Why personal branding is SO important
Why is personal branding photography so important for building your business?
Personal branding photography is marketing YOU – it’s all about celebrating the very best of you and your business. You want to share your talents and passions with the world, to show your ideal clients what it means to do what you do, and just how fantastic it is! You want people to know what it feels like to
work with you, before they’ve even spoken to you. It’s all about being visible and open to putting yourself at the forefront of your business.
There’s a really scary statistic about how it only takes us 1.5 seconds to judge a website. This means that people are making a snap decision about you and your business before they’ve even spoken to you. So how can you make an impact before those 1.5 seconds are up and they’ve hit the ‘back’ button?
It’s estimated that 84% of communications will be purely visual by 2018, and the four fastest-growing social networks are all image-based. Social media is becoming more important in terms of influencing buying decisions, especially for younger people. Tweets with images earned up to 18% more clicks, 89% more likes, and 150% more retweets compared to those without. Facebook posts that include images see 2.3 times more engagement than those without images. And it’s well-recognised that business cards that include a photograph of you have a much higher retention rate.
According to Hubspot, the brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than it does text. And it manages to do all of this within 1/10 of a second. I don’t even know how that’s humanly possible! But if you think about that in relation to making an impact online and creating a spark of a personal connection, then I shouldn’t have to tell you just how important high quality images are. If you don’t make yourself visible, how are others to know not only that you exist, but just how fabulous you are?
But it isn’t just about posting any old image, it’s about developing trust. When customers see actual photos of you (or your employees), you have a better chance of making them feel like they are interacting with real people. Let your audience get to know you, develop that personal connection, build that trust, and voila!
You also have an opportunity here to be entirely original. So many businesses plump for the easy option – “let’s plaster saccharine stock photos everywhere!” But what happens if your competition ends up using the same stock photos? Disaster! Nobody can copy you if your photos truly represent YOU.
A personal branding photo-shoot is an investment – it’s about digging deep into who you are, where you’re going on your business journey and who it is you want to connect with. And then we turn all of that into beautiful photographs that articulate your story and what it’s like to work with you. It’s an opportunity to look at who you are at your best, and how we can celebrate your story, and share your gifts, talents and message in the most beautiful way.
It’s from this place, of pride and celebration, that you can up-level your brand, make a greater positive impact through connection and ultimately attract your ideal clients to working with you.
If you’d like to talk more about how great photographs can help up-level your business, tell your stories and connect you with your dream clients, book a friendly chat with me here and let’s dream up a plan! I’d love to hear from you!
