Choosing your brand images
Call it superficial, but your images play a huge role in forming your audience’s first impressions. And you don’t need me to tell you this. Or, maybe you do.
LOOK, FEEL, LOVE
Look and feel contributes to your overall brand and user experience, so it’s important to spend time playing with, preening and polishing it as part of the whole brand strategy process. There’s a reason why a third of all internet users are on Instagram and why the number of Instagram likes per day averages around 4.2 billion: we simply love looking at gorgeous images. Ok, sometimes the stuff on there is more grotesque than gorgeous, but the key is that we’re super stimulated by visual content.
QUALITY COUNTS
You’ll be judged on the quality of your images, so the higher res the better. And now that end-users everywhere are increasingly well-educated on image filters, expect them to notice your colour palette, or indeed if you even had one to begin with. Things like this are no longer limited to your designers and brand bods. If you’re not convinced, choose a brand you admire and take a look at their Insta-feed. The seamlessness you know and love them for is probably visible in every image they’ve selected here.
Choose carefully, because each image, and group of images, speaks to the user in a language that’s down to interpretation. Make sure your image library relays a consistent and clear brand message, and reflects the values the brand stands for. The user doesn’t need to read a word of written content to take these messages away, and that can be a great thing, especially if your pictures are on point.
THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE
Now I’m going to give credit to this fantastic blog post: 21 Amazing Sites With Breathtaking Stock Photos found on Snappa. The blog gives useful short descriptions about the features of each site. These sites offer such a vast and varied choice of free stock images that I rarely make it to the bottom of the list.
Boring, cliché stock images, be gone. Save some of your precious marketing budget and make a bigger impact. Oh, and don’t forget to credit the photographer. You never know, someone might be using your Insta-snaps to tell their brand’s story one day.
Photo by Sylwia Bartyzel on Unsplash
