Why your Business Needs to Adopt Behind the Scenes Photos

Why do you need Behind the Scenes Photos?

Why does your business need behind the scenes photos? Isn’t this just another trend you’re better off without? Behind the Scenes photos are a great way to help your customers visualise what you do, engage more and connect with you. Essentially they are what their name suggests – images taken behind the closed doors of your business. People are curious, so indulge them. Here’s how.

What does behind the scenes photography look like?

Can you set them up yourself? Yes and no. Behind the scenes photos are generally better aesthetically styled and set up to illustrate something specific. They show off the expertise involved in your processes, the sourcing of ingredients and the years of graft in the skills that you offer.

Where can you use behind the scenes photos?

The best thing about them is their versatility. So you can use them as part of:

• an ad campaign,
• in your packaging materials,
• welcome or service brochures,
• on your website about, home and services pages,
• to illustrate your blog,
• throughout your social media feed.

Read on for a few reasons why you need to include them in your branding shoot and start using them if you haven’t already.

Invite your readers to visualise the product or service that you offer

You’ve got the perfect product, and you want your readers to know just how great it is. But is the finished product enough to make them value and desire it?

Behind the scenes images help your readers to visualise what goes into making your product or service. From the organic ingredients you source, to the traditional artisan techniques you use or the up to the minute tools you use day-to-day. Simply giving your potential customers an idea of where everything happens and how you deliver services really helps bring things to life.

Why behind the scenes photos (BTS) help build trust with clients

Actual human faces = more trustworthy brand image

Studies have shown that audiences find websites that don’t feature actual human faces (i.e. your own) are untrustworthy. And given that we know that trust (and emotion) are the foundations of successful marketing, this should make all of us stand up and take note. But more than just a team photo on the staff page, your clients want to see there is an actual person behind the brand. Someone who is invested in it, has a story to tell and is driving it forward. As well as not being just another fake web profile – there are plenty of those around these days, so checks are more important than ever for customers.

Why you need to feature in your own personal brand photography

How often do you feature in photos of your business? We’re often so scared of appearing self interested that we avoid featuring in our own brand photos at all. After all your face isn’t what clients are buying into is it? And yet, there’s nothing more effective than seeing the face and brains behind the business in their own environment to help readers connect.

If you want the evidence for that, try this next time you post. Yes, this is an old trick, but if you haven’t tried it yet, you should – the proof is in the pudding, as they say. Post a personal picture and relate it back to something about you – it doesn’t have to be a spill-all-the-secrets post, just make it vaguely personable. It helps new clients to see you as a real person, rather than a faceless business. And you can bet that your media insights will show how much this personal photo post outranks all the rest. Make your business more relatable by adding in personal touches, and you will begin to build trust with potential clients and increase the engagement of current clients. Show them you’re human and approachable.

It’s also important to show your personality through these photos so people can get an idea of who you are as a person too! Include your interests, expertise and personality in your behind the scenes photos and people engage with you more.

Illustrate for impact – let the visuals talk

How often do you talk about the craft in your work, or the importance of sourcing organic, or the depth of knowledge in your sector? As a good children’s book illustrates its chapters, so too you can effectively illustrate your work. Use talking points, your passion for your work and key ingredients in your behind the scenes photos. Clarity and simple explanation are key. But whilst words are convincing, it is thought that up to 65% of us need visual clues to remember what we have learnt. So use images to illustrate your processes, create talking points and invite curiosity in your client base.

They’re also good for highlighting your unique process or product

In addition to showing the final product, behind-the-scenes photos can also be a great way to highlight the uniqueness in your processes or products.

For example, if you’re a photographer and one of your services is editing images for other photographers’ portfolios, you might want to take photos of how that process works. It could be as simple as showing yourself editing an image and explaining the steps you take. Taking it one step further adds another perspective, like how your style differs from others’, and getting into specifics, how much time each image takes, or which creative effects you use.

Or maybe there’s another side of what makes your business unique–for example, it’s not just about creating amazing products but also working closely with clients every step of the way. Behind-the-scenes photos would help customers understand how important communication is when collaborating with their favourite designers/craftspeople etc.

Share your personality and your brand story

Behind the scenes photos are an excellent way to show off your brand story. They can be used as a way to tell your audience about the people behind it, what they do and how they do it. This kind of photo is more of a lifestyle image but is equally effective in that it allows your clients – new and old – to find interests, locations or habits that they share. Similar characteristics or interests are key in creating connection with clients – and social media is all about connection!

When should you use behind the scenes photos?

Behind-the-scenes photos are brilliant at creating connection in the day to day, as well as starting a conversation or illustrating a talking point. They’re also great if you’re running an event, launching a product or service, hosting a workshop or webinar…the list of where to use your brand imagery goes on:

• Illustrate your tools & services
• Create talking point on social media
• Demonstrate steps in a client process
• Use them in leaflets, brochures and media packs
• Talk about your brand story – about pages, media packs, packaging
• Webinars and workshop media
• Launch of a new product or service
• Brilliant back-up images to store in your image bank

So there you have it – behind the scenes images are not only brilliant for business – they’re also key for illustrating the all-important but hidden aspects of your services and for creating trust and connection with clients. They’re a great way to help people visualise what it’s like to work with you or imagine using your products. If you’d like help designing your branding shoot, email me with your questions now!