Show and tell.

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If your company has specialized equipment that benefits the customer, don't just tell them about it in your sales literature, SHOW THEM. 

Use a picture, it's worth a thousand words.

This laser is used to analyze the particle distribution for nasal sprays to ensure that squeezing the spray bottle provides the proper distribution and dosage. Most of what it does is not visible to the human eye, because it happens so fast (the spray) and the laser beam can't be seen (fog was created to make it visible). It was composited from several images (equipment, spray, beam) to make it all visible at once.

It's great to have specialized equipment that enables you to deliver a better product than your competitors, but you need to both show and tell them about the benefits of buying from your company. If you don't, you're not taking competitive advantage of your sizable investments and buyers are likely to buy from someone cheaper because they don't understand that you're providing a better product.

Quote of the day

"You don't take a photograph, you make it."

Ansel Adams

Why stock photos suck - Part 1

Think about what makes good stock photos for business - photos that are useful to many buyers.

1 - They're generic - they could work equally well for many buyers.

2 - They often have lots of negative (or empty) space around them so they can be cropped many ways and have room to overlay text on them.

3 - They can be interpreted in several ways, or they communicate an idea that lots of companies can use.

4 - They usually have no clearly identifiable sense of place. Certainly not a particular business.

The very things that make them good stock photos are their weaknesses. 

If they can be interpreted in several ways, they communicate nothing. They're just clip art.

If it's an image that a competitor could use, you're not showing any compelling reason to choose you.

Because they have so many traits in common, they're instantly recognizable as stock. They don't ring true. They destroy trust.

When companies use them in their marketing, prospects think - what are they hiding? Why are they afraid to show who they really are? Is this enterprise that talks about being able to do such great things so small that they can't afford to hire a photographer for a few hours?

At the very least, they'll just be treated as noise and ignored.

Given the opportunity to communicate to the prospect a few photos that show what makes them different and why prospects should choose them, they've elected to look just like everyone else.

Their marketing sucks. The small amount of money that they thought they saved in photography has lost them new customers worth far more. 

And they don't even know it.

Quote of the day

"Learn from the mistakes of others, because you won't have time to make them all yourself."

Chinese proverb

Build your own stock library

If you're using stock photos, your marketing is probably ineffective.

Stock photos don't differentiate you from your competition and don't build trust, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't build your own stock library of images to draw from for whatever communication or marketing needs you have.

By investing in images created by a photographer that sells his or her images royalty-free, you can build an excellent library of images that will generate sales for years without additional fees. They'll communicate exactly what you want, and they'll be exclusively yours.

Unlike stock photos, they'll build trust and create the perceptions of your company and what you offer that you desire. You'll be seen as different than your competitors and the photos can and should be chosen to communicate what makes you special and how that benefits customers.

Photos of facilities, processes, key people, workers, happy customers,  products and products being used. They're tremendously useful to tell your story and show the benefits you provide.

They help you build your brand.

Use them for your website, brochures, sales sheets, trade show booth, for decor and for direct mail. By reusing and repurposing them you'll save money and maximize the return on your investment.

Quote of the day

"An image is not simply a trademark, a design, a slogan or an easily remembered picture. It is a studiously crafted personality profile of an individual, institution, corporation, product or service."

Daniel J. Boorstein

It's not creative unless it sells.

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The purpose of your images should always be to increase sales. They should be eye-catching, convey quality and create desire. 

Unfortunately, many professional photographers, graphic designers, creative directors and ad agencies just don't get it. They get so caught up in their desire to "be creative", win an award or copy the latest fad that they totally miss the point. They forget that the whole reason they're hired is to increase sales.

In the right light (and with some help in post-production), everything is beautiful.

The six images above are from a series of about 40 that I just shot for a housewares manufacturer. They've been digitally enhanced and retouched as the prototypes provided were scratched up and didn't match the colors desired for the final products.  The colors were modified in post-production to match the PMS colors specified. 

The photos you use create powerful perceptions of your products or service. High quality professional photos provide a great return on your investment through increased sales.

Images that aren't high quality create the perception of an inferior company and inferior products. The money you think you're saving is small compared to the sales you'll lose.

Images that increase sales will return profits that far exceed their modest cost. Cheap shots  will lose you sales without you even knowing it.

Quote of the day

"It's not creative unless it sells."

From a Benton & Bowles campaign (for their agency)

Could your competitors use the same images you're using?

Are you using generic images that your competitors could use? If so, you're making a BIG mistake. 

Think of it this way. . . would you use copy that would work equally well for your competitors? Copy that if they just changed the name of the company or product would work for them as well as you? 

If you use copy that makes you look just like everybody else, you're giving the reader no compelling reason to buy from you (unless you're the cheapest). You're communicating no clear benefit over your competitors. It's the same with your photos. Stock photos don't cut it.

Use professional photos of your staff, facilities, products, processes and happy customers to build trust, convey quality and create desire. Choose images that strategically communicate the benefits that you or your products provide. Don't choose images just to make your website or brochure pretty. Use images to influence how buyers see you. 

Perception is everything.

Quote of the day

"You are unique, and if that's not fulfilled, then something has been lost."

Martha Graham

How good do your photos need to be?

There's a lot of insight into business and marketing that I learned from a joke: 

Two campers in a field out west see a grizzly bear charging them from a distance. One camper starts putting on his sneakers. The other says "You'll never be able to outrun that bear." He replies: "I don't have to - I just have to outrun you!"

Your website, your brochures, your photos and your copy don't have to be the best in the world, but they DO need to be at least as good if not better than your major competitors if you don't want to be "eaten by the bear" of the recession. 

You have competitors. While you shouldn't wish them badly, you have a responsibility to stay in business for the benefit of your clients if you offer a superior product or service. You do this by effective marketing.

Buyers will compare your website and brochures with your competitors. What image do they project? How well do they present your service or products? Do they make you look like everybody else in your industry? Do they convey quality? Do they build trust?

Remember though, you must deliver what your marketing promises. If you don't, the negative word of mouth that's spread will hurt your business more than your marketing helped it.

Quote of the day

"The very best thing you can do for the whole world is to make the most of yourself."

Wallace Wattles - author