3 Reasons to build a personalized image library

Studies show that impressions are made in the first seconds of the consumer encountering a brand. And studies also show that the first thing a potential customer clocks is visual material. Whether you have a complex, multi-tiered marketing plan for your business or are simply aiming to convey your brand consistently on the web and across other marketing materials, you’ll need to have images. 

“No matter how much time you invest in choosing a robust platform, creating a sharp user flow, or establishing brand guidelines, all of it will have limited success – all of it – if your content doesn’t support your users and your business,” says creative director and marketing expert Hannah Green.

The easiest and least expensive option for your business is called an “image bank.” Built-in a day or over time, a brand-consistent image library can take a business from unremarkable to outstanding, grabbing that first impression and following up with strong and distinctive photographic content.

 Here are three reasons a personal image bank is the only option that makes sense

1 Your Market Responds Most to Authentic Photography.

Today’s consumers have used the internet as a tool for most of their lives. If you’re using stock photography, expect your market to sense that right away. Populating your marketing materials and reports with those identifiably impersonal photographs will broadcast a dangerous message to your viewer, leaving them wondering if you are a legitimate and trustworthy business – after all, anyone can license stock images.

Stock photographs are largely vague in nature. Stock sites are populated by those kinds of images for their “versatility” – and therefore the higher likelihood that the content will be licensed by as many of their business customers as possible. Unfortunately, that means the photos you choose are likely to also have been chosen by scores of others, including your competition.

Consumers are 96% more likely to respond to personalized and brand-specific imagery. Authenticity affirms the impression that your business is trustworthy and that your workers and administrators are real people with genuine integrity. Familiarity leads to favorable impressions and it’s up to you to offer your customers a way to become acquainted with your company culture, core messages and brand visuals. Personalized photographic content is the only way to present your business as a unique and trustworthy choice.

This impersonal stock photo offers no brand information.

Here, commercial photographer Diego Cappella integrates brand visuals, company culture and a message of safety.

2 Image Banks Save Time and Money.

Searching for the “right” stock image for a specific context is highly time-consuming. Often, companies don’t allow much room for these quests – so other aspects of design and content suffer as this time vampire stretches on. Once you’ve found a stock photograph that seems to correspond, perhaps, to a general topic, you’re likely to spend even more time than cataloging that image and managing its place in your content inventory. After all, you will need to know when you need to renew your rights and have an ongoing task of doing so.

 An image bank, on the other hand, is intentional. You will have your photographic library in order from the start by choosing your set-ups with intention. In other words, you won’t be combing through random shots to find a fit for your content but instead will have ensured the photograph is available because you provided for that specific need in advance. “Images need somewhere to live: not only for storage but as a resource you can call on again and again and continue to cultivate as your experience grows,” says Green.

Perhaps the most obvious reason to build an image bank is financial. Unlike stock photography, every photograph in your bank is free of licensing fees and other recurring costs. That means that you can build content that has staying power. At any time, you can draw on your personalized branded photographs without any concern for budget. You own your images. If you added up what you currently spend on licensing and usage rights, you’d probably find that a day or two of an on-site photo shoot will come in at a lower cost.

3 Image Banks Grow and Strengthen your Brand

Personalized commercial photography is a no-brainer if you place importance on your branding.  Unlike stock photography, your image bank photographs support company messages, reflect branding aesthetics and increase brand recognition.

Think of it this way, if your materials are generic, what separates you from your competitors? How will they remember you? Even if you’ve taken great pains with a content strategy, if that sensibility is not an integral piece of your visual materials, you are, in essence, keeping it to yourself. The best commercial photographer will think about every aspect of your brand and integrate that into the images he creates. That first glance by your consumer – that initial visual impression – will reflect your distinct brand and company.

Here, commercial photographer Diego Cappella captures a distinctive brand in an employee portrait.

Says Green, “Ultimately, having a cohesive image library will streamline content management, support visual design, and increase brand recognition.” Imagine gaining all of those benefits and actually saving money in the process. Building an image bank is the obvious choice.

To sum up, here are the three reasons you should build a photographic image bank: 

• Personalized images distinguish your company from others and strengthen your brand.

• Image Libraries offer lower costs and saved time.

• Custom company photographs broadcast your company culture, core messaging, and brand aesthetics.

Commercial and industrial photographer Diego Cappella has been helping companies build on their brands with authentic and consistent visual content for over a decade. Start with a one-day shoot on-site at your business or build your bank over time.

Call today to schedule an image bank photography shoot!