In the A – Z of Marketing P is for … Pictures

“A picture paints a thousand words”

Frederick R. Barnard, 1921

Almost 100 years later and it would seem that businesses are starting to see the light. These days social media is flooded with images, from new products to updated profile pictures. Businesses are realising the importance of visual content and how it can make a difference with their marketing. Pictures have become more and more important in building a business’s brand and identity. They are using them more and more to present their message to their market through social media, blogs, websites and anywhere else their content is placed. Pictures can serve some great purposes for your business such as:

1.  They can provide a visual way for you to communicate to your target market.
2. Pictures allow you to work on S.E.O for your website, blog posts and social media updates. Simply adding some relevant ALT-text gives Google more to look at.
3. Using pictures in your marketing makes it much more interesting. Studies show that image-based marketing messages are much more likely to be shared and eventually go viral.

How often do you update your profile picture your on social media, blog, newsletter or website? At Appletree we manage a lot of our clients’ social media, which means we get to see a lot of different pictures and photographs.

If a picture does paint a thousand words, what does your profile photo say about you? You need to have a professional photo; here are some tips on how to get the pest from your photos:

Always use a photo. People want to see who they’re connecting with; helping them put a face to the name will make it much easier to build trust and a relationship. Don’t use your company logo, people want to connect with you as a person when reading your blogs or newsletters.

Dress for the job. You should wear something comfortable and professional. Something you would wear in a business situation, however, if you make a living swallowing swords or climbing through tennis rackets like Tom Balmont, having a quirky yet professional photo works very well.

Make sure you are the only subject in the photo. Group photos are great, showing your team on company outings, family get togethers – but not when you are trying to promote your business.

Have a look at this for some really bad examples of profile pictures.

This blog should have given you plenty to think about with the pictures and photos you use within your business. Do your photos show how great your business is or do they need work?

Next week Q is for? …