by Lawrence Cheng, Lawrence Cheng Photography 

It's no secret that staff photos add a human element to any company. That's especially true for small businesses, which are more personality-driven than large corporations. In these days of social media, it's almost inconceivable to have some sort of profile picture somewhere in your marketing strategy. Thankfully, that's quite easy to rectify. But before you whip out your cell phone and take quick selfie, consider the psychology of how people view photos; you might just want to invest some real time and effort to ensure that your public image says what you want it to say. 

First thing to know: there really is such a thing as a first impression. One Harvard Medical School study (Bar, Neta, and Linz. “Very First Impressions. Emotion, 2006.) demonstrated that the time needed to accurately form first impressions is a mere 39 milliseconds, much shorter than the blink of an eye. Moreover, slight variations in an individual's facial appearance can lead people to develop very different impressions of that individual (Todorov and Porter. “Misleading First Impressions: Different for Different Facial Images of the Same Person. Psychological Science, 2014.) In that study, observers were asked to view photographs of 123 people they had never met. The observers' judgments were compared with those of three people who knew the targets very well. When observers saw naturally-occurring behavior, such as smiling or an energetic stance, their judgments tended to be more accurate.

​"What's striking about these findings is how many of the impressions have a kernel of truth to them, even on the basis of something as simple as a single photograph", said one of the researchers.

How do these findings translate to your next photoshoot? Here are five things to keep in mind: 
1. Decide on a theme. Are you trying to convey solidity and quiet confidence in your company? Or are you going for a more fun, playful impression? The important thing is to actually have a theme in mind; this helps unify your photos and strengthens your overall marketing strategy.
2. Match clothing and expression to the occasion. In the second study cited above, participants tended to favor certain poses for certain contexts. When told that the individual was auditioning for a movie, the observers preferred certain shots, but chose different images when told the photo was for an online dating site. In other words: don't user your Facebook photo as your corporate “face.”
3. Take good photos. This sounds so obvious, but … . Use something better than a cell phone. Sweat the details: watch for tree branches growing out of the subject's head, make sure there are no heavy shadows under the eyes. Be consistent: use similar background and lighting. High-quality images reinforce the perception of trust and confidence in your firm.
4. Keep it natural and authentic. Don't just show up in front of the camera for 5 minutes and expect a great result. Relax. Tell a story about your passion or hobby. Portrait photography is a two-way street; good photographers know how to get the best out of their subjects, but having fun and being positive always makes for a better session.
5. Don't forget the group shot. Why? Yet another study suggests that people in groups tend to be perceived as more attractive than when they're alone. (Walker and Vul. “Hierarchical Encoding Makes Individuals in a Group Seem More Attractive.” Psychological Science, 2013.)

by Jess DelBalzo, Digital Marketing Manager at ImageWorks Creative

It’s easy for small businesses to forget all about their brand image. In fact, many companies launch without thinking of themselves as a brand at all! While big corporations have entire marketing departments devoted to logos, taglines, websites, and other aspects of branding, most SMBs are busy focusing on their products and services. There are only so many hours in the day!

Unfortunately, we’ve all seen how easy it is for local, family-owned operations to be completely obliterated by big business. Whether you’re competing with the big box department store down the road or the online giant that allows shoppers to have what they need sent right to their doors, staying relevant becomes harder and harder each year. Your great customer service and quality products may be enough to retain existing clients, but real growth requires evolution.

Think about the brands you know. National super stores like Walmart and Target. Fast food giants like Burger King and KFC. Gas stations. Grocery manufacturers. Online retailers. All of these big brands have one thing in common: they are always evolving. They’re changing up their logo, adding new elements to their websites, and producing content that gets noticed. It’s a constant battle to grab a consumer’s fleeting attention, and innovation is the way to win the war.

Local businesses are something special. They can offer personal relationships with their customers, hands-on help, and an invaluable sense of community – all things that large corporations struggle to deliver. But SMBs have a lot to learn about evolutionary branding and innovation from big business. Evolving to meet your customer’s needs – and exceed their expectations – will not only retain the customers you have, but it will help grow your business.

At ImageWorks, we encourage our small business clients to think like big businesses when it comes to the following topics.

