How to maximize the value from your portraits
It's one thing to strategize, brainstorm and discuss with others how to leverage your branded lifestyle portraits…
It’s quite another when you actually follow through and do the work, :)
Fortunately, many of my clients are doers and not just talkers.
One client in particular who has consistently leveraged her branded lifestyle images in a wide variety of ways is Donna Cravotta. As I’ve told her on many occasions, she is one of my All-Stars that gets it, :)
As she continues to build her visibility through a variety of online channels, she strategically leverages a wide variety of photos from the image content portfolio that we created not too long ago in a way that visually punctuates the sentiment of her messaging.
It’s not the photos alone that make the posts pop.
Donna utilizes Canva to create her graphic elements and layouts, which add a high level of production value already present in the image. Working with those templates are an easy way to incorporate all the pertinent information that you want to share with your audience, while presenting it in a visually appealing way.
Let me show you what I mean by sharing some of her work:
SOCIAL POSTS
Whether a short phrase or an entire paragraph, I am a huge proponent of leveraging text on images...I also a huge proponent of portraits that involve mermaid crowns, but, that’s another story altogether, :)
This portrait of her wearing a Mermaid crown wonderfully visually punctuates the “Be SOCIAL be YOU” message, because Donna is all about the mermaids, which I know based on the time that we’ve worked together.
In addition, although she now lives in the ‘burbs, she was born and raised in Brooklyn, so, she requested that I capture some NYC train station images that harken back to her youth. She leveraged this particular image in an awesome way because the format of her text compliments the lines in the photo.
NEWSLETTER
If you’re not signed up for her weekly email, Friday Finds - um, get on that, will you? - the banner at the top of every email has this image of her “finding” things on her tablet.
Although we created a slew of similar images with her working on the tablet, I especially like this choice because she’s smiling and enjoying herself as she deep dives into her research, which gives a much more inviting presence than if she went with a photo that showed her with a more focused and serious tone - there’s a place for those images, too, but, just not here.
FB LIVE PROMOTION
One of Donna’s main marketing focuses these days is to gain visibility and educate her audience through a weekly FB Live segment. Social PR Live.
Again, using a photo that illustrates her enjoying herself while working hard is a very welcoming and warm introduction that invites people to join in on the conversation.
One compositional/geeky point to mention here is that by leveraging an image that is on an angle really adds a dynamic energy to the piece overall - it compels me to want to read all of the information in the left panel.
BLOG POSTS
This happens to be a photo that I have also used as a blog post thumbnail image - in addition to a social post image, a slide in one of my presentations, and, also, for a digital ad, :) - so, I’m a little biased in showcasing it here, but, the fact of the matter is is that it’s a wonderful image that visually punctuates the sentiment of this particular blog post she wrote.
These are just a few of the many ways that Donna has leveraged her branded lifestyle portraits, and, it excites me to see how she expands upon it down the road.
Let this article serve as inspiration as you figure out how to leverage your own portraits and other image content in creative and valuable ways.
Speaking of that, how’s it going in that area of your marketing efforts? Having trouble figuring out which photos work well where?
Well, I can certainly help you with that…
Schedule a call with me and let’s see if we’re a fit to work together, :)
PS - For those of you who aren’t in the know, I mail out these blogs 3x a week, and lemme tell you, they’re a real party, so, if you’d like to get in on this, sign up for it here and I’ll throw in a free gift for you, because I care, :)