As a Creative Director, these are my tips for how to know when it might be time to shake things up with your brand photos…

#1 Your website is full of stock photos

This one hurts me a little bit, but I totally get it…if you have recently launched a new business and couldn’t wrap your head around getting yourself some on-brand content to kick things off, that’s understandable! I have been in the new phase of business myself several times, and I realize the expenses are high, the to do lists are long, and the desire to get going is strong…so you may have launched your website with stock imagery. But now…now, you are rocking and rolling, and you feel secure in your brand and aesthetic, so it is time to get yourself some very on-brand photos of your own.

I see this one a lot with my clients. They launched their business with stock photos and they come to me when they feel ready to better represent their brand, and let me tell you…this move makes me so happy. Stock photos are there for a reason, but let’s be real…nothing is better than imagery that is captured specific to YOU.

When I work with these clients, we are intentional about making sure we grab some of their very own brand stock images, something I talk all about in this blog post, making sure that they never have to rely on a stock image that isn’t their own ever again! TOTAL UP-LEVEL!

#2 Your business has a seasonality component

This one I understand wholeheartedly as a retail shop owner myself. At Salt + Grove, we noticed a massive difference in our marketing efforts once we decided to invest in seasonal content shoot dates with one of our favorite photographers. Instead of struggling to find a photo that matched our seasonal collection launch to post on social or on our website, we now have a massive gallery of images to choose from throughout the seasons. We find ourselves so much more willing and able to tackle our social media game too, knowing the struggle is gone!

If you are a retail business owner, my best advice is to engage with a content subscription offering like this one, where you can bank on getting yourself some high-quality, planned out content at least twice a year (spring/summer and fall/winter)…each season, even better! Think of how nice it would feel when the next season rolls around and you are ready to connect with all of your customers on your offerings with on-brand imagery that is your own and relative to the time of year!

#3 You’re about to launch a new product or offering

Congrats! This is so exciting and will hopefully elevate your sales and your business to new heights. I’m sure you are so excited for this next step in your business. Here’s the thing…we want your customers to be just as excited as you! We want them to be intrigued and on the edge of their seats, waiting to hear about the next new awesome thing you are about to do (hello, Taylor Swift fans! You know what a mastermind she is at marketing her next move)…

OLD CONTENT WON’T DRUM UP THE EXCITEMENT! We don’t see Taylor using old photos to drop her newest album, so you shouldn’t either! Shiny and new deserves shiny and new. The investment and a well-thought out marketing plan will yield in more sales…guaranteed!

#4 You’ve recently rebranded

Rebranding your business is one of the biggest steps you can take when wanting to level up your brand. It shows your audience that you have grown and refined your business and that you are taking things to the next amazing level. Rebranding can be for many reasons, the most significant and common being; the desire to connect to a new target audience, a shift in brand vision, a rename, and more. Whatever the reason, this is a big step, one that signifies a big transition. Capturing new imagery to match your new brand is an essential step in the process.

Perhaps we don’t need a new outfit for every event we go to, but we do need new brand imagery when we rebrand.

#5 You want to stand out in the crowd

This is probably my favorite reason to want new brand imagery and ultimately the reason for all of the brand moves I encourage my clients to make. There is a lot of noise out there, and undoubtedly, there is someone else offering the same things as you. So, how do we differentiate ourselves? By settling into our unique values and stories so that we can best connect with the target audience we want to work with.

Brand Photography is one of the best ways to capture a brand’s essence, resulting in visual assets that allow us to tell the story of our brand so that all the right people in all the right places can find us, connect with us, and want to work with us.

I (obviously) can’t say enough about the value of getting your brand some high-quality, intentional, well-planned imagery. These photos ultimately become one of the most relevant and effective tools in your marketing toolbox. The fast-paced world we live in desires to be educated, entertained by, and connected with visually. Telling your brand story in this way will absolutely prove to be worth it in every way.

CREATIVE DIRECTION BY GOLDEN