Building a Trusted Brand With Authenticity
Brand Authenticity Makes You Stand Out
Consumers today are constantly bombarded with tons of marketing messages across multiple platforms. It isn’t enough anymore just to have a cool logo or website–most of the competition has that. The name of the game is to stand out from the herd. Increasingly, authenticity is the key to creating a trusted brand.
Authenticity doesn’t just garner quicker sales or repeat customers. It fosters trustworthiness and lifetime value, leading to a stronger market position long term. That in turn leads to sustainable growth.
Location can be huge in conveying authenticity.
Key aspects to Building Brand Authenticity
So how does a brand use photography for building authenticity? The answer to that rests in the key aspects of authenticity in marketing.
Transparency: Transparency means you are open and honest about your services, products and processes. Pricing is straightforward, and you are honest about your business practices and sourcing. So for example, you could have professional photos of you providing services, working with suppliers, and generally interacting with clients.
Consistency: Consistency demonstrates reliablility and fosters confidence in the company. Of course, your marketing messages should closely align with the experience you provide the client. But consistency is also conveyed when all of your marketing messages align and present cohesiveness. For example, if you are providing a high end experience or a professional service, you don’t want to use cheap visuals in your marketing. The same amount of thought should go into your branding photos as you would put into your website or logo. Professional Branding Photography will enhance everything you have worked so hard to develop.
Emotional Connection: Emotions naturally evoke a response–use emotional connection with clients to your advantage. Photos are a great way to foster emotional connections.
Working from home is not necessarily negative. You don’t need to hide it.
How Can Professional Branding Photos Enhance Authenticity?
Good Photography can tell stories–which is critical to building trust. In addition to your website, a library of professional branding images is very useful for social media and other outlets.
With that in mind, the elements of any good story feature main characters and secondary characters. A good story has action. How about featuring employees and clients interacting to solve a problem or get a result? Potential customers and clients want to know why they should choose you over your competitors–show them with photos how you are different.
A word on stock images: While it is tempting to use stock images–do you really want a Random Karen on your website if you are trying to build authenticity? Besides the fact that stock images can also be used by your competitors, they are almost always with professional models. Consumers today are very discerning and can spot stock photos a mile away. Dare to be real.
Conclusion
To get the best results in your Professional Branding Photos, you will need to ask yourself a few questions.
- What are the intentions behind our Branding Photo Shoot? How will the images be used?
- What is the story we are trying to tell through the Photography and why?
- How can we best show up with authenticity to tell this story through photos?
Once you have clarity around these points, the rest will naturally fall into place.
If you would like to collaborate with us on how to tell your brand story authentically, you can use our Contact Form to get in touch or call directly at (518) 584-4237.
Be sure to check out this post on Why Investing in Branding Photos Is an Investment in Yourself.
Saratoga Headshots creates dynamic and engaging photography content for businesses in the Saratoga NY Area.
