Every Business Needs Professional Photos, Here Is Why

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StrategyDriven Business Communications Article |Professional Photos|Every Business Needs Professional Photos, Here Is WhyEveryone loves a stock photo – they are easy, relatively cheap or free, and can illustrate a point well. But, the same images appear across multiple websites, and over time your business is blended in with the rest of them – even if you are better.

Often, new businesses will focus on putting their money in other areas, assuming that so long as they have some photos, that is enough when your images can be your differentiator in reality.

Assets

Content is one of the most powerful things your business will put on the internet, and your photographs will be part of those assets. Corporate Photography will give you a range of assets that can be used across your media. Once that has been taken, unless they are campaign specific or seasonal – they can be used repeatedly.

SEO

Your business website will need some SEO work, and your images will be one of the driving forces behind being found.

But how do you optimize your photos?

  • Unique images
  • Captions
  • ALT text
  • Resizing images
  • File Names

Professional photos will be delivered with most of the heavy work done.

Authenticity

While stock photos can be used in a lot of ways, they don’t give people much of an impression about your company and who you are. People like to know the organizations they buy from and work with.

Photos of you, your team, and how you do things are more likely to give people the impression that you want. Authenticity isn’t possible when all people can find stock photos.

Professional photos will complement your tone of voice in the text and give more to your story.


Representative

Does a stock photo represent what you are trying to achieve? Are those photos that you want to be associated with? Your images represent your brand. You should strive for high-quality photos that have your brand’s personality and support the story that your brand is telling.

Remember that the images you have will be one of the first things a customer will see, representing your brand.

Quality

Stock photos are not taken for anyone specifically, and the quality, while it can be good, isn’t going to be for your specific needs. It is going to be one standard. Professional photographers will head to your business location with everything they need to give you the highest-quality, stunning images and work with you to create.

You’ll get images that work for your website – sure, but you’ll also have them the right size for your social media profiles. Each photo will be perfect for you.

Competitive Edge

Your images will help you stand out from the sea of stock photos and make you more recognizable. Make-up brands and sports brands are great examples – while the colors and styles of clothing might be the same, their images are true to their brand, and you can tell them apart just from those.

Professional images will give you a strong competitive edge. Professional Photography will be part of your branding story, and here are some other tips that will help: The Basics Of Good Branding – StrategyDriven.

Why Your Business Should Use Less Jargon

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StrategyDriven Business Communications Article |Jargon|Why Your Business Should Use Less JargonJargon is not an uncommon sight in business materials, sales calls, and things of that nature. There are certain terms that are associated with certain business practices and most of us use them in the course of running our companies.

However, jargon that may be totally natural to us is not always so natural for our customers and clients to understand. If you use a lot of jargon in your interactions with customers, whether online or in person, you should definitely think about changing that. Here’s why:

It is alienating

If your customer does not know what various words mean, then they will find it difficult to understand what it is your product can actually do and why they might want to buy it. They will end up feeling confused and this will alienate them from your company. They will end up buying the same thing from a company that explains what their product does in plain English instead.


It’s not ideal for SEO

Search engine optimization is an important part of any modern company’s marketing strategy. Good SEO will ensure that you maximize the number of visitors to your website, and that means higher sales too.

Talk to any good SEO company and they will tell you that jargon typically does not rank well. Customers do not typically use jargon when searching for products and services, so if you do use jargon in your content, it will end up getting buried and customers will not easily be able to find you.

It’s not uniform

The jargon you use in your company may not be the same jargon another company uses in your sector, which means the customers may be used to a whole different set of jargon, and they might find it hard to see what you are talking about. By stripping out the jargon and using plain English, then, you make it easier to get your point across, whatever that point may be. It enables you to be more consistent and that is a big plus point when it comes to marketing and selling just about anything you can think of.

It can feel like a hard sell

Rightly or wrongly, when you use jargon, it can come across like you are trying to confuse and baffle your audience with big words and complicated sentences, and it can make them feel like you are going in for the hard sell by trying to impress them while also obscuring the meaning of what you are saying. Lots of customers do not like jargon, for this reason, and it is just another reason why you should think about removing it from your customer interactions more often too.

Using jargon is not necessarily something you need to eliminate completely in your customer interactions, and in some industries, especially if you are selling B2B, keeping it may be more appropriate, but it is definitely something you should think about using less for all of the reasons above if you want to maximize your sales potential.

The Importance of Effective Communication: 3 Ways to Keep Contact With Your Suppliers

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StrategyDriven Business Communications Article |Effective Communication|The Importance of Effective Communication: 3 Ways to Keep Contact With Your SuppliersEffective communication is one of the most critical factors in any business relationship. It can make or break a partnership, and it’s especially vital in manufacturing. Keeping track of details, sharing files, and staying organized is essential to maintaining a solid working relationship with your suppliers. If you’re thinking about establishing new partnerships with your suppliers or want to strengthen your existing ones, read on to learn more about effective communication.

