How Photos For Social Media Can Build Your Brand

Many companies have realized the importance of digital marketing and are quick to hop on to social media to build their online presence. Part of being on social media means posting photos on a regular basis. In case you didn’t know, photos are remarkable attention grabbers.

For example, Facebook posts that include at least one photo receive 2.3 times more engagement than those without a photo. It has also been scientifically proven that people retain information better when a relevant photo is paired with it.

Photos actually have a huge impact on how your audience perceives you. The photos you upload on your business’ social media pages can easily affect your company’s reputation. Instagram has seen over 50 billion photos uploaded on the platform ever since its inception. On a daily basis, an average of 100 million photos and videos are uploaded. Given the number of photos that get uploaded to the internet, how can you make your photos for social media stand out from the rest? 

Types of photos for social media 

1. Royalty-free photos

Royalty-free photos are basically photos that anyone can use freely thanks to the permission granted by the artists and photographers. 

If you’re a content marketer, you’d probably agree that the sheer amount of quality photos that you come across is pretty amazing. Most companies post to their social media accounts 3 times a week as the bare minimum. Some companies who are hard on engagement try to post once every day — that’s already 365 photos in one year! Moreover, if your company is spread across various social media channels like Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter then there will be much more to upload. 

Royalty-free photos can cut you some tremendous slack when you find yourself running out of creative juices. Royalty-free photos are also useful when you just started a new business and don’t have many photos stored in your library. When using royalty-free photos, you also prevent the risk of infringing on other creator’s copyright. The last thing you’d want is to get sued and pay a hefty fine. 

Nevertheless, royalty-free photos are easily accessible on various websites. Popular websites that offer royalty-free photos are Pixabay, Unsplash, Burst by Shopify, Reshot, and IM Free. 

2. Product photos

This seems obvious. Are you even running a business if you don’t feature your products or services on your social channels? 

Help your audience learn what your business is about and what makes your company stand above its competitors. When you upload photos of your products and services, highlight their unique features. For example, think about how your product or service will benefit customers.

Taking and editing your product photos is also a method of exerting your brand voice. What background will you use in your product photos? Are you going to add effects? It’s vital to think about how you’ll portray your products. To ensure the best quality, you might want to consider hiring a professional photographer. Alternatively, Snappa and Canva are both amazing graphic design tools that can help give your product photos that extra “oomph”.

3. Location photos

Your followers will be interested in learning more about your brand. Use this opportunity to showcase your company’s personality. What’s the energy like in your office? A virtual tour of your business location is perfect for developing a deeper connection with your audience. 

Be it the interior or the exterior of your shop, there are many angles you can take to make your shop as welcoming as possible. Perhaps you may consider a professional photographer to help capture your business location in the best light. Location photos are also great for your Google My Business photos. 

Of course, you’d want to show your audience an accurate depiction of your location. Don’t set up unrealistic expectations for your customers only for them to be disappointed upon visiting. 

4. UGC photos

User-generated content (UGC) is probably the most effective type of content in the social media marketing world. UGC photos are taken and distributed by your customers on their personal social media accounts. What makes UGC photos so powerful is that they are authentic based on your customer’s real experience with your brand. Studies show that people found UGC photos 12 times more trustworthy than any other marketing strategies. 

The ability to gather UGC photos is every content marketer’s dream come true. But it is important to seek the creator’s permission first before sharing their photos. Then, be sure to credit them publicly. By doing this public shoutout, you also encourage other customers to jump in and create more UGC photos for your brand. 

Another fun way to create UGC photos is to set up an “Instagram wall” in your store. An Instagram wall is basically a set-up that is simply irresistible to walk past without conducting a mini-photoshoot. Soon enough, you will have a pile of UGC photos streaming your way. 

5. Behind-the-scenes photos

Most of your followers on social media already know about your products or services. Other than constantly posting photos of what you’re selling, it would be a great idea to treat your audience with an exclusive sneak peek into the ins and outs of your business. 

What is a day at your company like? How do your employees interact with each other? What kind of tasks do you have to do? Even if it's a photo of what’s happening in the breakroom or the team focused on work, it’s content that will freshen up your social pages. 

Behind-the-scenes photos are useful because they offer a sense of transparency which allows your audience to feel more connected with your brand. Give your audience the chance to get to know your company. When you show the humanistic side and serious side of your business, your followers might even be more eager to support you.

