How to Take Photos That Sell – 8 Tricks to Taking Professional-Looking Ad Photos
Even the best product or most brilliant idea can struggle to sell well if its advertising falls short. As a $149 billion annual trade, online advertising is often an integral part of a successful advertising. And online advertising requires images to capture your audience’s attention. According to a recent study, professional photographs are twice as likely to be shared as user-generated ones. But what if you can’t fit a professional photographer into your budget? Don’t despair: We’ve compiled a list of eight tricks for creating a professional-looking image yourself.
- Start with a good camera
When it comes to real estate photos, taking photos with a DSLR camera (or digital single-lens reflex camera) not only helped the homes sell faster, but also brought in a higher ultimate sale price. The same holds true for products and services. If you want to portray your goods at their best, you need to use the best quality tools. - Lighting
Nothing kills a good photo faster than poor lighting. The good news: nothing can rectify poor lighting like a professional photo editing company. Aim for natural light when you can and leverage the color correction services of a professional photo editing company when you’re done. - Show off the benefits so the image can speak for itself
At the end of the day, you’re selling customers on what your product or service can do for them. If you want them to buy your roller skates, show them an image of how cool they’ll look skating in them or how your roller skates can out-skate the competitions. By using images that capture not only your product, but its benefits as well, you won’t need to overcrowd your advertisement with ad copy; the image will speak for itself. - Speak to their emotions
A great feature of photography is its ability to speak to our emotional sides. Likewise, the saying “A picture is worth a thousand words,” has something to be said about photo advertising. A picture can convey a message that would take minutes to read in mere seconds – – at least, a quality image can. When framing a photo for an advertisement, consider how you want consumers to feel when they look at this image and find a way to convey that emotion as quickly and potently as possible. - A little laughter can go a long way
Along the lines of emotional responses, it never hurts to make them laugh. Remember this: At the end of the day, we all just want to be entertained. If you can find a way to associate your brand or product with something that made them laugh, you’ll have them. - Teach them something…
Either instead of or in addition to eliciting laughter, a strong advertisement image educates or informs the viewer about something. If you can teach your potential consumers something new, they’ll be far more likely to remember you later on. Likewise, your brand will now be associated with that fascinating new bit of information they learned; if you’re lucky, when they go out to share this new information with their friends, your name will come up in the conversation, too. - … like a new skill
If you’re struggling to think of something you could teach your ad viewers, why not show them how to do something new. Do you sell design tools? Show them how to design something with those tools. Make them want what your product can do for them. - Don’t mislead but don’t disguise either
Take care when photographing products that you don’t show them with features or accessories they won’t include. If you sell shoes but no shoe laces, don’t photograph your shoes with laces in them. However, if you sell three different pairs of laces, each in different colors, make sure to include all three in your photographs. By displaying your products with all of their accessories, you can help consumers imagine how they can use that product and how using it will benefit them. - Invest in a professional photo editing company
Last but certainly not least: there is no getting around the value of professional photo retouching. Particularly if you aren’t using a professional photographer, a professional photo editing company is essential. Indeed, a professional editing company is the next best thing to a professional photographer.
