I love seeing my clients getting their moneys worth, it keeps them coming back and it warms my heart a little to feel like I am helping them take their business to the next level. One place I see a stark contrast between different clients of mine is how much they use the photos. Some clients will post the images to their website and nothing else, some will post the raw shots to social media and that’s it, but what I find really exciting is the possibility of creating exciting content from simple “shots on white” in a few minutes that can be used over and over.
As a demonstration of what can be done I have taken some photos of burgers that I shot for one of my favorite clients, Daily Veg, a vegan restaurant with amazing food. The restaurant does an amazing job of using their imagery and gets a lot of mileage out of their images they use them for an in store menu, for social media in lots of different creative ways and on their website. So this isn’t a tutorial for this client, rather they have inspired me to post this in the hopes that it will help you if you feel like you are not getting much use out of your photos.
The raw material is pretty simple, just the product on a white background photo. While they are awesome for e commerce and selling, If you post these to social media they lack panache. If your budget can afford it, the solution is to shoot lifestyle photos that show the product being used or on a small set in a way that brings life to the product and gets your customers fired up about what you have to offer. But there is a second way, using the images creatively in a collage, by using repeating patterns, adding color and text.
Throughout this post are just a few variations on this idea that make pretty solid social media content. I did these images in photoshop in a few minutes each. While I am very comfortable using Photoshop these are very simple and would be easy for someone with a very basic understanding of the program. If you feel that you aren’t up to the challenge and you are working with a graphic designer then you can give the job to them, it will be money well spent.
In these days of social media, businesses have an amazing amount of control. Rather than spending thousands on a quarter-page of a local magazine, you can reach out to potential clients around the globe. Advertising access to your clients used to mean booking tv time for a commercial, or buying a page in the newspaper or in magazines. But now we can reach a huge audience without the expense of the traditional routes. All you need is content that is engaging and plentiful. Your images make all of the difference, they are what catapult your business in front of people all around the world.
When combined with lifestyle shots, collage images can pad out your feed in a way that is exciting, fun and eye catching. It can also stretch your dollar and keep your product on the top of your clients mind. Just imagine any news or promotion is a great opportunity to add a little text and make another post and keep your followers engaged and informed with your brand. And if you need great product photography you came to the right place.