Using photos and videos in marketing

Visual marketing is the future of business. The visual stimulation is no longer a novelty when it comes to marketing efforts— it’s a consumer expectation.

The rise of video marketing, in particular, has caused many companies to reconsider what approach is right for their business. Here are the pros and cons of both photography and videography in visual marketing.

Benefits of photo marketing

There are many benefits to photography in visual marketing that make it a sound choice for businesses of all shapes and sizes. One of the primary benefits is that it’s simple to batch create content to fill a content calendar. Companies can schedule a day or two of photoshoots that fill their content bank for the next month. This makes it easier to plan content, as well as create something on the fly to take advantage of trending topics.

Another overarching benefit of photography is brand clarity and consistency. It’s simple to convey a brand’s visual components— in essence, its aesthetic— by using the same shot style, filters, etc. It’s this simplicity that has helped people understand how to sell Lightroom presets to brands around the globe.

Finally, a photo acts as a versatile hook to share detailed captions. Brands can choose a photo from their bank to pair with a message, whereas making a good video require more planning to be relevant.

Downsides of marketing with photos

Of course, photography isn’t everything. Photography is static, which creates limitations surrounding its applicability. As such, it’s not as engaging as a video, which promotes more interaction with the audience.

Using photo marketing also limits your options surrounding platform use. TikTok is one of the top social media platforms of today. It’s all based on videography, however, rather than photography. Brands that limit themselves to photo marketing won’t have the same opportunities as competitors who use this platform.

Benefits of video marketing

The statistics surrounding video marketing are astounding. According to Hubspot, more than half of the world’s audience expects to see videos from a brand. Video marketing has the best engagement and conversion rates compared to other forms of communication.

Videos are also versatile and can be repurposed for other things. For example, you might take a clip from a longer video and use a pull-quote to create a social media graphic. You could also take an audio clip and play it over a static image or convert images to videos on social media.

Downsides of marketing with video

The real downside to videography in visual marketing is the resource investment. It takes a lot of time and planning to create, to edit, and to publish videos. For small businesses with limited resources, be it human or monetary, creating a consistent video marketing content calendar isn’t always feasible.

Which Form of Visual Marketing is Best?

Rather than choosing one or the other, most brands should aim to create a blend of both video and photo marketing. By creating a blend of both photo and video content, brands can reach a wider audience and improve their conversion rates.

Regardless of which format you choose, brand consistency and clear goals are essential for success with visual marketing. Keep those key elements in mind when crafting a marketing strategy.

Guest post by Wendy Dessler