Communicate with your suppliers from the beginning

Communication is key at all stages of business, but it’s even more crucial when working with overseas suppliers. Therefore, it’s important to communicate your expectations and requirements from the beginning of your relationship. This way, you should reduce the likelihood of miscommunication later down the line.

The best way to communicate is in-person, but this is often not an option for many businesses. Whether due to time issues, distance issues, or other problems – as we found in recent times with the coronavirus pandemic – meeting in person isn’t always an option.

Try video calling or speaking on the phone. Email can work too. These forms of written communication should be drawn up carefully to ensure everything is clear.

Stay on top of updates and changes

Communication is what holds your business relationships together. It helps partners stay informed, collaborate more effectively, and make smart decisions. While that initial communication is key, continuing to communicate with each other throughout your partnership is the only way to ensure your work goes smoothly.

However, communication can only be effective if it’s two-way. Make sure you’re staying on top of updates and changes. If you’re working with a supplier, they should keep you informed of any changes, too.

When managing a large, global operation, you’re bound to have unplanned changes and updates. So make sure everyone involved in your supply chain knows about these changes as soon as they happen.

Sending regular B2B emails can effectively ensure everyone is aware of any updates or changes. Finding good B2B email ideas can be difficult – especially when there aren’t many changes to update on, but keeping these emails regular will create trust in your suppliers that, when there are changes, they will be made aware.

Keep track of your suppliers’ communication patterns, too. If you notice an increase in a supplier’s communication, it could indicate a problem. This could be anything from a miscommunication to an issue with their operation.

Use cloud-based file storage

Cloud-based file storage is an integral part of effective communication when working with suppliers. You and your partners will likely be sharing files, but you don’t want to put sensitive information on someone else’s server. Cloud storage offers security and privacy that a physical server doesn’t.

It also makes sharing files more straightforward for everyone involved—without compromising security. Use a cloud-based file storage system as soon as you start collaborating with suppliers. This will help you keep track of all the files you’re sharing, make them easily accessible, and keep them safe.

For example, Dropbox is an excellent option for B2B manufacturers who want to streamline their communication, collaborate more effectively, and stay organized. It’s secure and simple to use, making it easy to share files—and track what’s being shared.

Lower Comms Costs Don’t Have To Mean Worse Communication

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StrategyDriven Business Communications Article |Comms Costs|Lower Comms Costs Don't Have To Mean Worse CommunicationThe old saying goes that time is money and, in business, you need to make sure that you’re managing that well. As such, effective and efficient communication are vital. However, the tech that it takes to manage that communication can start to get costly. Here, we’re going to look at how you can manage those costs before they loom too large, without cutting back on your ability to communicate both internally and externally.

Collaboration is happening in the Cloud

One of the most crucial parts of internal communication is your ability to share the resources that your colleagues might need. Any sticking or slowness when it comes to either sending or receiving those resources can reduce profitability which, in turn, reduces profitability. As such, you should look into options like using Cloud storage instead of having to rely on personal storage on local drives as often. First of all, small businesses can benefit from that Cloud storage at a very low cost, sometimes even for free depending on your needs. It can also allow you to reduce your reliance on costly hardware such as hard drives. What’s more, when you store files on the Cloud, others are able to access it instantaneously, so long as you give them permission and the link.

Taking your phones digital

It should be no surprise that the online world is helping a lot of companies manage both their internal and external communication much more effectively. There is plenty of free and low-cost software that allows you to communicate with people in a variety of ways. However, you might not immediately think of going digital when it comes to how you make phone calls. However, unified phone systems that make use of VoIP solutions like Agencybloc integrations can help you manage a whole network of phones using the internet. This way, you might be able to save on the costs of setting up traditional phone lines throughout the business and you might not even need physical phones, just the headsets that your team uses to manage their calls.

Make your meetings remote

We’ve all likely gotten very much used to doing things remotely and now that restrictions are easing, the temptation is to go back to meeting in person. Sometimes, that can work just fine but, in other cases, the costs of traveling and eating out can add up to a lot, especially if you have to go far. To that end, options like Zoom video conference software can be a lot less costly. You still get that all-important face-to-face time which can be crucial for selling a pitch, but you don’t have to take a huge chunk out of your day to maintain those same standards of communication.

Communication truly is vital, but like anything, it can start to become unmanageable if you let the costs run away from you. Hopefully, the tips above can help you better manage both aspects of the communication question without too much trouble.

What Are The Best Ways To Improve A Company Video?

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StrategyDriven Business Communications Article |Company video|What Are The Best Ways To Improve A Company Video?Corporate videos can sometimes be creatively pigeonholed. Some may assume them to be dull and dreary.

