Marketing with Photography: Telling Your Story

When it comes to marketing, photography is an often overlooked key factor.

How is that? Well, the human eye is naturally attracted to visual imagery.

While we’ve talked to you about social media, email, and video marketing—there’s a key factor we may have overlooked.

Want to engage with your audience on social media? Tell your stories with photographs!

How Can Photography Help?

Look for photogenic moments in your organization and at your events, and use these on social media.

Don’t post photos that have no story to them. If you’re gonna photograph people, make sure they’re standing in front of whatever your organization has accomplished (a habitat house, a food drive).

Don’t post every photograph you take. If you take 100 photos, a handful of them will be amazing photos. The rest can be saved for your archives, but less is definitely more.

As for pictures of your staff doing nothing—sure, your social media fans may know your staff, but if they’re not captivating your audience, don’t use them.

Telling Stories with Photography

So how can you tell stories with visuals?

According to John Haydon, the best way to tell stories is by using the very concept of storytelling: every story has a beginning, a middle, and an end.

A classic story will show progression, action, or change.

Haydon says there are four ways to select share-worthy images:

1. Show Action: Photographs that show action are storytelling images. 
2. Show Relationships: Photos with relationships are great at telling stories. If you’re photographing a dog adoption, and you see a happy dog with their happy owner—the story tells itself.
3. Show Problems: When you show a problem, you’re telling a story. And this story inspires viewers to take part and become the happy ending. 
4. Show Results: Photos that show the attainment of a goal tell the story from the finish line. Sometimes that’s simply showing someone with a before and after of a medical procedure.

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So ask yourself, what are your best photographable moments? How can you use these to share your stories?