5 reasons you need personal brand photography for your social media.
A collaboration between social media expert ‘Kira Social’ & personal brand photographer ‘Self Made and Seen’.
As small business owners we understand that social media can be a powerful marketing tool. But it can often be a struggle to know what to post or how to grab peoples attention, and don’t get me started on how long it takes to create content!
But fear not! Because today, I’m talking to social media expert Kira Shaw, of Kira Social and we’re bringing our areas of expertise together to share some of our top tips that will hopefully make it all a bit easier.
Kira provides social media management services including account audits, social media strategy, content management, as well as Facebook and Instagram Ads. So when it comes to all things social media, Kira definitely knows what she's talking about!
And if you’re new around here, hi, I’m Lisa aka Self Made and Seen, and I’m a personal brand photographer. I help small business owners like you stand out and show your dream clients who you are and what you have to offer through unique and impactful images.
Kira and I actually went to secondary school together but we recently reconnected when we realised that we both run our own businesses and that our services go pretty much hand in hand when it comes to small business marketing. So we thought, why not pull our specialties together and share some useful information with you lovely small business owners out there!
So without further ado, here are our 5 top reasons why you need personal brand images for your social media.
1. Stops the scroll.
Social Media Specialist, Kira Shaw of Kira Social - “According to Fasthost’s research, people can scroll the length of Mount Everest in 20 days! That’s a lot of scrolling, so if you want to stop their thumbs, you need content that stands out. Brand photography taken by a professional and tailored to your business will be unique, eye-catching and attention-grabbing. Grab that attention to share your message and market your business effectively.”
Personal Brand Photographer, Lisa Gilby of Self Made and Seen - “Simply put, personal brand images make your social media content and Ads more engaging. Professional photos grab peoples attention, because, let's face it, they’re a cut above all those phone photos crowding your feed. And the personal aspect of the brand images will entice your ideal clients to want to learn more about you.”
2. Enhances your social media strategy.
Kira - “You’ve put a lot of work into crafting your social media strategy, defining your objectives, tone-of-voice and developing a cohesive content plan. Your imagery must support all of these elements by being personalised to your brand. You want your audience to recognise your brand and values as soon as they see the image. Share your strategy with your photographer, so they understand what you need to convey.”
Lisa - “Personal brand photographs can help to communicate your brand message. When you take the time to plan your brand images carefully, they can attract your ideal audience, make the right impression and show what you have to offer. So use your brand images to tell your business story and communicate the right messages. You may want to consider your social strategy before your photoshoot so that you have your aims and content ideas in mind when planning your images and can discuss this with your photographer ahead of the shoot.”
3. Makes your content more personalised to you.
Kira - “Stock images serve a purpose when you’re stuck, but they’re usually recognisable as stock and are impersonal. People tend to buy from people and not from faceless entities. Social media is a space for community building so let your audience get to know you! Sharing your unique visual identity will help attract your people.”
Lisa - “Personal brand photography has the power to show off what is unique about you. These images can show your audience who you are and what you have to offer. By showcasing your personality it can help your audience feel a connection with you and by showcasing your offerings, people will understand how you can help them. If you use stock imagery, there’s nothing personal about it and you wont have the opportunity to build a personal connection with your audience.”
4. Helps you stand out from competitors.
Kira - “Investing in your brand photography sets you apart from the competition. Millions of businesses are showing up on social media, and many of them are giving it a cursory glance and throwing a post up. You will treat your accounts like your shop window and showcase your business through professional, high-quality, attractive photos. Your audience is likelier to trust and buy from you over a business that uses blurry snapshots.”
Lisa - “We just spoke about how personal brand photography has the power to show off what is unique about you, but another reason this is so important is because it helps you separate yourself from businesses with a similar service. Showcasing what’s unique about you helps people understand why they would choose you over a competitor. And by using images of the person behind your business (i.e. you) in your social posts, it will help people recognise that it is you who is sharing this information with them, and that will help your business be more memorable.”
5. Speeds up content creation.
Kira - “Sourcing imagery that fits your content and promotions is much more challenging and time-consuming when you don’t have a bank of specially created images at the ready. No more trawling is necessary when you have a treasure trove of beautiful images to delve into whenever you need. Content creation will be much quicker and you’ll be more confident in sharing it when it looks amazing!”
Lisa - “After a personal brand photoshoot you will have a ton of images which will be useful for a range of social media content. When you have carefully planned images, with a variety of poses, backgrounds, and formats, you’ve got a catalogue of ready-to-go images for your social media content. You could simply post a great photo with an appropriate caption. You could input an image on to a social media graphic template. Or, you could make a slide show of brand images in to a snazzy reel timed to some trending audio. There’s no need to spend ages looking for stock footage, or struggling to make a phone selfie look professional!”
(Here’s a selfie of me and Kira at our mini shoot!)
So there we have it, when you use personal brand photographs on your social media they have the potential to enhance your social media strategy, make your content more personalised, stop people from scrolling past, help you stand out from your competitors and speed up content creation. So when you take the time to plan your social media strategy and your personal brand photographs carefully, they can work together to market your brand more powerfully. When planning your social content you’ll need great brand images, and when planning a brand shoot you’ll need to understand your social media marketing strategy, so remember to consider both when it comes to marketing your business on social media!
Please scroll down to see a few photos from my mini shoot with Kira which we did for our collaboration. ⬇️
To find out more about Kira and her social media services be sure to visit her website or check her out on Instagram @kirasocialmedia.
And if you’d like to discuss your personal brand photography options with me, please get in touch!
So are you ready to get your business seen by standing out with personal brand images?
I’d love to help!
As your personal brand photographer, I’ll aim to show off your unique personality & your specific offerings in a creative way through the beautiful brand images we create together.
I also want to give you more confidence to show up for the people who need your help, so you can build a strong and recognisable personal brand.
Personal brand photography can really help you stand out, make an impact, and get seen!
