How Does Good Photography Build Your Brand?

Did you know our brain processes an image 60,000 times faster than text? This explains why brand builders put so much emphasis on creating visual content for their campaigns. 

The eye is considered to be the key to communication. If you want to convey a message to your target audience, focus on good photography. And by good, we mean high-quality, professional images. 

Here are some ways in which good photography builds your brand.

Showcases You in the Best Light

It doesn’t matter whether you are building your personal brand on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. All platforms demand a profile picture. 

Now, you can set any selfie or random image as your profile picture. But will that look appealing to potential recruiters, followers, and collaborators? Probably not!

On the other hand, a professional headshot or good personal brand photography can give your audience an excellent first impression about you. As soon as someone lands on your profile, they will know what your best version looks like. In addition, most people will instantly develop trust when they see good photography on your profiles and will be prompted to follow you immediately. 

Increases Your Post Engagement

It is proven that images drive more engagement than any other content format–even stock photos generate 650% more engagement than text-only posts. And if you get a bit strategic with your visual content and choose good photography–like branding images–people will be 80% more likely to read your post.

What does this mean for your brand? Greater post engagement and brand awareness as a result. Keep in mind that there are more than four billion users randomly scrolling online, searching for something interesting. So, if you can get more people to actually stop and read your posts using good visuals, you can spread more brand awareness.

Develops Your Brand’s Personality 

Images are static, but they hold the potential to tell a story. A professional photographer will often use things like backgrounds, props, strategic lighting, and camera angle to achieve that. When used properly, this can be helpful in developing your brand personality.

Plus, if you plan to change the style of your brand in the future, good photography will be a great asset in that case, too. You can use it to alter the image of your brand in your customers’ minds. 

Helps You Stand Out 

A brand can only stand out from the competition when its unique selling points are highlighted or when its owners do something unique. This can be done by:

• Working with a good personal branding photographer to showcase what you’re all about (for personal brands)
• Taking pictures with your USPs in focus (for a product or service-based companies)
• Uploading positive testimonials about your USPs

All of these ways reinforce the reasons why people should choose your brand over others and can be executed with the help of a good photography company.

Establishes Trust and Increases Revenue

Professional photography builds the credibility of your brand. It shows that you are ready to invest in your business and take branding seriously; it also reflects that you care about the reputation of your brand.

For potential recruiters, partners, and customers, this is a positive indicator. This means they will develop trust in your brand and will be more likely to do business with you, leading to a greater revenue. The income you generate can then be further utilized to grow your brand.

Final Thoughts 

All in all, good photography is an essential marketing tool for a successful brand. It doesn’t matter whether you are building a personal brand or a service-based brand. Well-taken pictures from a reliable photographer like Duane Furlong are necessary to convey your message to the ideal customer. 

For more ideas and tips related to business photography, be sure to check out our posts on how a personal branding session is different from getting headshots and branding photography costs look like.

How a Personal Branding Session Is Different Than a Headshot

While business headshots and branding photography sessions might appear similar on the surface, there are key differences between the two. Below, we’ve covered in detail the distinct characteristics of both, as well as tips on how to determine which is right for you.

What Are Business Headshots?

Business headshots are a type of portrait photo typically used for business websites, business cards, LinkedIn profiles, and press releases. They are great for company and corporate profiles and serve as the perfect profile picture for social media channels or about pages on business websites. 

One well-taken headshot can be enough to help clients, customers, and prospective partners put a face to the name. They can also give the viewer a hint of the person’s personality and help make an excellent first impression. 

The main difference between personal branding photography and business headshots is the time and effort it takes for each. Headshot photoshoots are generally a lot more straightforward and quicker than personal branding sessions. Typically, there will be only one backdrop and shooting location, and only the top half (up to the shoulders) is photographed.

In other words, business headshots involve a more targeted and straightforward photoshoot and are ideal for people looking for an impactful image to represent them in a corporate setting.

Check how good photography can help you build your brand.
 

What Are Personal Branding Sessions?

Personal branding photography is a relatively newer form of visual branding that savvy business owners worldwide are taking advantage of to portray themselves in the best light. A personal branding photography session is very different from a typical headshot session in many ways. 

With headshots, the focus of the image is solely on the person, but personal branding photographs focus on delving deeper into who you are and telling the story of what you do with photography. 

Personal branding photographs can be of any type–detail shots, lifestyle shots, photos of you with your brand logo, you at work, you with your products, and so on. The possibilities are endless, and each can be customized specifically to reflect the type of business you run and what you want to convey about your brand through images. 

