10 Aug You Are Your Brand: Why Your Business Needs Your Face
There are so many things to focus on when you are working on your business. Your website design, the shopping platform, ensuring delivery, product quality and stock…. not to mention having everything on your site beautifully photographed so that customers can’t wait to buy it. It’s easy to think that if you are managing to do all of that effectively, then surely it doesn’t matter if there are photos of you on your website. After all, you don’t like getting your photo taken, do you?
But you are your brand, and your business needs your face. In the era of social media, customers are interacting with brands and businesses in a whole new way, and your customers want to see who is the person that their purchase directly impacts. Crafters in particular are more likely to develop a close affinity to a brand if they feel like they can relate to the brand. What this means is that your customers want to know a bit about you and your story. If a potential customer wants to know more about your business, then they are already interested in your products. But before they click the almighty ‘buy’ button they want to know a bit about you, and they want to relate to you.
I’m way too busy. What’s the point?
First, seeing photos of real people involved in the business a customer is thinking of buying from builds trust. Us humans are hardwired to seek out others of our own kind, and when we see a business that shows the staff involved, it instantly humanizes the brand and makes customers feel more confident making a purchase from you. Each and every photo of you and your employees help create that feeling of trust and connection with your customers. In the age of e-commerce, trust is critical for turning potential first time customers into regular customers who keep coming back for the quality of product, quality of service, and the positive feeling they get when seeing your brand.
Second, photos of you and your team on your website help convey the personality of your brand. What are the key characteristics of your brand’s identity? Fun and playful? Bright and Minimalist? Photos of your team can help emphasize your brand’s personality, making it easier for customer to like and relate to you and your products. If you sell fabric and notions, your customers want to see a photo of you or your team sewing. It shows that you are in this business because you are as passionate about the craft as your customers are.
Don’t feel hemmed in by the typical head and shoulder photo, either. It’s often easier to relax in front of the camera when you have something in your hands, so cuddle a pup, hold your cup of coffee, or work on a project:
Start Here
This is the page that is going to help you turn browsers into buyers. If a potential customer is interested in learning more about your business, then they probably already like the look of your products, but are looking for a little extra something. Because unless you are selling real live miniature unicorns, there are already lots of other brands selling similar products. Your Start here page is where you are showing your customers why you are different, and why they should trust you to sell them something beautiful, useful, and keep them coming back for more. And that difference is you and your friendly face.
Whether you call it ‘Meet the Team,’ ‘Our Story,’ ‘About Us’ or ‘Start Here,’ the link should be located somewhere on your menu bar or sidebar at all times. don’t bury your ‘about us’ waaaaaay down in the footer of your webpage. You have built an incredible business and a brand (probably from scratch!) and you have every reason to be proud of yourself and your team.
Photographs
Many business owners tell us they don’t feel comfortable in front of the camera. Not many people do! While it would be great to have a professional photographer come into your business and get a portfolio of stunningly lit photos of you looking phenomenal at a desk or in the shop making your product, it’s not always possible. Here are some ideas on how to get some good no-pro-photographer-necessary photos of you and any other staff that plan an integral role in your business. And if you need more inspiration, we put together a Pinterest Board with all kinds of ideas for the sort of photos you might like to try for you and your team.
Some Examples
Take a look at the About page for Sweet Georgia Yarns, which even includes linking to blog content written by various staff members. Or the Knit Circus team, where almost everyone is wearing a knitted cowl or shawl. And of course, the Stitchcraft Marketing team is all about photos and mini biographies. If you can get everyone together and have a photographer, perhaps consider a group shot as the first photo on your ‘About Us’ page:
Get Those Team Photos!
Ask your staff if anyone would like to be the volunteer photographer for this project. So many people are interested and work on their photography that you are most likely to get some great shots from an enthusiastic staff member.
- Tell everyone in advance what day is going to be picture day and ask them to wear solid colours on top, with an accessory that might be relevant to your brand.
- Find a spot that has diffused natural light, or a clean artificial light with no yellow tones to it.
- Use the best camera you have available – no cell phone cameras!
- Don’t pick a white wall for people to stand against – it’s not necessary. Somewhere in their work space would be ideal, because it gives more context.
- Definitely do a bit of photo editing afterwards to brighten, crop, or correct that pimple that you didn’t even realize was there.
Remember: you are your brand, and your business needs your face. Now go forth and get some photos of you and your team. Show your customers that you are real people working hard for them! If you need help creating great content or are looking to grow your craft business, get in touch. Contact Leanne@stitchcraftmarketing.com for more information about how we can help you take your craft business to the next level.
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