Photo, Video, Both? What works BEST for your Business?

Hello and thank you for reading my blog.

Today I am going to go over some of the differences in the USE of Photo & Video for Marketing. We all know the difference between photos and videos is Motion; Right? Well let's take a look at that idea right now. To your right you will see a Tour Format Slideshow (Below the Photos if you are on a mobile device) that I created recently for a client. It is a video that is made up of still photos. Notice the photos pan and zoom to add a motion-like effect to them. Slideshows are a great way to utilize your still photos. They can be created many different ways including using the built in program on your Windows PC or MAC. Different programs have different workflows which can make it easier, but if you have a PC and want to try it out, just RIGHT click on a photo and select create a video from the menu that pops up. You can then drag in the photos you want to use and create your slideshow with titles, motion and music too.

Still photos are great and can be used many different ways for marketing purposes. Since I have already covered slideshows let me tell you some more uses of photos. Photos can be used for Print advertisements like magazines and billboards. Though we are moving to a more digital world and there are electronic billboards, they wont be replacing the printed ones too soon. Photos can be altered to have blemishes removed or colors changed to be more appealing. These photos can be used for mailers, posters, post cards, banners and vehicle wraps. Photos can be looked and focused on to show all of the details you want to share. You can include photos in videos if you like. Another great idea for re-using your photos is simply cropping them so they appear different. Take a look at the photos below. Guess which pairs came from the same photos.

As much as I love to photography as whole; from capturing the photo all the way through editing it to the final proof, video still tends to draw more attention. If you have a business page on Facebook or Instagram you can view you analytics and see that the posts with a play button tend to get more views that the still photos. That being said, let me cover a few more of the benefits of video. Video is great for telling a story. It allows you to control the viewing sequence of what you are showing. You don't always have a beginning, middle and end, but you now have control over the order of things.

Here is an example of a Real Estate Video Storyline

Neighborhood, Front of Home, Landscaping, Walkway, Front Door, Foyer, then flow with the home. Usually Family, Dining, Kitchen, Living, Master Bed, Master Bath, Guest Beds, Guest Bath, but that all depends on what the home has to offer. Then go out the back and show the amenities and finish with something eye-catching.

This is the same story line I use for slideshows, the only difference is that you are physically moving through the home.

To the Right (Below if you are on a mobile device) is a Video Tour that I made for one of my real estate clients.

You can do something with video that you can't do with photos, add sound. Depending on your business or what you are creating for, you may need music, sound fx or just a simple voice over. A good Real Estate Tour would be more interesting with a good voice over or even an agent giving the Lifestyles type tour, speaking about the rooms and the amenities as they are shown in the video. All TV commercials have some kind of sound to go with them. Most advertisements finish with a good call to action. Take a look at the last car commercial you saw, it probably finished something along the lines of "Come on down!" The music, sound fx and talking all make videos much more appealing. Keeping this in mind, if you are creating a video that is mostly going to be viewed on phone screens, you may want to add captions for those who watch in silence on the porcelain thrown. Statistically that is where most phone viewing goes on. Because I create photos, videos and slideshows, I always have a chance to view them without the sound. It certainly does change the level of interest in the video, especially if it is more than 15 seconds. A great trick to improve video with a person speaking is to add background music at a lower volume than the voice, it will help with the flow and to fill any short pauses that may be there. Listen when you're watching TV, there is usually something there.

The five questions below will help you to decide on whether you want to have photos taken or have a video created.

What is your budget?
1. Photos are usually less expensive than video.
Where are you advertising?
1. Do you need a TV commercial, a home tour, social media content or will you be printing something?
How soon do you need it?
1. Video can be difficult depending on what your are recording. While photos can easily be edited to change a cloudy day to beautiful sunshine, video requires the real thing.
Will you want to and are you able to re-use the photos or video?
1. Photos can be cropped or filtered and adjusted easily using some apps I have written about in previous blogs. Video will be a bit more difficult to re-use.
Is this something you should have photos and video of?
1. Some projects call for both. It all depends on the way you answered first 4 questions.