When creating any kind of branding, be it a website, promotional material, email campaign or video footage, everyone knows that choosing high quality imagery is key. But simply having top-of-the-line imagery is no longer enough. More often than not, consumers will be expecting a story or narrative in what they see, or at the riskier end humour. We’ve had a look through our image collection and decided to share what we’ve learned about branding and how to optimise your use of imagery in marketing campaigns.
1 – Make It ‘Pop’
Most designers will baulk at the suggestion of the word ‘pop’, due to its overuse and unspecific implications. However, when making a campaign it is crucial that it be memorable in some way. The best way to do this when choosing images is to find interesting patters, vibrant colours or prominent graphical elements to make it really stand out. Or if you prefer to stick to firmer guidelines, take a look at the rule of thirds.
2 – Ensure it Sticks to Your Current Branding Guidelines
Although having vibrant colours is very important, it is vital that the images you choose are in line with the current branding of your organisation. So, if your branding is primarily based on bold or bright colours, it’s probably best to stay away from darker colours that consumers may not identify with your brand.
3 – Be Authentic
The stock image landscape is a rapidly changing environment, with new trends and styles being adopted on a regular basis. As a result, staying in line with current trends is important when putting branding material together. One of the hottest current trends is authenticity, images that show people from a real world perspective (ie. not staged). This can increase consumer trust in the brand as a real image shows that the brand works with real people, rather than just having a promotional storefront.
4 – Organise Your Campaign
This may seem obvious, but having a clear step-by-step game plan towards campaign creation can really boost the quality of your branding. A lot of marketers may create a campaign around an idea and then add in any images that support it at the end. This is not optimal as the images, and therefore the branding, can suffer as a result of being hastily chosen and restricted by the campaign requirements. If you start with an idea, try choosing the images first. This not only gives you more breathing room to find the right image, but also allows you to build the campaign around the branding rather than building the branding around the campaign.
5 – Create an Emotional Connection
The best branding campaigns will always evoke some form of feelings or connection with the consumer. This means staying away from overused office images and instead searching for more unique imagery. If you choose the right image, you can create a connection, which in turn leads to consumer trust. So, take the time to search for the right image for your campaign.
Finding multiple images that support one campaign idea or narrative can be challenging, but after investing the time to optimise your graphical assets you should see your campaigns outperform historical results. For more tips on building great campaigns, you might want to review our tips for a great content strategy.
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