| Good quality photography is a major element of effective marketing. It is also one of the lacks we frequently run into in developing marketing for new clients. |
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Take a look at a slick consumer magazine. Which ads make you stop and look? Almost 100%, it’ll be the ones with stunning imagery. The photographers who shoot watches for consumer advertising get big bucks because they can make you just drool and pant for that Cartier or Piaget.
It’s often less of an issue if you’re selling services rather than products. But great photos of the staff and office are a big plus for, to give an example, marketing a dental office.
One of the problems in all this is “professional photographers.” First of all, you have to get someone who specializes in the type of photography you need. Wedding photography, portraiture, product and architectural photography require four very different skill sets.
Photographers, I’m afraid, are a bit like lawyers. They are expensive and the fact that they make their living at it doesn’t mean they know what they are doing. But a really good photographer who DOES know his way around the type of photographs you need is worth his weight in gold.
I mean, wouldn’t it be valuable to have your prospective customers drooling over the thought of owning YOUR product or having your service?
That being said, a lot of the photography needed for marketing doesn’t require high high skill. It isn’t that hard to learn the basics of good photography. With digital cameras, you can try lots of shots to get one you can use. You can buy inexpensive kits online you can use for product photography.
So you don’t necessarily have to spend a fortune to get the photography you need.
The main point is to realize the importance of the subject, and to have a system in place to get, validate, save and organize the good quality photographs you need – and will need in the future – for marketing purposes.