Your website: When was the last time your website got a new look? Today’s customers live their lives online, so its important to make sure that your site gets updated regularly. Most customers will visit your website before they visit your location, so show them something from 2014, not 2004.

Your logo: While you don’t want to make a huge departure from what your customers are used to seeing, a modern look is a way to reassure them that your business is on top of the latest trends. A well-designed logo can even encourage others to take another look at what you have to offer.

Your marketing: Marketing is a big bucket that encompasses a lot of options. You can’t possibly do them all – and you shouldn’t! What you should do is think about who your target customers are and where you need to go to reach them. 

• Google: No matter what kind of business you own, your customers are probably online. Today’s consumers are used to pulling out their smartphones and searching for local businesses, and it’s important to make sure that your company turns up when they do. Local search optimization and online advertising can make sure that you get found before your competitors do.

• Social: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest. Chances are, your audience is engaged on at least one of those social platforms. Think about where they are, and make sure that your company is prepared to reach them there.

• Email: We all complain about the number of emails we receive every day, but email marketing still maintains one of the highest ROIs in advertising. If you can provide useful information, good deals, and other tangible benefits to your email subscribers, they will look forward to seeing your messages pop up!

• Targeted Advertising: Direct mail to your neighborhood, ads in local magazines, door hangers, pizza box flyers, and ads on specific websites can all reach customers where they live, work, and play.  

When you think about not only planning and executing all of the above once, but keeping all those efforts fresh enough to attract new customers and grow your business, it’s easy to get so overwhelmed that you never even start. Big companies do these things all the time, but they have a dedicated marketing team. Can your local business really keep up? The answer is yes!
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SMBs today have great success outsourcing their branding to specialized, local firms like ours. You can’t send your creative work overseas and expect it to come back looking good, but you can hire an entire local marketing team for a reasonable monthly fee. This is by far the best way for small businesses to have all the marketing resources of a big corporation (graphic designers, web developers, project managers, marketing strategists, and brand specialists) – without paying five or more individual salaries every year!

​by Greta Menard, Capital MarCom, Inc.

Content marketing.  It's the marketing buzz phrase of the day and a leading strategy leveraged by B2B communicators everywhere.  But what is it, and how can it work for your business?

​According to the Content Marketing Institute, "Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience—with the objective of driving profitable customer action."  In other words, it's about communicating value to your customers without directly selling to them, and it has the power to boost your brand awareness, attract customers and establish your spokespeople as thought leaders in their field.  

We see content marketing in action every day in the form of educational and insightful blog posts, social media campaigns, white papers and online videos.  But content marketing is not a magic pill; it doesn't work for everyone—especially those who fail to adhere to these common best practices:

Ditch the Sales Pitch:  There's no greater turn-off than blatant self-promotion in a blog post or white paper.  So if your content is nothing more than a thinly-veiled commercial for your business, you're doing it wrong.  Remember the basics of content marketing—to provide value to your audience by establishing yourself as a trusted advisor on a key business issue.  It's a strategy that can pay off down the road when readers remember your advice and turn to you when they ultimately need your services.    

Make It Engaging: Just because you publish, share, tweet or post it, doesn't mean your target audience will read it.  So the secret to powerful content marketing can be found right in its title: the content!  The more engaging your content, the more likely it is to be read and shared.  And to that end, one exemplary practice is to...   

Tell a Story:  People respond to other people, places and experiences.  So the best content marketers have discovered ways to weave storytelling into their online campaigns. 
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Interested in learning more?  The Chamber's Communications Council will be tackling these, and other content marketing best practices, during its upcoming Beyond Basics seminar, "Content Marketing & The Power of Storytelling to Drive Your ROI."  Scheduled from 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. on October 3rd, the event will explore the nuts and bolts of implementing a successful content marketing strategy and how to use storytelling in your company or organization's marketing language.  Panelists include homeless advocate, Jan Michael Sacharko, and Segue Technologies' Alexa Fox, both of whom have managed highly acclaimed content marketing campaigns for their organizations.  You won't want to miss this chance to learn from content marketing mavens who are getting it right. Register for the Beyond Basics seminar.