Still, the best businesses defy people’s expectations with their offerings. They create compelling opportunities in impossible situations. The same frame of mind should be applied to creating corporate videos, which can play a crucial role in accelerating business growth and increasing brand awareness.

There is plenty of room for creativity and innovation here. Instead of producing bland and generic content, your company has the chance to develop something insightful and unique by exploring unique video ideas. Not only this, but your firm can keep improving its video content offerings over the years, developing it all alongside the evolution of your brand.

Here are some of the best ways to improve your corporate videos today.

Keep it Short and Sweet

Nobody wants to sit through lectures today, irrespective of format. Information is also cherry-picked and more likely to be shared when it does not inconvenience people’s time. Short-form videos can generate more interest.

People’s attention spans are becoming shorter. Many companies are hurriedly developing short-form content, with ‘YouTube Shorts’ paying creators to create this content to lure in audiences. Firms will increasingly explore these newer channels to appeal to their respective markets.

Even if you do not have a presence in these digital spaces, recognizing that people are increasingly gravitating to this content is key. You can then spend every second wisely and make an impactful impression as soon as you can with your company videos.

Truth tends to be more straightforward. Any content that meanders may be interpreted as misleading or embellished in certain respects. Others may interpret company videos as more legitimate and authoritative when concise and to the point.

Utilize Free Subtitle Software

Subtitles cannot be treated as an afterthought. They are an essential component of a corporate video, promoting inclusivity and emphasizing and reaffirming points being audibly made.
You can implement these features for free with the right tools. Some will have varying features that afford more creative control. You can mix and match at your leisure as no costs are involved.

There are many ways to add captions to video, and they are each worth exploring further. For example, web-based Fastreel enables users to add subtitles in SRT format. Others like MySubtitle can be downloaded on App Store, allowing users to add text to shorter videos from their smart devices. Both options can be downloaded for free and favor different modes of working.

Subtitle Workshop and Jubler are also free. The former has advanced features, and the latter makes quicker subtitle implementation possible. Whether you need speed or precision, you will get results with your subtitles with no costs or stress.

Perfect Storyboards

Do not focus on a script alone. Think about storyboarding your company video, too.

Visual references are key. Each frame should progress logically with compelling imagery. There should be no sudden changes in theme, tone, or pacing. Structure your ideas and develop a throughline for your content. Use the right digital tools for that job.

There are many great programs firms can use to storyboard their video content. Price models range from $10 to $799 one-time fees, which means you have suitable options for any budget. Some of these services also have iPhone and Android versions to enable flexible creation conditions and techniques as well.

Each panel of your storyboard should pop with a distinctive flair, and planning programs make that possible. You will also avoid production errors and give a clearer creative vision to the directors, cinematographers, and editors of the company videos. Everything you produce will be more likely to be on schedule, and big creative ideas can be concentrated and focused.

Develop Working Relationships with Actors

Actors are more than a mouthpiece for your business. They are also representative of it. If your brand becomes well-known, these performers can also become an integral part of your brand.
Remember that your audience needs to connect with the person seen or speaking. Make sure you hire someone that can match the charm and warmth that your company presumably has. Your working relationship will get off to a better start after a competent casting process.

Learn how to work with actors. Create a character alongside them. Encourage improvisation if your short-form video has a lighter or comedic tone. Do not confine them to dryly reading scripts, and instead collaborate to create something heartfelt and unique.

Pay an equal amount of attention to your voice talent. Gain an understanding of what the voice acting process is like for the performer and director both. Refine skills in banking audio reels, improve line readings, and have the knowledge to create a professional sound in a home studio or office. Improve techniques to get your voice actors in the proper headspace to perform.

Gauge Social Media Reactions

Professional analytics can provide useful insights into how well your video is performing. It is also useful to look at a broader picture and see what louder, individual voices say about your content.

The best or worst ads draw the biggest reactions online, with middling results rarely discussed. It is to be hoped your content will fall into the former category. While analytics can show how many people watched your video, only social media can help you understand their emotional, visceral reaction to what you created.

Short-form videos need to create an impact, so make sure you learn about how to create and promote them. Many people will stumble across it and watch the video in its entirety if it is only a few seconds long. There may be a stronger urge to reshare it on public profiles if it is something worth seeing. Analytics will not reveal much in this situation, but honest feedback will be found on social media.

Social media users often have their guard down, too. People may be polite in test screenings and surveys, but in the safety of their online profiles, they may be more inclined to express their thoughts and feelings honestly. After all, that is what many people use social media for. Place value on constructive feedback and ignore any ruder remarks you encounter.

To conclude, you should use these tips to improve your chances of success with business videos. The video marketing sector is highly-competitive and ever-evolving, so keep doing your research to ensure that you’re always ahead of the curve.