We all want to grow our businesses and Personal Brand Photography is a vital part of the puzzle! As more and more people become entrepreneurs, the need to build a personal brand with clarity is so important. And, the fastest way to convey your brand vibe is to invest in professional brand photography.

How brand photography has impacted my own business

Prior to 2020, I never posted an image of myself except in the “About Me” section in my website. You would think that being a photographer, I would have had a bunch of images of myself, but I was only posting images of clients. 

Like so many small businesses, I didn’t have a clear vision as to what impact showing my face would have on my brand.  Then, in the lockdown, I knew I had to get started and put something of myself out there. So, I storyboarded photo concepts in my home and created images of myself that I loved! The response on my social media was amazing. That started my journey of really understanding Personal Brand photos and their impact! I knew the clients I wanted to attract and I just needed the tools to attract them. With my photos I was able to create a website that accurately told my story and represented me well and the type of service that I provide. 

Personal Brand photography is a business asset and a tool that tells your audience what you need them to know about your brand. Don’t leave this up to chance! Be in control of the story that gets told about your business.

When I had a library of images that showcased my brand, I had a new sense of confidence. It was time to stand up as the face of my brand and feel proud of what I was growing! Check out my Instagram @debbiewaltonphotography

Brand photography was an investment in my business that created measurable returns. Here’s how it does that …

1. Helps your SEO

Everyone wants to boost their SEO. There are a couple of ways that brand photos can help do this. 

The first is through metadata. Search engines can’t see pictures, only words. But having photos increases the opportunities to put keywords on your website. Just rename the photos on your website with keywords you want people to find you with. Do this in the image name or in the metadata, depending on your website hosting platform. Use dashes between words so the search engines can read them properly. For example, if you want clients to find you when they search “top realtors in Thousand Oaks”, you might tag some of your images as top-realtor-in-thousand-oaks-ca. Think of all the different ways that you want people to be able to find you in a search. Use tools like Google Analytics and UberSuggest to get ideas and to see what keywords are already bringing people to your website.

The second way brand photos strengthen your SEO is that good photos will lower your bounce rate. Your bounce rate is the percentage of people who leave your website after viewing just one page. A high bounce rate might indicate that your homepage is boring, off putting or they decide right away that you aren’t the one for them. This could be due to unclear messaging, terrible design or imagery that lowers your credibility and trustworthiness. When you have engaging and strategic imagery on your website, it captivates your audience and entices them to stick around and learn more.

With the right website design and photography, visitors will know right away that you are the business for them, that you offer the quality they are willing to pay for and that your business is credible.

Once they’ve landed on your website and decided that they like what they see, they will most likely stay and view other pages. This tells Google that your website has value that people want and you get SEO points for that. 

2. Increases your credibility / plus you look more professional

Have you ever gotten a referral for a business that provides a service, and then gone to the website to check them out? You don’t see a photo of them anywhere and nothing matches what you’ve heard about them? Then you start to wonder why the price tag is so high when they can’t even put effort into a decent website? And you start to think, “Am I even in the right place?”

You never want potential clients landing on your website and wondering if they are in the right place or not! Brand photography isn’t just about having pretty pictures to use for your business. It’s about being able to control the narrative being told about your brand. Brand photography allows you to give visual meaning to your brand content. 

When the visual experience on your website is elevated, visually pleasing and strategic, you come across on a highly professional level. That is what we all want, right???

3. Improves brand awareness and makes your brand recognizable

Brand photography creates consistency in your brand identity. When you have a cohesive set of visuals, you strengthen your brand awareness. Whenever someone sees your brand, no matter if it’s in an email, social media feed or a headshot on another website, they instantly recognize it as you. Brand recognition is a powerful tool that helps to build trust with your audience.

4. Generates a library of content

This is probably the most tangible return on investment you’ll get after your brand shoot. The time you will save trying to find the right imagery to share with your brand messaging will blow your mind! Think about the last time you had a social media post to share and how much time you spent scrolling your camera roll or Canva to find an image to go with your caption. Now imagine that you had so many on-brand photos that all of them work beautifully with your content strategy. 

Have you ever needed a headshot to send for a speaking engagement or article and you had no idea what you were going to send? You’ll never have that stressful feeling again when you have a library of beautiful, professional images at your fingertips.

5. Helps you stand out and attract the right people

Within your brand strategy, imagery is used to elicit a certain emotion. Think about the emotions you want your clients to feel when they experience your brand. For me, I want my clients to feel confident, empowered, feminine and professional. My personal brand photos are designed to elicit those emotions. When my target audience sees me in my brand photos, they see a professional business woman who is confident and successful and ready to rock. They want that too, so they know they’ve found the right photographer. 

Going into your photo strategy session knowing what emotion you want your brand images to convey, will create imagery that attracts the right people. It’s a win for them, and a win for you because you won’t have to settle for inquiries that don’t excite you.

When you’re ready for new personal brand photos, give me a call. Let’s start planning a photo shoot that will grow your business more than you could imagine!