What are the benefits of commercial photography for your small business?

How do you quickly grab a potential customer’s attention?

People don’t read anymore and there are a million different distractions competing for interest, so anything mundane or expected isn’t likely to draw eyeballs.

That’s where specialized commercial photography that showcases your business comes into play.

Simply put, commercial photographers add value to your business. They are able to effectively use the visual medium and capture you, your service or product, and your brand in a way that helps promote the business. Excellent commercial photography makes your business more memorable.

Let’s talk about some of the key benefits of using custom commercial photography to promote your small business.

Chapters
The First Impression
Brand Perception
The Experience
Building Brand Value
Being Real
Promoting the Business on Multiple Channels

The First Impression

So much rides on the first impression you create with a potential customer. You have a second or two to grab their attention. How are you going to do that?

Put yourself in the shoes of a potential client who is flicking through different websites or ads, trying to decide who they want to work with. What will catch their attention? How do you stand out from the crowd? What do you offer that your competitors don’t?

Selling a product or service depends on getting a positive emotional response. Taking time to plan and shoot commercial photography that highlights the emotional core of your product or service can create a response that resonates with your customer.

It’s effective because it’s personalized and speaks directly to them. And that stands out because it’s so rare these days.

Brand Perception

You know that your brand is special and you’ve spent years tinkering with fine details in order to differentiate yourself from the competition.

And yet, when it comes time to upload a new photo or place an ad, you’re scraping at the bottom of the barrel to find a high quality picture. Or you may even be tempted to opt for stock photography.

But a business will truly begin to take off when brand becomes recognizable and suggests excellent value or quality.

Your brand has a style. Maybe you’re sleek, maybe you’re casual, maybe you’re retro. This tone should reverberate through all assets of your business, including the photography. This helps set the tone for what the customer can expect.

Commercial photography emphasizes your brand commitment to professionalism, quality and success.

After all, the perception of a business that cuts corners with imagery may be that the business will also cut corners on projects.

The Experience

Some commercial photography is functional in that it gives a sense of what the customer can expect from the service.

Professional headshots of team members or the place of business can help establish trust and openness, removing any feelings of uncertainty that a customer may have in advance.

A picture can also show a service in action, for example, a team member delivering the product to the customer. It gives the customer a more concrete understanding of what comes next and gives them confidence.

Building Brand Value

A grainy photo taken on a phone will go a long way to communicating value. Likewise, a professionally lit and dynamic image shot on a professional camera also communicates value.

Your photography gives your customer an idea of how much they can expect to spend and how much value they can expect to get for that.

After all, you’ll never see a high end brand settle for low quality photography.

Being Real

Stock photography websites have large collections of images than ever before. Search for any topic and you’ll find a variety of pictures that can be used for your next ad.

And yet, stock photography sacrifices authenticity. It doesn’t feel real.

It isn’t easy to find a picture taken at a different location and for a different purpose that can be leveraged for your business without something being lost in translation.

The advantage of custom commercial photography is that it places your brand front and centre. It features your staff and gives your customers a more realistic vision of who and what they can expect.

Custom photography allows you to showcase your brand’s creativity and key differences with razor sharp focus.

Promoting the Business on Multiple Channels

Photos taken during a commercial shoot aren’t just for a one time use.

You can benefit from an archive of images that your business can use on social, digital marketing campaigns or traditional print ads.

There’s a high demand these days for fresh content. Any social channel that sits inactive for weeks at a time isn’t likely to attract a following.

The Squish

How can your business benefit from commercial photography?

Simply reach out a contact me if you want to know more about how we can take some excellent images for your business.

I’ll work together with you to set goals and plan the shoot so that you can get the best possible value out of the experience.

More Resources

Article from Pixpa about Commercial Photography