share the image again.
  3. Create a collage using multiple images
  4. Crop the photo for a new angle
  5. Turn your visuals into infographics
  6. Create a video slideshow with apps on your phone

You’re not going to become a professional photographer overnight. But with more high quality cameras in our phones and editing apps available on the market, it’s easier than ever to take great images of your business. So don’t be afraid to try something new! As you gain new skills, your visual content marketing photos will get better and better. And, no matter what, any images you share of your products and business will be better than no images at all or a stock photo that doesn’t inspire.

 

Wieting Design | Digital Marketing Fairfield County CT

Wieting Design is a full-service, graphic and website design agency based in Fairfield County, CT and serving all of Connecticut (CT). We are committed to sharing our experience and expertise in website design, graphic design, social media marketing, search engine marketing (SEO), and video production to help build powerful tools and campaigns that work for your Connecticut business. Whether your objective is to grow your reputation, create client loyalty, drive traffic to your website or set up a marketing strategy, we will adapt our approach to get you the results you need with the services we provide.

Why Your Social Media Marketing Isn’t Performing

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Your goal isn’t to post lots of content or even get lots of likes—your goal is to build engagement and turn followers into paying customers. According to Hubspot, 92% of all marketers indicated that their social media efforts have generated more exposure for their businesses, while 80% of marketers indicated that their social media efforts increased traffic.

Are you making one or more of these common social media marketing mistakes?

 

Posting without a strategy?

You can post funny cat memes all day long, but if your tactics aren’t based on a larger social media strategy—complete with specific, measurable goals—all those likes aren’t likely to convert into customers. It is vital that you have a clear plan before you bring your marketing efforts on social networking sites. You should tackle all points including the goals, expected results, the likely issues that your campaign may encounter along the way as well as a contingency plan that you can carry out in the event that “plan A” fails.

Are you only focusing on your company?

Marketers talk a lot about the 80/20 rule of social media: Talk about yourself no more than 20% of the time, and spend the remaining 80% of your posts sharing value-added content like industry news and helpful resources, joining conversations, and celebrating the interests and accomplishments of others in your network.Have you ever had a friend who can’t stop talking about himself? (You know … that friend.) It’s a major turn off to hang out with someone who’s entirely self-absorbed and doesn’t listen to you.  The same goes for Facebook. The more your social content engages your ideal customers, the more likely it is that they’ll move further along the sales cycle to produce a return. Also, Facebook will make sure your followers don’t see your posts if too many of them are overly promotional.

Selling, Not Connecting

Always trying to close the deal? You should always be connecting first and foremost. It’s possible for some businesses to effectively use social media as a sales tool, but it’s primarily a relationship-building tool. Customers on social media generally steer clear of the hard sell in favor of conversation, entertainment and information.

You’re Not Interacting With Followers

Followers and consumers expect to be able to contact you through your Facebook Page. Even if you don’t answer messages right away, make a point of treating Facebook messages like email inquiries and seek to get back to people within 1-2 business days.It’s not just good social media manners; it’s good customer service. If you’re on Twitter, you’ll have noticed that you regularly get tweets from your followers. Some of these will hopefully be positive reviews of your service or product. However, there is a chance that you might get tweeted some criticism or negative reviews. If this happens, don’t just ignore them. Otherwise, you might come across as ignorant and not bothered. Instead, take the time to deal with any negativity to ensure your followers that it was a one-off situation.

Fresh Content

People will get tired of your social media if you don’t regularly update its content. And if you haven’t posted for a few months, your followers might even think that you’ve closed down. So be sure to stay on top of your social media and try to post fresh content whenever possible. This is another great reason why you need a blog. The more you post, the more fresh content you have for social media.

In the end, it all comes back to your audience. What do they  want? How did they react to your posts? Did a certain type of post perform better than others?  These types of analytics should be leading your marketing plans, strategies, and tactics every step of the way. Success on social media is like search engine optimization – it takes time to build and effort to maintain. You won’t see quick results by investing in this type of marketing, but you will grow a solid base of people and provide a valuable form of customer service – in an era where customer service is the dividing line between successful and failing businesses.

If you need guidance on creating a social media strategy for your business, give us a call at 203 414 9692 or email us we would love to talk to you! 

CONTACT US

Wieting Design, LLC
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o: 203.414.9692
e: cindy@wietingdesign.com

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Serving: CT, Fairfield County CT
Hartford  CT, New Haven County CT