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Toronto-based boutique agency specializing in web design and development, identity and print design.
Apr 20

Say cheese! How custom photography can win you customers…

You wouldn’t consider using a bad photo for your online dating profile, so why use substandard imagery on your website? Like an online dating profile, your website should be considered an introduction and similarly people will make a quick decision whether they are interested in making contact with you based on many factors, including the visual. Make sure your first impression is a strong one through the use of quality photography.

Certainly there is a wealth of great stock photography out there, most notably www.istockphoto.com and www.veer.com, but there is really something to be said about professional custom photography as well.

Custom photography, which can be more affordable than you think, adds a real quality to your marketing materials that often stock photography does not.  This is especially evident in photos of people like bio and team photos. Certainly you can’t use a stock photo for your bio photo (though I have a sneaking suspicion this happens a lot in online dating!) and unprofessional vacation snapshots don’t make the cut so why not invest in a quality headshot for yourself and your senior management team? Often the images are fully edited images-color corrected with blemishes and undereye circles removed. Choosing a stock photo for your About Us or Team page always feels staged and impersonal whereas a professional group shot lends a much more personal quality.  If you have high staff turnover, however, you may wish to rethink the group shot or plan to update it frequently.

If you are a spa, clinic or other business where your customers come to your space, having professional photography of both the exterior (if applicable) and interior of your space really serves to show potential customers (and referring existing customers!) the atmosphere and feel of your location.  Having photos of your waiting area, treatment rooms or office space could mean the difference between someone choosing you or one of your competitors.

If you are a business with products, strong photos is essential for marketing purposes. Often product photography is more costly than photography of people (especially for products like jewelry and chocolate due to shine) so you may wish to  initially concentrate on your primary few products to cut down on costs.

In additional to the obvious things like lighting, a good photographer will also offer hair and makeup services to help you and your team look your best. Often they will also offer staging services to ensure your space looks its best for the photo shoot.

Be sure all photos provided to you by the photographer are high resolution so you can use them for print and so that they can be compressed for online use. High resolution can be easily compressed for web but low resolution is not suitable for print and cannot be upgraded.

People really do choose a book by its cover.  If you are interested in custom photography, Mouth Media would be pleased to refer you to one of our network of photographers. Simply email info@mouthmedia.com.

Below is a sampling of recent Mouth Media projects where custom photography was used: