Now almost three months into 2016 (times flies!), marketers are able to put their fingers on the pulse of what is trending for design in 2016. At the top of the list is undoubtedly photography; many Fortune 500 companies are turning to an image-driven website, paired with a consistent, photo-centric print campaign. A perfect example of this is Apple, spearheading the movement with polished, high-resolution imagery of their product line paired with simple, deliberate calls to action. While we began to see this trend start in 2015, it is continuing full-force into 2016 and beyond.
Having compelling photography really can make-or-break an advertising campaign. Here are a few ways that we feel great photos are going to take your website to the next level:
Having high-resolution photos allows for better design.
Without delving too deep into the world of graphic design, having larger, high-resolution images–whether bought from a stock photo website or taken professionally–allows designers to flourish. Smaller resolution images, when enlarged, appear “pixelated”, so even if your old website has the perfect photo of that perfect project, it still may be too small to use effectively in a modern campaign. To make things even more complicated, mobile devices in 2016 have such a high-resolution that lower quality images will appear very poor quality for mobile users. Long story short: it’s important to have high-resolution pictures, whether they come from a stock photography website, or from a photographer.
Having professionally-taken photos allows for amazing design.
Depending on your profession or niche, purchasing stock photography may be a viable solution to your photography woes, but for the rest of us, hiring a professional photographer to take pictures is a great idea. In marketing, the old adage “a picture is worth a thousand words” has never rung more true. Photos have a way of effectively telling a story, capturing the true essence of your company or product, and getting people engaged. Example: when Apple puts a picture of the newest device on the screen, we want to pick it up and play with it. Time and time again, our design team sees websites really come to life whenever we can get our hands on custom photography.
Sidenote: If you have an e-commerce website, we can’t stress enough how important it is to have professional photography for your products. Using do-it-yourself photography for products will cheapen your merchandise and you will see a drastic decline in your conversion rate for website visitors.
Consumers want to see who you are.
If you decide to opt-in for hiring a professional photographer, make sure they get great pictures of you and your staff, as well as your products or establishment. Even though we live in an age where we can order a pizza without talking to a human being, more often than not, people still want to see who will be doing their work for them. Keep things interesting: rather than just typical head-on photos of your team, get pictures of them with their sleeves rolled up, working hard, business as usual. Photos provide a means to show the true character of your staff, and your potential clients love to see that.
Photography can and should be used on more than just your website.
As you may have read in our previous article, consistency is absolutely key when marketing your company. Use your photos across all media to create a sense of consistency across your campaigns. Statistically, you may see more conversions from your website than from a EDDM campaign, but using compelling imagery on other media is a great way to engage clients and get them to pick up the phone.
In conclusion, having great photography is not just important because it looks great and it is trendy–although, both of these things are true. Having great photography is important because it works.
