The B2B Superpower of Pictures

Have you ever heard the phrase, "A picture is worth a thousand words"? You probably have. And you've probably heard it in context of beautiful photographs of distance landscapes, sunsets, or newborn babies. But when was the last time you looked at a piece of marketing and felt moved?

In today's market, there's SO much noise. It seems like every day there's a new subscription club, product on Kickstarter, or fledgling app, each promising you a better daily existence. Most times, especially in B2B marketing, these are fraught with cheesy stock photos. Business to business, after all, is all business... right?

Not so fast. People buy from people. People don't buy from businesses. This fact is one that any seasoned sales professional knows. So if your brand is trying to truly connect with another business, why are you sticking the same, tired stock photography of stuffy, posed models shaking hands around a conference table? 

Instead, your brand needs to be speaking to the humanity of the decision maker on the other side of your marketing message. Do you have a product that promises to save your clients 10 hours a week by reducing the time they have to track mileage or expenses? Instead of a stock photo of a guy with too many receipts in his briefcase, why not substitute that for a father pushing a child on a swing set? Let your intended recipient see what they're missing in those 10 hours they're stuck inside filing paperwork. Or maybe you do have an email management app that manages what inbox your emails are directed to. Instead of a stock photo of a woman frustrated behind her PC, why not opt for an over-the-shoulder shot from the audience at a middle school play, reminding the recipient to pay attention to only what's really important.

Now, here at Action Ready Marketing, we've used our fair share of stock photos. Maybe even more than our fair share. While the "stock photo" can cut to the heart of any business, try cutting to the heart of the person on the other side of the screen. Speak to their needs, desires, and goals - not necessarily the business's. 

Try this out on your next campaign or email blast - if you need help with ideas or setting one of these campaigns up, let us know... we'd be happy to help! After all, you have plenty of better things to be doing with your time than sitting writing email copy or parsing through countless image libraries trying to find the right one. 

Do you have a dedicated image strategy? We'd love to hear about it! Let us know in the comments!

What are you missing out on by doing all your own marketing?