social media

Business portraits on social network sites

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Want more proof that business portraits are important?

A 2012 eye tracking study showed that the number one thing viewers look at on a LinkedIn page is the person’s profile photo. And there’s no reason why this behaviour might be any different on other social networking sites.

This study [link to PDF], produced by a LinkedIn competitor, examined how professional job recruiters viewed online resumés. The first thing recruiters always noticed was the profile portrait and it held their attention for about 19% of the total time spent on page.

This can be bad news or good news.
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Commercial photography for web sites

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When licensing pictures, corporate photographers and commercial photographers must remember that there’s no such thing as “web use.” The Web is a medium, not a use. Photos used online can be editorial, advertising or anything in-between.

Many business clients use photographs not only on their web site but also on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. A photographer has to decide whether such use is no longer editorial or public relations but rather a form of advertising. The common definition that only a “paid placement” is advertising may no longer apply.

For a corporate client, its own web site is usually considered marketing collateral and not advertising. All advertising is marketing but not all marketing is advertising.

But for a business client such as a retailer, is its web site a form of advertising? What about that company’s Facebook or Twitter account?

Perhaps every use on the Web should be priced higher than similar use in print. This is not just for the larger and longer-lasting “circulation” of a web site but also for the increased shift towards advertising use.

 

Corporate photography policy

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Most companies use photography on their web sites, social media sites, corporate blogs, printed brochures and marketing materials, in-house publications, trade show displays and probably in several other ways. As such, it’s very important that companies have a policy regarding the handling and storage of these photographs.

• By law, almost every picture is copyrighted. Permission to reproduce such photos needs to be in writing. Does a business have written permission for every picture it uses? Where are these written permissions kept?

• Professional photography is licensed for use and rarely, if ever, sold outright. Where does a company keep copies of these licenses and how are they tracked?

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Fix your profile

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Business portrait, executive portrait, headshot, social media portrait or profile picture. No matter what you call it, a picture of yourself is important for your business. Really.

For social media, the most important picture is the author’s own portrait. For businesses, both small and large, having online portraits of key employees is very important. Really.

People trust what (and who) they can see more than what (and who) they can’t. A profile without a photo is like a day without sunshine. (Okay, I made up that last bit but hopefully you get my point).

From an Inc. Magazine article titled Fix Your Profile Picture:

Your profile picture is about branding you and the business you own. Are you handling it that way?

(. . .)

Invest the money in a professional photographer. Profile pictures are a booming sideline for many professional photographers. Hire one. It should cost about $200 depending on where you live and what you need specificially [sic].

(. . .)

Update your picture every couple of years.

 

Can’t get no satisfaction

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The most popular web site in the world is, of course, Facebook. The site with the lowest customer satisfaction rating is …. Facebook.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index just released its 2011 survey results for customer satisfaction of social media web sites. For the second year, Facebook is in last place. Since Facebook has almost no competition (yet), it has no incentive to be good.

But considering Facebook’s low user satisfaction, its current size dominance cannot be taken for granted in the future. For companies that provide low levels of customer satisfaction, repeat business is always a challenge unless customers lack adequate choices, as in the case of near monopolies. It is possible that Facebook’s gigantic user base in and of itself might provide a certain monopoly protection.

Since a photographer doesn’t usually have a monopoly on photography services in their area, the photographer has no choice but to provide good customer service. This is more important than producing super artistic photography. (Yes, the quality of photography must be consistently at least equal to professional standards.)

Customer service isn’t just about promptly returning phone calls and delivering the pictures on time.

Good customer service includes such things as: understanding the customer’s photography needs, foreseeing and then addressing any potential problems before they become problems, making sure the delivered photographs meet the proper specifications for the required use, suggesting alternative ideas for the photography, and knowing how to properly use all your tools (camera, computer, software).

If customers are not satisfied then the photographer hasn’t done their job. Delivering just pictures isn’t enough.

 

The value of press releases

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The Oriella PR Network just released its 2011 Digital Journalism Study. This annual survey looks at the impact of digital media on journalism. It also studies how journalists use social media in their research.

A key finding of this survey is that 62% of journalists depend on press releases and media handouts for story ideas. Press releases are the first stop for journalists looking for information. Press releases are viewed as more valuable and more trustworthy than blogs, Facebook pages, Twitter or any other type of social media.
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Paid Placements

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When photography is licensed for editorial use, public relations or certain other uses, there will often be a licensing clause that states that the picture(s) may not be used for “paid placements”. A few folks have asked what this means.

“Paid placement” is simply any use that requires the company to pay a fee to have the photo(s) published. Paid placement includes, but is not limited to, advertising.

One could argue that all business communication is a form of advertising but here are three general types of photography usage:
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