Picture Perfect

“It’s much easier to consume the visual image than to read something.”

Poet, painter and activist Lawrence Ferlinghetti made this observation long before YouTube and Instagram. Yet the concept is acutely relevant today when it comes to managing your agency’s online presence.

Images engage people. They’re attention magnets and provide an instant means of conveying messages, with or without words. And they’re essential to branding and online marketing.

To help incorporate images on your website and elsewhere online, Tony Wessling, managing principal at branding firm Chromium, says agents should remember:

Images reflect who you are. Stock photos obscure brand personality, but high-quality personalized photos make you real. Enhance brand perception by featuring quality photos of real, happy clients speaking their own words about why they like you.

Images do much of the talking. In fact, they sometimes convey the message more clearly than words, adding interest to text-heavy pages.

Gear images toward your audience. Good marketing depends on knowing your audience. Images should enhance the emotional connection between consumers and your brand, whether small-town business or regional corporation.

Use available tools. If your website must remain static for long periods and you run the risk of appearing stale, consider making your photos live on a site designed for images, like Tumblr or Pinterest.

There’s a reason many insurance websites feature similar stock photos of model-perfect people gathered around a conference table. Unlike a toaster, a car or an island resort, insurance isn’t the most photogenic subject, so insurance-focused sites generally feature pictures of people representative of customers. As you engage customers and social media followers, ask them what images they associate with your business to help spark ideas on how to get away from relying on stock images. You might gain a new perspective on how others see you—or want to see you.

Sheryl Feminis is an account executive at Aartrijk, an insurance and financial services branding firm.

SIDEBAR: Illustrating Insurance

Make sure your online marketing plan includes ways to make your business stand out. Here’s an idea: Because you offer intangible products and services, focus on finding ways to capture images that show the benefits of using your offerings. As much as possible, make the images personal to your agency and specific to your marketplace. —S.F.