6. Festive photos

Whether it’s the change of seasons or the change in moods, a day worth celebrating is a day worth opening up one’s wallet. You can’t go wrong with making the most out of a festive occasion to wish your audience well and promote your products/services. 

Festive photos can include seasons greetings, seasonal deals you'll be offering, a festive event that your team is hosting, or even just to show off your in-store decorations. 

Festive occasions are also a popular time to host social media contests and giveaways. Give your followers the incentive to share your festive photos to expand your brand and elevate your engagement levels. 

7. Promotional photos

The golden rule in every social media strategy is to adhere to the 80/20 mix. Only 20% of your content should be promotional. The remaining 80% should be dedicated to content that engages and interests your audience. It makes sense because you don’t want your followers to always feel pressured to buy your product/service. Hard-selling would only lead them to push that “unfollow” button. 

Given how infrequent you can post promotional photos, you’d want them to be as meaningful as possible when you actually post them. Things you can promote are major brand announcements; for instance, you’re renovating your store, there’s an upcoming flash sale, or that you’re looking for new hires! 

Be sure to include call-to-action phrases and direct links that are relevant to the promotion in your photos. This way your followers can comprehend the context efficiently.

8. Inspiring photos

Everyone loves to be inspired every once in a while. Incorporate nuggets of wisdom that are relevant to your business and resonate with your audience. These could be in the form of motivational quotes or awesome stories based on your life as an entrepreneur. 

You can easily lookup for a great quote on Google, copy and paste the text onto a nice background, and it’s ready to be posted on social media. Quote maker is a free and easy tool to create your inspiring photos. 

9. Funny photos

What better way to bring a smile to your follower’s faces than with funny photos? As much as you want to maintain professionalism, it’s perfectly fine to crack a light joke every now and then. Your audience can appreciate a sense of humour. In fact, 36% of customers are driven to make a purchase because they saw a funny photo from a brand. A funny photo serves more than increasing engagement, it prompts sales too!

Though keep in mind that there are certain sectors of business that probably should not be cracking jokes. For example, if your company specializes in funeral services. Also restrain from joking about controversial topics related to politics, religion, race, and gender. Cracking a bad joke can damage your brand in a snap. 

Just keep it light and professional. 

10. You!

We saved the best for last. Yes, you! Your audience would love to see the face behind the company. After all the hard work, you definitely deserve some spotlight. This includes your employees as well. Show your followers the friendly faces that make your business run. 

 If you don’t mind socializing and love to get your photos taken, then you should definitely consider posting photos of yourself on your business social media pages. There are many business owners who become the icon of their brand as well. This is another smart way to initiate more UGC photos. For example, customers who visit your store would want to take photos with you and post it on their socials. 

Post with purpose

At the end of the day, photos are a big part of your brand’s online reputation. You want your photos for social media to be engaging, high quality, and unique to your brand. You want people to see your posts and say, “Wow!”

To constantly produce fresh content requires strategic thinking and planning. Not only do you have to consider your target audience interests, but you also have to manage the finer details like the best time to post. So don’t be afraid to put in more time in creating photos for your social media. 

FAQs

Do I have to post every category of photos, as mentioned in this blog, for my social media?

Every company and its target audience is different. As such, there is no standard protocol to follow when it comes to the type of photos to post for social media. The list in this blog only serves as a reminder to readers that there are many exciting and new ways to freshen up their business social media pages. It is completely up to you to experiment and determine what kind of photos perform best with your audience. 

Is it wrong to repost old photos for social media?

Creating new photos can be exhausting and it can often feel like you’re running out of creative juices. Some content creators rely on a technique known as repurposing. When you repurpose a photo, you are essentially adding some minor adjustments to an old photo so that it looks brand new. For example, you can use an old photo as a background for one of your promotional photos. The possibilities are endless, and it is totally up to you on how you wish to use them. 

However, moderation is key and your audience will catch on if you keep giving them similar content. Therefore, be mindful of how often you repurpose your photos. 

How can I plan my photos for social media?

The process of coming up with photos for social media is not as simple as most would think. It requires critical analysis and in-depth understanding of the industry sector. Many companies hire a social media management team for this very reason. 

With that said, some social media management tools you can look into are Hootsuite and Buffer. These websites help schedule your posts and can bring ease to your social media campaigns

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