Why Professional Photography Makes All The Difference

Over 67 percent of consumers say the photography of the products they are shopping online is “very important” when considering purchase. Online shopping is only going to increase on channels like Pinterest, Facebook and Instagram as purchases are a click away and embedded in images in your social feed.  Digital Marketing experts estimate that your consumers are exposed to between 4,000 and 10,000 advertisements per day.  If the one type of advertisement that is going to make you stand out is photography, here are some additional reasons to consider working with a professional content photographer to make your brand noticed and your products purchased.

Imagery connects with the mind, soul and wallet. 

The incredible effects that images have on our emotions and decisions is ultimately second-nature to humans: vision is the most powerful sense that we have.  Consumers are significantly more likely to give their attention to images in advertising than any type of text.   People retain only 10 percent of what they read, but can remember up to 65 percent of images up to 3 days after viewing it. Considering how you frame your advertising, website, and ecommerce storefronts, you should be allocating the largest portion of your budget to images and videos if you want to truly connect with your customers and increase your chance of a purchase. 

Photography by The ClickThrough for jewelry brand Bing Bang

Photography is a reflection of you as a brand. 

High quality, consistent, professional photographs are going to help capture great first impressions and potential customers because your brand will represent attention to detail, presentation and consistency. Professional photographers will take an aesthetic approach to style the background, tones, colors and setting to enhance not only your product, but your brand. They can set up your product in a curated setting to produce lifestyle photography that leads the consumer to picture using the product in their everyday life. Connecting with the photography, your audience will subconsciously identify themselves as an eligible consumer and the potential for purchase increases dramatically. Lifestyle photography can not only help you stand out against other options but also help tell your brand story.

Photography is often our first encounter and first impression of a brand. (Image via Unsplash)

We all need the engagement (and the click to purchase). 

Brand awareness and impressions are great stats to gauge your brand’s reach, but ultimately you need the click (we all do!).  Facebook posts with images see 2-3x engagement than those without, and good visual content is 40 percent more likely to be shared by your followers. With more people staying at home and shopping from the couch now more than ever, it is important that your retail products are showing up consistently from your social channels to your ecommerce storefront. Over 75 percent of online shoppers rely on the product photos when making a decision to purchase, and you want to turn that casual browser into a customer in the minimal amount of clicks.  When working with a professional photographer like The ClickThrough, who has experience in brands that show up across multiple channels, websites, and storefronts, the photographer can help set up your photography package for a product to show up consistently & professionally to the customer. 

 

 
A professional photographer brings years of experience to photograph many types of products. (Image via Unsplash)

Best Benefit of Working with a Partner: They Save You Time

Your professional photographer is going to be qualified and advanced at the sheer foundations of a high-quality photoshoot. The photographer will have better lighting, hit all the right angles, develop high-resolution photos, use professional equipment, and size the photos just right for your social media feed. The real benefit the photographer delivers is saving you time in the editing phase of content development. If nearly 50 percent of marketers are spending 5+ hours per week creating visual content, think about what you could do with your business operations if you got back those hours. The meticulous time (and attention by the trained eye) to comb through each image and adjust tones, brightness, contrast and remove smudges or dust on the product is where the professional photographer really delivers value in the service.

Your virtual storefront is now just as important as your physical store. (Image via Unsplash)

The Ultimate Goal: Connecting with the Customer

We all know marketing through visuals works better than text but if you are relying on stock photos to pull the customer in, think about how you would ideally like that customer to experience your brand.  Consumers are more likely to purchase (and repeat purchase) from brands they truly feel connected with in an authentic, genuine way.  Using real, professional quality images can make the difference (27% more likely than stock photos) on creating a customer out of a scroller.  Working with a photographer to create original images not only enhances brand identity, but drives real business results.  ‍

All of our photography services begin with a complimentary consultation to get to know your brand and business goals.  From there, we create a plan together that fits your marketing needs through a variety of options with photography, short video and gifs. Connect with me directly at carrie@theclickthrough.com.