For example, you have the freedom to work with the photographer and play around with locations, branding colors, outfits, and props that you feel represent your brand best. The pre-shoot experience is also more involved, and you’ll likely have multiple conversations with the photographer to discuss how to best translate your brand ethos into images that can represent you in advertising, social media, and your brand website. 

One important thing to understand is that you will be investing a lot more of your time in personal branding sessions simply because of the extra time required for planning, consulting, and shooting. The additional time is very worth it, however, because you’ll be getting a wide variety of images that are genuinely representative of the work you have put into building your brand and what you hope to do with it. 

Which One Is Right for You?

If you’re still unsure how to decide between the convenience of a headshot or the customizability of a personal branding session, it’s essential to identify what exactly you’ll be using the image for. Generally, a personal branding session is the best option if: 

• You are the face of your brand and want to represent your story through the image 
• You are looking to use good photography to build a personal brand
• You want your ads to look polished and professional but also have personality 
• You want to spice up your visual branding and stand out from competitors

On the other hand, if you only need a good, professionally-taken image of yourself for your brand website or business card, then a quick headshot session will work just fine.

How to Build a Personal Brand

Whether you’re a medical resident trying to stand out amongst your peers or an executive aiming to develop your career trajectory, the power of personal branding cannot be understated. 

Building a brand in today’s ever-evolving digital landscape comes with its own unique set of challenges and opportunities. Knowing how to craft a genuine personal image that will resonate with audiences is essential in making yourself noticed for the right reasons. 

In this post, we’ll provide practical advice on building your own personal brand from scratch–including leveraging social media platforms, using professional branding photography, understanding your target audience, and increasing your visibility. 

By implementing even just some of these tips into your game plan, you can create a powerful presence that will boost both exposure and credibility within any organization you’re involved with.

Create Strong and Complete Social Profiles

First of all, it’s important to make profiles on all the top social media platforms–this includes LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. These platforms have the most number of users, so they make the best options for personal branding and brand awareness.

However, when you sign up on each of these platforms, you need to ensure professionalism and expertise in every aspect. Create a professional username, fill in all the work relevant details, and write a compelling bio.

Make sure to clearly state who you are, what you do, and what your core beliefs are. Remember that your personal brand should be a true representation of your work identity; don’t fall victim to the ‘fake it till you make it’ approach.

Get a Professional Headshot

No matter how much people claim to not judge someone by their looks, the sad reality is that almost everyone judges a book by its cover, whether consciously or unconsciously. This is especially true in the professional world.

So, never use a selfie, landscape image, or an animated avatar as your profile picture. Get a corporate headshot from a reputable branding photographer like Duane Furlong that will make you appear professional, reliable, and friendly to colleagues, partners, and potential recruiters. 

In addition, when you have a professional headshot as your social profile picture, people tend to take you more seriously and perceive you as an industry expert. This helps build credibility and allows you to gather more followers and take your personal brand to new heights. 

If you have the budget, you can go a step further and book a personal branding photography session and use those pictures online–be sure to keep in mind that a personal branding session is different from a headshot!

Understand Your Target Audience

Your target audience is the group of people who are most likely to purchase your services or collaborate with you. This may include recruiters, niche followers, community groups, or students who are interested in what you do.

If you are finding it difficult to find your target audience, use these questions to develop an ideal client profile:

• What is their age, profession, and average income?
• What are their goals and aspirations (and what can you offer to help them achieve these)?
• What are their pain points, and how can you help them?

Offer (Free) Value

Once you have created social media profiles and identified your audience, it’s time to focus on content creation. Remember that your posts need to solve the problems of your target audience and give them what they want. 

For example, if you are a graphic designer who wants to increase their authority and gain more followers, create educational posts rather than selling your services. Provide people value by sharing insights about graphic designing techniques and methods. 

When you will start doing that, people will automatically assume you are an authority and follow you for more free education. Potential recruiters will also consider you to be an ideal candidate. 

Focus on Increasing Your Visibility

Lastly, it’s time to increase your visibility. There are many ways to do this, and some of them are pretty technical. For example, search engine optimization and Facebook marketing require considerable expertise to execute properly.

One easy way to gain visibility is to partner with other people trying to build a personal brand in your industry. This way, you will divert some of their audience to your personal brand. You can do this by giving interviews, recording podcasts, attending public-speaking events, guest blogging, and running affiliate partnerships.