Personal Experience

Stock photography is no longer enough when building brand awareness. Striking images are far more likely to engage and lead to sales if they are tailored to your target customer. Your photos should capture your brand’s soul and personality. It’s about marketing your company to the hearts and minds of clients. Build desire. Inspiring your audience.

Powerful Visuals + Embedded Emotions = Engagement

Think of the End-Goal

To make your brand memorable, think of custom imagery the same way as dressing a store window. People passing by should stop, notice, and say “WoW”!

Before you shoot your images, think of the end-goal. How would you like to portray your brand? In a studio or on location? Are you shooting a product alone, or are you demonstrating how people interact with it? It’s vital to plan a marketing strategy to create the best images that will bring results. Find the right tone of voice for your business and use your imagination. 

An example of successful branding through photography is the popular brand Pottery Barn, established almost entirely through image branding.

Keep it Real

Consumers want to believe that the visuals they are seeing are authentic. Try to capture real people, real moments, and real emotions. Imperfections can play in your favor. So don’t overdo the post-processing work. A great example is Dove and their huge success in capturing the authentic human experience. 

Users don’t identify with posed models anymore. To keep consumers engaged, you need to accentuate the flaws, capture joy, and relate intimate stories. Unpolished images featuring real people have a better conversion rate.

Composition

Your photographs should be either beauty shots or in-action shots meshed with your branding/packaging design. All elements of the photos should enhance the product, rather than distract the eye. To compose the right picture:

• Use the rule of thirds
• Leaving empty space around your subject will emphasize it
• Do something unexpected, use your compelling story to show a completely different angle of your subject  
• Keep it simple
• Stay true to your brand and allow consistency

Emotional Connection

Final advice from award-winning photographer David Harvey “Don’t shoot what it looks like, shoot what it feels like”. Instead of demonstrating the element being sold, capture the client’s experience. To create compelling marketing, you need to provide people the chance to connect with your brand in a very personal way.

To inspire you even more, here’s a short interview with Randy Braun, Director of Product Experience at DJI, speaking about the future of photography.

For help creating beautiful stories about your brand, just say hello@edesigninteractive.com