The beautiful thing about creating branding photos based on your story brand is that it allows you to develop a lot of ideas for your visual content. When I say lots of ideas, I encourage you to develop them from your brand values, personality, the actors in your brand, your products and message, everything that is relevant for your audience.

Begin by brainstorming ideas for your story brand.

Use a vision board and create boards for each section in your business. What area do you want to focus on? i.e your team, yourself, your products, the client process, your brand personality? In this post, I share five ideas to work on for your personal branding photography and visual content.

To create the visual content, you can either

• create it yourself,

• curate images from a stock photo library that fits your brand

• Hire a branding photographer.

  Once you understand what kind of images you want to tell your story, you’re already halfway there.

Start with you

When you work from your brand story, start with YOU. I’ve come across many brands with hardly any images of the person behind them. Don’t you feel frustrated when browsing a website, eager to learn more, only to be welcomed by images that don’t say much about the person behind the brand? What makes a brand story stand out is not just the story, but YOU, the soul behind it.
I get that you don’t like to show yourself either in a photograph or a video. Forget about how you look in images; think about creating a connection, developing a relationship, and giving more of yourself to your audience. Remember, before the online world, we used to visit shops and businesses more often and connect face-to-face with the person. This has all changed in the online world, but people still want to put a face on your brand. How are you showing up?

“Have you noticed that the pictures that get the most engagement are the ones that you are in it? ”

Read about how to be more visible in your branding photos here.

Your product/services

Your products and services are an excellent source of visual content; I’m not talking about images that you use to sell your products, I’m talking about using these products and services to create a visual story from them. Use them to style images and inform your clients about what they will receive. Be informative and inspirational, rather than selling. You aim to create emotion, connection, and help them solve a problem.

The Client experience

Create branding photos from your client experience. Why not create images or a film from a client’s perspective, using one-minute interview snippet videos to answer your FAQs in an interview style, i.e., the type of client you work with, the problems you solve?

You can also develop an entire story focused on the experience, from the moment a prospective client comes across your brand, to what you can do for them and the benefit/outcome they can expect working with you. Guide them through the process, explaining what it’s like to come on board and how they will be supported.

Focus on the details.

Details are a great way to create visual content, creating an atmosphere for your brand story. I.e the image I used to illustrate this post. It doesn’t say much, but it’s strong, powerful and sets the scene, perfect for adding text to it.
By showing details for your story about an object on your desk, flowers on a table, a book, or a magazine, you leave the image open to interpretation for the viewer to develop their own story. You want to engage the viewer and encourage them to learn more about your brand story. Don’t make the images completely abstract; make sure they convey meaning, a message for them.

Once you start this process, you will think of many more ideas for your branding photos. Are you working with a team? Make them part of your social media presence by sharing their portraits, how they work, and the part they play in your business.

In this example, I worked with Sarah, a client who is a health and wellness coach, providing reflexology, fitness training and healthy lifestyle coaching. We used a variety of branding photos showing the process, involving a client, to share with her audience what her brand is about:

Share in the comments your biggest challenge when it comes to creating brand photos for your brand.