Where to use professional brand photography within your business
So you’ve done the hard work, you got brave, you booked the shoot, you showed up, you gave good energy AND now you’ve got a gallery full of awesome photos of you, your workspace, your happy place and your lifestyle. Winning.
Bye bye Shutterstock. You’ve got a personalised photo gallery now.
Not only does the professional photography show people your face and make you more confident to show up online but it also makes your customers trust you more, makes you look like a more premium service (because selfies do feel a bit DIY!) and it increases your consistency online. So a potential customer will see your photo and instantly recognise it as you, even if it isn’t of your face! Because your gallery will feel consistent across all the locations you shot at.
But what on Earth do you do with them!?
Let’s start with the obvious stuff.
Brand photography doesn’t have to be generic and boring. Here is one of me running a Lightroom workshop shot by Fields Photography Stories, giving off full on labrador puppy energy and living my best life (we were also trying to recreate a Madonna GIF…) and then a moody self portrait. They do say variety is the spice of life…
Update your profile pictures
Don’t miss anything out, that’s Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook - don’t forget some of these platforms have cover photos too so make sure to update them as well.
Then creating the content for your social channels becomes easier. Once you’ve written an epic series of grid posts with really helpful and informative content, you’ve got the images (or videos if we got that too!) to compliment your copy.
Here’s a handy checklist of places on social media you can use your brand photography:
Profile pictures
Cover photos
Highlight covers
Reels covers
Grid posts
Stories posts
Polish up your website!
The obvious place to start is your ‘About You’ page. It can have more than one photo on it. You could even turn some of your photos into a fun moving GIF to really catch the attention of the customers checking out your site. Don’t forget to include one that feels authentically you and gives off the feeling that you want to portray. If you want to be approachable and fun then maybe you giggling or dancing is perfect. If you want to be corporate and knowledgeable then maybe a more serious expression is better.
Also try to include one of you in action so that it is super obvious to your clients what you do and how you go about it!
Your website can then have photos of you in other spaces. Your main homepage, your contact you form. You can also use images of your hands or your workspace to illustrate your services and help your customer really understand what you do.
You’ve paid for them, get full use out of them!
Use them on your blog
I’m a bit lucky. Because I take photos for a living I have loads of professional photos to use in every blog post of multiple different business owners. But you have professional photos too! If you’re chatting about how you can help your customers, those action shots are perfect! If you’ve got products to showcase then grab those shots. If you’re talking about how you make your customers feel or your client experience then add in those gorgeous photos of you.
Don’t be afraid to reuse photos in multiple locations and even rotate using them over a period of time. It takes at least 7 points of contact before someone looking at your content even registers what you’ve been saying, you’ll get bored of your photos before your customer does!
(It’s also worth thinking about having a shorter top up shoot to capture multiple seasons, new haircuts, new outfits or even just to have a quick refresh so you aren’t looking at the same photos again and again because you can use them in so many places!)
You could do this right now: Blog about your photoshoot experience
Why not write about what it what it was like to have a photoshoot, how it made you feel and what you think of the results! It might start as a really nice journalling exercise but then you get comfy with putting yourself out there and you get to show off your photos! Don’t forget to write about what you do and what you wanted to communicate with your customers too. Fill it full of keywords so you keep the Google SEO gremlin happy.
Here’s an example of Amy writing about her photoshoot with me.
Or here’s one I wrote about Rachel’s branding shoot with me.
Ok so that’s the really obvious stuff. Let’s dive into some other ways you could use your branding photos to really maximise their use.
Email marketing
Hear me out. How many email newsletters have you signed up to and you get in your inbox 3 months later and you’re like ‘who is this person??’
Don’t ever let that be your subscribers! Pop a little footer at the bottom of your email with what you do, why you do it and a picture of your face and instantly readers will be reminded who you are and why they like hearing from you. You know who you are, but not everyone will remember.
Save the block as a template in your email generation tool and it’s a one click solution!
You can absolutely use your images to describe your services or chat about you within the main body of your email too. The photos keep your emails feeling consistent and makes them way more personal!
Email content idea: why not email your audience about your photoshoot? If it was a super empowering or just tonnes of fun, get personal and write about stepping out of your comfort zone. Nowadays people want to know the humans behind the small business and it’s a buying strategy all on its own.
Want to see how it’s done? Sign up to my mailing list HERE
Google my business
You know that place where you grab all your reviews. Get some photos of you on their too! Getting your face in as many places as possible adds to your booking potential and make you as recognisable as possible. (And don’t forget to be asking for those reviews too!)
Pitching for PR or magazine features
You’ve got something to say and you want the press to know all about it. You could just write a black and white email with all the great copy and hit send. OR you could attach some exciting, lifestyle shots of you in action and you looking like a legend and then it’s a PR consultant’s dream. Instantly publishable. Better yet, you could send them the link to your gallery and let them choose their favourites if you’re comfortable with that. (If you are going to do this please make sure to credit the photographer in your email and ask that if they are going to print it somewhere that there is full credit printed too. Some photographers give you print rights and some don’t. I do!)
Digital products - ebooks, PDFs
If you sell any sort of digital product you tend to have an ‘about the author’ section at the front. Grab one of those shots and you don’t even have to think about it. Dodgy selfies be gone!
Podcast art
Run a podcast? Your photos are perfect for your podcast art. They’ll instantly improve the look and feel of your whole production and put a face to your voice!
Also if you are pitching to be on a podcast, including well shot images of you, like in the PR section, can make the host connect with you on another level and also gives them some material to promote you with if you become one of their guests!
Some final ideas for where to use your photos (although this list isn’t exhaustive!):
Welcome guides
Pricing guides
Stationary (business cards, thank you cards, notecards etc)
Presentations
Online courses
Send me an email if you think I missed something or if you really love where you’ve used your photos. I’d love to see!
Are you looking for a photographer to help you feel confident in front of the camera and get exciting lifestyle branding photos?
I can help! I love working with business owners from all different types of industries to really capture their personalities in a beautiful and exciting way. My priority is making sure you have a good time and leave with a huge smile on your face before you then receive a beautiful set of images to promote your business.
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