4 reasons why businesses need to organize and manage their photos

Organization is huge when you are a business owner. As a professional photo manager, one would think that I would have this organization thing nailed. Truth is, my family photo collection is in pretty good shape; however, what I haven’t always had a very good handle on are my business photos and here’s why.

For a long time, Capture Your Photos was just me. I would take business-related pics and they would import straight into my family’s photo collection with the rest of my phone photos. As my business grew and photos became a bigger part of marketing my business, I started to realize how much time it was taking me to find that one picture I wanted amongst my 45k family photos. With the use of social media on the rise and many of my best customers coming from a Google search, I knew it was time to do this better.

There are 4 things that photos do for your business:

1.      Market and sell your products and services. In today’s digital world, consumers ‘window-shop’ using websites and social media, and the images you use are giving them that all-important first impression

2.      Tell its story. Whether it is your company’s history or its branding, photos are a powerful force in telling stories, which ultimately sell your products and services

3.      Engage your current and future clients. Increasingly, consumers are more engaged by visual content than written content. Did you know that by 2021, 3 billion people are expected to be using social media, up from 970 million in 2010? (Source: statistica.com)

4.      Get found online. 60% of consumers are more likely to consider or contact a business when an image shows up in local search results (Source: mdgadvertising.com)

Photos are quickly becoming one of a business’ most important assets. Having a well-organized and archived library designed for the needs of your business…

• Centralizes your digital assets for easy access and strategic use for websites, social media, digital and printed displays and brochures, blogs, email marketing, historical references, etc., and allows you to keep them safe with a backup strategy

• Saves you time and increases productivity by creating processes that allow you to efficiently organize, store, retrieve, utilize and manage your digital assets

• Increases sales by creating searchable images that can be easily and quickly accessed to drive people to your business and used more effectively in displays, portfolios, etc.

Creating and implementing a digital asset management plan for your photos and videos designed with your business goals in mind can breathe new life into your sales and marketing strategy, whether it means more effective social media, or an online gallery of your work beautifully designed and easily shared with clients.

To get started, identify your needs by asking questions, such as:

• How do you use photos and documents in your business?

• Do you take photos for business documentation?

• Do you use photos in your sales process?

• How do you use photos to market your products? What social media platforms are you using?

• Where are your digital photos and documents stored?

• Do you have any old printed photos or documents that should be digitally archived and backed up, such as any historical photos to help you tell your story?

• Who is responsible for photo taking and photo managing in your business? Is it one person or multiple people?

• Do you have a backup process for your photos and other digital assets?

The ultimate goal of implementing a digital asset management plan is to have a process and system that allows you and your team to easily organize, store, access, manage, back-up and fully utilize your photos and other digital assets to maximize your business results.

The use of photos and videos in this digitally-focused world is only going to grow, and getting a handle on this important asset now will undoubtedly give you a solid foundation towards helping you build your business into the future.

Having trouble choosing a photo organizing system or cloud service that you can stick to? With so many shiny options out there, it’s hard to know which one to choose. Take this FREE 3-QUESTION QUIZ for recommendations on where to store your photos, systems to manage your phone photos, and where to back up your memories.

Holly Corbid is a certified professional photo manager and Owner of Capture Your Photos, where we can help your business create and implement a digital asset management plan customized to meet your goals. Want to know how? We’d love to chat. Contact us for a free consultation.