7 Ways to Use Personal Branding Photos
What is personal branding? Personal branding is the process of creating an identity for you and your business. It is how you communicate your brand and its values to the world and ensure that your target audience knows who you are, what you stand for, and why they should choose you over your competition.
Part of building your personal brand and sharing your brand story is through photos. But a brand photoshoot is about more than just really good pictures of you. It’s part of how you share your brand message and tells your story. It’s the visual piece of how your audience connects with you.
Social media is the biggest way that you will use your new brand photos. Every caption is accompanied by a beautiful photo. Your website is also an image dominant touchpoint. But where else can you utilize your brand imagery?
Here are seven places to use your brand photos beyond social media
1. Your blog
Use custom brand photos as the featured image in your blog posts. Implement your content strategy into your photoshoot planning and you’ll get on-brand imagery for your blog. Using branding photos in your blog creates consistency in your blog post grid, however, you have it displayed for your viewers. It also transfers nicely into an email newsletter when you share that blog post with your subscribers.
In each blog post, there is also a place to select a social share image. This is the image that pops up when the blog link is shared on Facebook and in Google search results. Having a brand photo in this space creates continuity no matter where or who shares your content.
2. Your signature block
Personalize your emails and your newsletters with a photo of you. Creating an email signature with Canva is a great way to make your emails look more professional. To get started, sign up for a free Canva account. You can choose an Email Signature template or create your own design from scratch.
Add your headshot to the signature block in your email newsletters for an extra personalized touch! Use the native templates in your email builder to create one.
3. Guest post or speaker feature
Networking is huge for growing your business. If you are a guest post author or a podcast guest speaker, the host will want to feature your business on their website and social media. Don’t let them screenshot a photo, send them a professional headshot that is on-brand and recognizable by your followers no matter where they happen to see you!
4. Your Google Business Profile
Formally Google My Business, this SEO boosting tool is how people see your business in local searches. Add photos of projects, products, behind-the-scenes photos, and headshots of your team to your profile. You can also post events, news, and product listings to your Google Business Profile. Use brand photos to build a brand identity on Google.
5. Thank you and holiday cards
Include a thank you card with a brand photo in each order placed in your e-commerce store. On one side include a brand photo of you from your session and on the other side leave space for a handwritten message of gratitude for their purchase. Send thank you cards to clients after a project is complete or to wish them a happy birthday or merry holidays. The personal touch won’t soon be forgotten!
6. Digital business cards
Paper business cards are out and digital business cards are in! Apps like Blinq and Hi Hello allow you to create an easy (and environmentally friendly) way to share business information with clients and industry peers. You create a personalized business card with your logo and a photo and share it via a QR code. Make your digital business card on-brand and personalize it with a professional headshot from your personal brand photo session.
7. Podcast and Video Thumbnails
Much like the featured image on your blog posts, your podcast and YouTube videos also have featured images. Create on-brand graphics that include your brand photos to make your channel recognizable and attractive!
While your website and social media content will be where you use most of your brand photos, there are other customer touchpoints that can benefit from your imagery as well. Get creative! Think of the different places your audience experiences your brand and then brainstorm ways to include photos there. Personal brand photography is a big investment. You’ll want to make sure you get the most out of it! Book your personal brand photo session with me today and stand out in your market!