Now that everyone and their brother have a pretty decent digital camera we’re suddenly swamped with clients who want to take their own product shots and / or management head shots to save a little money.
This is not a good idea.
The presence of a digital camera – no matter how many pixels it delivers – doesn’t ensure a great shot. Sometimes it doesn’t even ensure a decent shot.
Good photography requires an understanding of composition & depth of field, the right lighting equipment, proper color correction, retouching and a whole bunch of other things.
This is important because the quality of the photos on your website, in your ads, on your collateral materials, and anywhere else they appear sends a message to the viewer. If the photo quality is poor (poor lighting, blurry image, flat, boring) your potential buyers will assume that the quality of your product or service is also poor.
A big leap, I admit, but it happens because your prospects are human.
Think about it. If you get on a plane and the interior is worn and dirty, doesn’t that make you worry a little about how well they maintain the stuff that makes the plane fly? If you look at the photos on a website and the CEO’s picture has all the power and personality of a driver’s license photo, don’t you wonder how successful that company really is? If the shot of a flagship product is distorted and obviously inaccurate colors, don’t you wonder how much really went in to its development?
This post was inspired by Wendy Maynard who found a website that compares professional photos of various fast foods with non-professional photos of the actual food. Check it out. You’ll get the point. Ads vs. Reality
And while I’m on the subject of using professionals, the same holds true for graphic designers and copywriters. Access to a desktop publishing program does not equip the user with a keen understanding of layout and readability. Nor does a word processing program make the user a talented and persuasive writer.
My point, and I do have one, is that the quality of all of the elements of your marketing materials is vital to the success of your marketing program. It reflects heavily on your company and your product or service.
It’s far better to do fewer things and do them well than to cut corners in order to do more. Well-trained and experienced photographers, graphic artists and copywriters can make a world of difference in your results.
And even if you could do all of these things well (and I have one client who is an absolutely outstanding amateur photographer), is this really the best way to spend your time?
Technorati Tags: marketing, business to business, photography, susan tatum, tatum marketing
This article was first published August 11, 2008 on the Tatum Marketing blog
Now that everyone and their brother have a pretty decent digital camera we’re suddenly swamped with clients who want to take their own product shots and / or management head shots to save a little money.
This is not a good idea.
The presence of a digital camera – no matter how many pixels it delivers – doesn’t ensure a great shot. Sometimes it doesn’t even ensure a decent shot.
Good photography requires an understanding of composition & depth of field, the right lighting equipment, proper color correction, retouching and a whole bunch of other things.
This is important because the quality of the photos on your website, in your ads, on your collateral materials, and anywhere else they appear sends a message to the viewer. If the photo quality is poor (poor lighting, blurry image, flat, boring) your potential buyers will assume that the quality of your product or service is also poor.
A big leap, I admit, but it happens because your prospects are human.
Think about it. If you get on a plane and the interior is worn and dirty, doesn’t that make you worry a little about how well they maintain the stuff that makes the plane fly? If you look at the photos on a website and the CEO’s picture has all the power and personality of a driver’s license photo, don’t you wonder how successful that company really is? If the shot of a flagship product is distorted and obviously inaccurate colors, don’t you wonder how much really went in to its development?
This post was inspired by Wendy Maynard who found a website that compares professional photos of various fast foods with non-professional photos of the actual food. Check it out. You’ll get the point. Ads vs. Reality
And while I’m on the subject of using professionals, the same holds true for graphic designers and copywriters. Access to a desktop publishing program does not equip the user with a keen understanding of layout and readability. Nor does a word processing program make the user a talented and persuasive writer.
My point, and I do have one, is that the quality of all of the elements of your marketing materials is vital to the success of your marketing program. It reflects heavily on your company and your product or service.
It’s far better to do fewer things and do them well than to cut corners in order to do more. Well-trained and experienced photographers, graphic artists and copywriters can make a world of difference in your results.
And even if you could do all of these things well (and I have one client who is an absolutely outstanding amateur photographer), is this really the best way to spend your time?
Wed, Nov 4, 2009
Conversion Optimization, Traffic
Written by: Susan Tatum