Stick it to Stock: Elevate Your Marketing with Custom Photography

We’ve all heard the old adage “a picture’s worth a thousand words.” We know this to be true, and as marketers, we often lean on striking, well-executed photography to effectively get our messages across to potential customers. When that photography is created specifically for your business, featuring your employees when appropriate, and with your brand values as a guidepost, the difference is staggering. 

Custom Maycreate photography for Yacoubian Tailors.

Authenticity

Custom photography can bolster your marketing efforts in many ways, with the most impactful being it positions you to tell your brand story genuinely. When it comes to marketing, and business in general (and probably just life too), authenticity is king. We truly believe the best way to reach your target audience is by being real with them. Tell them what makes your product, service, or organization special. And do so from the heart. Using custom photography that aligns with your brand principles and mission as a company might be the simplest, most effective way to achieve this.

Differentiation

Another way custom photography can boost your marketing efforts is by setting you apart from your competitors. When you use custom photos on your website and across your ad campaigns, you’re creating touchpoints for customers that are wholly and uniquely yours. This can also serve to endear your audience to you. When potential customers see the smiling faces of your team or your products in action, they get a clear idea of who you are and what your brand stands for.

Custom Maycreate photography for Yacoubian Tailors.

Showcase Your Products and Your Services

When you stick with stock, there’s no way for you to highlight your actual products, services, or teams. That’s yet another way custom photography can elevate your marketing materials. When you work with a seasoned photographer to create custom images, you can actively and artfully showcase your processes, your people, and your actual offerings. The custom photos give potential customers an inside look at your brand while humanizing your business.

Cohesion

Another benefit of using custom photography for your business is the ability to create cohesion across all channels, from web to print and beyond. The photography your company uses to engage with customers is yet another avenue for bringing your brand vision forward, and it’s important to use images with a consistent style and feel. When you work with an agency for custom photography, you can collaborate to establish a photography style that perfectly aligns with your brand. 

A Better User Experience

Custom photography also helps you create a better overall user experience for potential customers and people who encounter your marketing materials. Especially when it comes to your website, using authentic imagery across all content helps effectively orient the user to your brand and generally has a warmer, more approachable feel overall than stock photography. At the end of the day, we also know good SEO is good business. Better UX/UI helps boost SEO, ultimately making your website more findable by your audience.

Custom Maycreate photography for Yacoubian Tailors.

Wow Factor

The plain truth: custom photography just looks better. There’s nothing wrong with using stock photography now and again within the right application, but we subscribe to the belief that custom is almost always the move. There’s a lot to be said for starting with a great idea and bringing it to life instead of working backwards, scouring iStock for a shot that’s passable– at least as budget and time constraints allow. 

Keeping it Custom

At Maycreate, we’ve had the opportunity to create custom photography for a slew of clients across various industries. One long time client and Chattanooga staple, Yacoubian Tailors, leans on our team’s custom photography consistently to bring their print advertising to life. Shooting fresh photographs for them regularly allows our team to showcase their seasonal clothing offerings, using photography captured in and around their store. Using a setting that is recognizable to their audience helps ground the ads, and selecting models that reflect their target audience– sometimes even people they may know– helps customers envision themselves in the clothing being promoted. 

Work With Us

If your business needs fresh, custom photography to enhance your marketing efforts, our team would be glad to help. Contact one of our account managers, Aaron Petticord or John Wagoner, or call us today at 423.634.0123.