Taking perfect photos for your business isn’t just about lighting and props (though those are important). Great photos come with great planning. Hair, make-up, multiple outfit options, and a good location with multiple backdrops are all part of the planning process. Furthermore, think about how you can plan your months' social media posts. This blog will show you how to break down planning and give tips on taking great photos.
Ideally, you should have around 15 posts per month on social media. This accounts for every other day. Use the same 15 pieces of content for both Instagram and Facebook.
Let’s break an ideal month of content planning down:
5 – Service posts (What you offer)
5 – Product posts (Show off your products)
2 – Tips and Tricks (Related to your business)
3 – Pictures of you (Clients want to see your face! The easiest way is to take pictures of yourself with the product/s)
The content you should mix-up each month but you want to have a healthy balance of Service, Product, and your Personal Brand (That's YOU!)
Working with Promote Creatively? PC has you covered for everything except the 3 personal pictures of you.
Prepping for photos:
Did you wake up this morning loving your hair? Great! Start those photos today. Bring 3 or 4 outfits to change so you can get multiple shots quickly. Your hair and makeup can stay the same, no need to add on work. Now grab a few props to enhance your photos; coffee mug, favorite book, your laptop, maybe a potted plant, or loose flowers. Keep it season-friendly. Is there a holiday coming up? Grab something for that too. You don’t want to be scrambling to make a cute holiday photo as I’m sure you’ll already have enough to do that day. Make a quick rubric of photos you’ll need, i.e. holidays, “join my business,” selfies, etc.
Backdrop:
Keep it clean and simple, but interesting i.e. mural wall, shiplap wall, park bench, etc. Not in front of your kitchen sink full of last night's dirty dishes. I would also avoid cluttered bookcases and family photos in the background. These are too distracting and take away from people seeing your product. Don’t have a good spot in mind? Don’t worry, you can make a removable backdrop with PVC pipe and some fabric or buy one on Amazon. If you’re in fashion, laying outfits flat on the ground or bed with props around works great. Last but not least, have good lighting. Ring lights are great for self-portraits and can double as lighting for stand-alone products in a pinch. Watch for shadows as these will distract from a great picture.
Batch your month:
What holidays, sales, or events are happening this month? Take those photos all at once so you are prepared for your social media posts well in advance.
Do's and don’ts when posting on social media:
Do schedule your posts. Again, it’s all about planning. Get them all done at once or at least for the week and you’ll be less frantic.
Don’t put text over your photos with photo editors. If you are using company marketing materials is most likely against your companies’ corporate rules and it looks too busy. Keep it simple.
Do add your link in your bio for Instagram as it will not work on the individual post caption. For Facebook, the link will work in the post caption so included it on Facebook Posts only.
Do make sure the images are the correct size for the platform. Blurry images are a big bummer after you’ve put all that work into creating the perfect photos. For the full article on image sizes visit https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-image-sizes-guide/
Happy Photoshoot Day! Good luck!!
Comments