A compelling write-up, coupled with emotive imagery, can sell pretty much anything to anyone. You just need the right imagery for the right pitch. But while B2C professionals generally have their photos on point, the same is less true for B2B brands, which often rely more heavily on the pitch itself. Sure, you’re getting the message across without photos, but is it creating the impact you want? Probably not.
To keep your audiences hooked, you need to add oomph to your marketing through images. Well-tailored marketing photos are more critical than ever. But how to get started? In this guide, we’ll walk you through the nitty-gritty of marketing photos.
Why Care About Marketing Photos?
Here are some stats about the importance of marketing photos and how they’re relevant to the B2B industry:
- When people are given a piece of information, they’ll usually remember only 10% of it after 3 days. However, if that information is paired with an image, they’ll remember 65% of it. Imagery adds sticking power to your message.
- People following directions perform much better when they are given illustrations in addition to text instructions—323% better, according to one study. The imagery makes things clear and straightforward for your audience.
- Photos massively increase the number of social media shares and engagement received by tweets, Facebook posts, and blog posts. The imagery makes your content enticing and engaging for viewers.
The Role of Marketing Photos in the B2B Industry1. Capture your audience’s attention
Human brains are designed to perceive the world visually. Content paired with photos is more eye-catching and automatically pulls in more clicks when people are scrolling through endless feeds of text. Content without relevant photos is likely doomed to be ignored. In fact, audiences are 60% likelier to interact with a brand that implements the power of marketing photos.
2. Reinforce brand image and identity
More than any other form of content, visuals can evoke emotions. A dramatic landscape is eye-catching and calls to mind dreams of travel and adventure; a basket of adorable kittens pulls at the heart-strings. Pairing your marketing content with relevant, attention-grabbing photos will help audiences instinctively connect to your brand and associate positive emotions with your brand identity.
3. Create engagement
Apart from grabbing attention, marketing photos have one more superpower. Images increase social media engagement. Audiences respond better to content that is visually interesting. In fact, content with images receives 40% more attention than content without visuals. Buzzsumo found that articles featuring a photo every 75 to 100 words were shared twice as much as content without pictures.
4. Generate sales
The quality of the images you choose is a kind of social testimonial—it speaks to your professionalism, integrity, and the quality of your products. If your business has poor-quality images that aren’t correctly optimized for the web, you are neutering one of your most valuable assets. Great photos help build subconscious trust among potential clients and make them feel confident in purchasing your products. If you need help creating high-quality assets, you can use tools like AI-powered image editors to ensure your images are world-class.
5. Generate more leads
Whether it’s a dedicated SEO boost or a targeted social media campaign, new business leads in B2B come from many different sources. But you’ll be setting yourself up for success regardless of the source if you have these four factors aligned:
- Content
- Imagery
- Calls to action
- Audience-focused profiles
Having all four will make your brand irresistible, but sacrificing one will likely cause your brand to suffer. Ask yourself—would you commit to a B2B company if their website was stocked with blurry images in unclear contexts? Chances are you wouldn’t, even if they had great content. The same goes for your potential clients. Transforming your content with an image-led approach can be a great catalyst for your business growth.
Different Types of Marketing Photos
There are a variety of photos that you can use in your marketing strategy. Below, we cover the most popular ones.
1. Stock photos
Stock images are pre-captured professional photos and are a convenient way of getting marketing photos quickly, at a low price. However, not all stock photos are licensed the same way, so you must check the permissions before using these images.
While stock photos are readily available, they may not be the best choice to represent your brand. If you have the time and resources, we recommend taking your own brand photos. When surveyed, over 40% of marketers said that stock photos did not help them meet their marketing goals—more than any other type of visuals.
2. Branded graphics and stock art
Marketing images don’t always have to be photographs. You can also add value to your branding with graphics. Free graphic design software like Canva can be a great place to start if you want to create elegant social media posts, branded graphics, and presentations.
3. Infographics
Infographics are images that have information or text written on them. Infographics take advantage of how our minds work, making it easier for viewers to absorb a lot of information while retaining and understanding it better than they would with text alone. If you’re publishing in-depth content or a report, consider creating an infographic to accompany it.
4. GIFs
The GIF, or Graphic Interchange Format, is an animated flipbook-style visual, often used to clip parts of films or TV shows and to express humorous reactions. GIFs were invented in the 1980s but have recently become more popular among B2B brands as a way to express dynamic, engaging, and relatable content. There are many free tools that let users create GIFs with little or no expertise. Just make sure your chosen GIFs align with your brand personality!
5. User-generated content
User-generated content, or UGC, refers to images and videos published by your customers. This is an incredibly powerful tool, as it requires little effort on your part and is a great form of word-of-mouth marketing. UGC encourages your prospects to capture visual content for you. Lots of B2B brands use UGC on their website and social media to represent the brand’s real-life credibility and utility.
Bottom Line
B2B marketers must realize that content paired with marketing photos is far more compelling than written content alone. The key is choosing the correct format for your brand. Look for images that are simple, authentic, and diverse and relate closely to your publishing content. Wherever possible, create unique content instead of relying on stock imagery for a powerful, recognizable brand presence.