3 problems with your brand images.
There are three potential problems with the images you are using to represent your brand that you should really care about. Considering that most of the images you are utilizing are for web presence, whether that be your website or your social media these can be a major contributor to your brand’s essence. Still, confused about what a brand is? We’ve written a whole article about it here. Images are a major part of the visuals that people connect to when they see your content, which means there are a pretty big deal!
The first thing you should care about the images you use is where they are from and who owns the licensing. Using an image off google isn’t really a-ok, you can actually get into some major legal issues which could turn out to cost you more money than if you just did your own photoshoot. There are a ton of free resources all over the internet that offer free licensed photos for you to utilize (just make sure to credit) some of our favorites are unsplash.com and envato.com (some here are paid) we also have a membership to Adobe Stock if we are using images for commercial purposes.
The second thing you should consider is are you being consistent. Are your images not portraying the same “vibe” are they a bit all over the place? Guess what, that makes you look all over the place… which is a big no-no when running your own business. You always are striving for your brand to be consistent and clear, this gives your viewers something constant that they start to associate with you. (You want this!) Changing up your vibe every few months is overwhelming for viewers and can potentially lead to you losing some followers in the end. (Read our article on the 3C’s of a good brand to delve in a bit deeper.)
The third item and one that is a mistake we see over and over again when analyzing people’s websites or social media is the quality of the images. Trust me, I get the “Done is better than perfect” motto, but with this, you don’t want to skimp on this. Being a small business owner we know that big budgets may not be a real thing to have the luxury of consistent brand photoshoots. Trust us when we say people can tell the photo is a selfie, or when the photo is taken at a lower resolution, or when you didn’t take a second to wipe the grime off of your iPhone camera lens. We live in a digital world full of HD and Retina screens and trust us when we say the grain is not a good look for anyone.
Your brand isn’t just your logo and the tone of voice on social media, your brand also plays out with the images used to associate yourself with people. Having a clear and consistent look is crucial. You want people to focus on the content and on your work, not seeing the fuzz or the grain on an image. You especially never want to showcase a stolen image on your website or social media without proper credit or licensing, this is the biggest way to get in trouble financially as well as to have your customers lose trust in you and your services.
