Between social media, the Internet, and television, the modern business landscape exists in a visually-driven world. From engaging with your audience on social media to crafting compelling brand narratives, having visually appealing, high-quality photos and videos for your business has never been more important.
Setting aside time to intentionally gather high-quality photos and videos is essential for all businesses when it comes to digital marketing. When you have your own library of custom photos and videos to use on your social media, display ads, and video ads, your imagery is more likely to stand out and truly show off your business.
One of the most effective ways to do this is to set aside time specifically for capturing content — whether you’re taking the photos and videos yourself, working with a digital marketing agency, or hiring a photographer or videographer. At Federated Digital Solutions, we call this a “media day” so that’s the term we’ll use for the rest of this blog.
Let’s discuss why scheduling a media day is essential for your business and provide some practical insight into how to prepare to get the most out of it.
WHY YOU SHOULD SCHEDULE A MEDIA DAY
A media day is more than just snapping a few photos and videos and then heading home. It presents the opportunity to collaboratively build a comprehensive catalog of photos and videos to enhance your social media content.
Posting stock photos can work in a pinch, but consumers are more likely to connect with real photos that feature your business’s staff, products, and locations. It’s your chance to tell a visual story about your business that helps convey your personality and values.
Setting aside time to capture a variety of new and updated photos that showcase different aspects of your business is crucial. Just like with kids’ school photos, you'll be surprised at just how much can change within a year!
Depending on your business, you might also want to make sure you have photos that match the various seasons. It can be awkward to post a photo of an employee outside in short sleeves and sunglasses in the middle of a February snowstorm.
A media day will help provide fresh content for your social media profiles and website, preventing stagnation in your posts or outdated photos (like that 10-year-old photo of Bob from accounting back when he had hair!).
HOW TO PLAN FOR A MEDIA DAY
When planning for a media day, it’s crucial to clearly define the goals of the visual content you’d like to capture. If you partner with a digital marketing agency, their team should have a good sense of the types of photos and videos to capture, but you’ll want to consider additional business objectives. For example, you may want to show off specific products, highlight the ambiance of your business locations, or showcase the human side of your business with candid shots of (willing) employees.
Beyond the aesthetics of the content that you want to capture, think about potential ways that the media day can be used to reflect your brand identity and values. Consider your core values and plan to capture photos and videos that showcase them. For example, if teamwork is a core value, make sure to incorporate shots of your employees collaborating to complete a task.
Take the time to examine the diverse types of visual stories you can tell. You don't need studio-quality production on your videos, you're striving to capture authentic moments. For example, a brief 5- to 10-second clip of your employees in action or chatting can be used in different ways in several videos. Adding text in videos can help with clarity and getting your message across. Encourage your staff to share quick tips in videos to build a dynamic catalog of videos.
It’s critical to create a shot list to ensure you capture all the images and videos you need during media day. In general, you want well-lit photos and videos of your employees, products and services, and locations. When planning the shot list, it’s helpful to identify employees willing to participate (and coordinate them to be on location) as well as identify locations inside and outside of your business to take photos.
When coordinating with your employees who are participating in the photoshoot, advise them on grooming and appearance — they should be polished and professional. While they don’t need to be in suits and ties, it may be advisable to provide dress code suggestions to ensure a cohesive look for all employees.
Lastly, while every location is different, it’s helpful to have an area that’s out of the way with a blank space (or a simple texture like wood slats) on the wall to shoot product photos and employee portraits. Identifying an out-of-the-way spot for this ensures the photo shoot doesn’t disrupt the flow of your business while also making sure your photos and videos have a consistent look.
At FDS, our team of social media professionals are trained to take photos and videos optimized for social media. We'll work with you to build a portfolio of visual content that tells your business's unique story. Contact us today to learn more and set up a media day!
Written by Karlie Mandigo
Karlie Mandigo is a Senior Digital Marketing consultant for Federated Digital Solutions. She has been leading the consulting team since 2017 and has developed a particular skillset that focuses on the automotive industry. Her passion for her career comes from the ability to cultivate trusting relationships with clients. She enjoys putting all the puzzle pieces together to create a strategy that will help achieve and exceed her client’s goals year over year. Karlie puts the work in with her clients and it shows as she knows and believes that true commitment starts AFTER the sale.
