You know that the way your brand is perceived will have a huge effect on how successful your business is. This will have led you to ensure that your product or service is the best it can be, being something you’re not only proud of, but something those that use your product or service will love and use time and time again.
However, while this end result may be amazing, if you fail to get your website and marketing spot on, you could be missing out on more customers than you could imagine.
One way of ensuring you nail your marketing, whether it be your website, social media, email or print work, is through design and photography.
While they may seem like two separate entities, they work in tandem to ensure every visual element of your brand and marketing is spot on. Below, we take a look at what both are and why they’re important.
Why design matters
You may not think it, but the way your business is seen visually is a make or break situation for potential customers.
According to statistics, around 94% of consumers don’t like websites with poor graphic design, while nearly half (46%) have said that the visual appeal of a website impacts how they view the company’s credibility.
So, if it doesn’t look great, no matter how good your product or service is, potential customers may not get to use it.
Design can be used to build trust and a lasting relationship with customers, overall:
- Good design makes a strong first impression
- Good design helps your business stand out
- Good design builds customer relationships
- Good design keeps your website easy to use
- Good design promotes brand consistency
- Good design is the key to social media success
- Good design makes you money
You only have to look at further stats to see just how true all of this is. According to research conducted by Adobe, companies using strong design outperform companies that don’t by 219%.
Further to this, out of a list of 300 publicly traded companies, those ranking in the top 25% for using best design practices were outperforming those who weren’t. in fact, they saw 32% more revenue growth.
But design is only one side of the visuals, with photography taking up the other side.
Why photographs matter
As well as design, photos play a huge part in the purchasing journey of a customer. 75% of those that shop online rely heavily on product imagery when making a purchasing decision, so, if the photos aren’t up to scratch, despite the quality of the product, you’re likely to lose a sale.
But there’s much more to photographs and your brand, which are:
- They represent your brand:
We mentioned first impressions earlier, and businesses with high-quality photos are representing themselves in a good light. Ultimately, if you look like you’re taking yourself seriously, customers will too.
- Customers want to know a brand:
When it comes to the imagery on your website or social media, don’t opt for stock images as this can be detrimental. A person can spot a stock image a mile off, and while they may be helpful from time to time, people like to know businesses these days. This can be hugely beneficial for smaller businesses, as using images of your offices and staff breaks down a corporate image to make you more approachable.
- Photos are versatile:
You’ve heard the phrase ‘content is king’, and this is just as true today as when it was first said. Good photography plays into this, as quality images can be used everywhere within your business, helping to bolster your marketing output. Just think, one excellent set of photos can be used for your website, print materials, emails, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, blog posts, and more.
In terms of social media, good photos are key. Facebook posts with imagery get 65% more engagement, while tweets receive 150% more retweets than those without images. Meanwhile, s closer look into this shows that those not using stock imagery, but original images also fare better.
By investing in good photography, you’re making a long-term investment in your marketing output, which will have a huge effect on sales itself.
- They can help you be found as well as seen
If you’ve heard of SEO, you’ll know how important it is to the online world. Images optimised for the web can help you to be found in the image results on Google Images, helping you to perform better in the search results overall.
As you can see, using professional photography can help you to raise your game and the perception of your business. And when placed with excellent design, your imagery should fly.
If you’d like to find out how imagery and design can help your brand, get in touch with Relative today to find out how we can help.
