Choosing a digital marketing image isn’t as easy as you might think. You have to take into account many factors.
What message do you want the image to convey? What mood do you want to set? Will the image also be printed or only published digitally?
Regardless of your answers, there are some standard rules that you should follow prior to selecting an image.
How to Pick a Great Digital Marketing Image For Your Business
Selecting an effective digital marketing image requires a certain eye.
During your hunt for the right image, you will see many pleasing images.
Some depict a relaxing scene, such as a beach at sunset. Others will be loud and exciting, as is the case with pop art. Some will emphasize your favorite color while others emphasize a lack of colors.
Which one should you choose?
While all of these images may be effective in their own way, you must consider your business. Are they in alignment with your business’s brand?
Let’s take a look at some rules to follow when selecting a digital marketing image.
Shoot For High Quality
You can obtain images from a variety of places.
You can buy the rights to use stock photos. You can generate images using online tools such as Canva.
You can hire a photographer to take new photos that only your business owns the rights to. For example, the experts at Goodman Creatives take photos for digital marketing purposes.
Additionally, you can take your own photos or use free stock photos from sites such as Shutterstock.
Regardless of where you get your digital marketing images, they need to be of high quality.
Low-quality photos are pixelated and look blurry, even when viewed on small, mobile screens.
High definition is now the standard for all digital marketing images. As such, you should make it your standard when shopping for the right image.
The Image Alone Should Convey Your Message
People don’t want to be bothered with a sales pitch. For that reason, your digital marketing campaign needs to get and keep their attention.
You can’t rely on a slogan or other text, no matter how powerful it is.
Instead, you have to rely on your image.
A powerful digital marketing image conveys your message without a word.
While shopping for images, place yourself in your audience’s shoes.
What do the images say to you? Are you moved at all? If so, in what way are you moved?
A successful digital marketing image reaches people. It makes them see themselves in it.
When they can see themselves in your image, they’ll pay attention to your slogan or text.
More importantly, they’ll identify with your brand. Audience members who identify with a brand are more likely to buy from it.
The Image Alone Should Convey An Emotion — A Powerful One
A successful image won’t just stick to conveying a message. It will also convey an emotion — and a powerful one at that.
For example, let’s say your business is a nonprofit that fights drunk driving.
It would be easy to pick an image of a blurry-eyed driver who receives a ticket from a stern-looking police officer. Some advertisements even show that image in a humorous light.
But consider how serious the issue of drunk driving is. In worst-case scenarios, it causes death.
As such, you should choose an image that evokes a powerful image.
Now imagine a shattered picture frame with a family photo amid broken glass and flashing lights.
That’s a far more emotional image than the one featuring the driver.
Because it is more emotional, audiences will pay more attention to it.
Get Creative During Your Search
Many business owners or marketing managers have a specific image in mind for each advertisement or campaign.
Having an image in mind is great. Being open to a potentially more effective image is even better.
While conducting an online search, get creative with your keywords and hashtags.
You never know what hidden gem you’ll find.
Instagram Is A Useful Tool
Nowadays, every company with a visual product needs an Instagram.
Instagram is a photo-sharing site. In fact, many models and make-up artists use Instagram to network and show off their skills.
For that reason, the social media platform features a variety of tools for taking and editing photos.
These tools crop, reposition, and place a filter on images. They help users create desired effects such as saturation or grayscale.
Before you make any customer-facing images with Instagram, you should experiment with its tools.
Take a few photos. Change the filters. See what you can come up with using your own imagination.
Don’t Limit Your Images To Just Photos
It is easy to limit yourself to only using photos.
However, you need a digital marketing image. An image is not the same as a photo.
Cartoons, drawings, paintings, and other visual representations work fine.
Just make sure that they convey your message and an emotion.
Look For A Pop of Color
Dull and grayscale images have their place in marketing. Often, you’ll see them used in digital marketing campaigns that touch on serious subjects or the future.
Otherwise, choose a photo that includes a pop of color.
Color is a powerful device in the marketing world. Different colors evoke different emotions, depending on when and where they’re used.
In the case of images, pops of color draw the eye to them.
Don’t Use An Image Just To Use An Image
Marketing is a precise art. Using marketing tools because you feel like it results in wasted time and resources.
When you use a digital marketing image, you should have a reason for using them.
One common reason is enhancing your marketing material. Images are often used to highlight facts or figures mentioned in a body of text.
Another common reason is headlining text. A header image encompasses the subject of the text.
Before choosing a digital marketing image, think about why you’re choosing one to begin with.
If you don’t really need an image, then don’t use one.
Need More Marketing Advice? Check Us Out!
At Find A Business That, we know you need to find a professional quickly and easily. From photographers to design consultants to video editors, we cover every professional your business’s marketing campaign needs.
For more advice on marketing and other fields, please check out our blog reel!