5 Reasons to Invest in Food Photography
It’ll come as no shock that your brand’s visuals are the very first impression of your business, especially in a world so heavily focused on aesthetics. Buying decisions are based on visuals now more than ever before. Consumers are deciding within the first 3 seconds of interacting with your brand whether or not they can see themselves as your customer. With that kind of pressure, nailing the first impression is critical, so it's important that every visual element represents your brand and stands out from your competition. This is especially true for businesses selling consumer packaged goods (CPG). The not-so-secret ingredient? Food photography. Investing in a professional photographer for your product photos can take your consumer from saying, “Oh, I’ll try this next time,” to “Yes. Adding to cart now.”
The Importance of Food Photography for CPGs
It Gives You an Elevated Visual Identity
Marketing is all about positioning. Your visuals are signaling who you are to your buyers, and you deserve professional photography that showcases what you are: an established, respected brand.
It’s also important to note that your content today, no matter the platform, has to be striking and scroll-stopping for it to have any effect whatsoever. Both social media platforms and search engines are prioritizing surfacing high-quality visuals to users, and once your content is actually being pushed, it needs to grasp the attention of consumers. The pressure is on, and low-quality, outdated imagery just doesn’t cut it anymore. Investing in professional, custom photography is the only way to get people to see your content, stop what they’re doing, and consider purchasing.
High-Quality, Real Photos Create Trust
It goes without saying that consumers need to trust your business before they buy from you. In fact, 88% of buyers say that trust is as important as both price and quality in their purchasing decisions, according to this study from Edelman. Numbers like that go to show that you should be doing everything in your power to satisfy that need, and a dynamic way to do that is through your visuals.
High-quality food photography will show off your real ingredients, create credibility, and signal professionalism, all of which adds to how much trust a potential buyer has in you and your products.
An easy way to cause distrust is to use stock photos or AI-generated photos in your marketing campaigns. Using fake imagery is one of the most harmful things you can do for business, because it signals to buyers that you don’t have anything of quality worth showing them. That brings down the confidence surrounding your business, quickly. Clarity and visibility are two key factors in creating trust, and using real imagery is the bare minimum to establish those values.
It Shows What Your Customer is Actually Getting
Following the above, clarity through your visuals better prepares consumers for what they’ll be getting when they buy from you. They’ll have a set expectation based on your imagery, so if you’re using stock or AI-generated photos that look nothing like your actual product, you’ll have some unhappy customers.
Professional food photography that clearly represents your product (and is used heavily throughout each touchpoint in the customer journey) leads to an increase in customer satisfaction and a decrease in the amount of headaches you get dealing with returns and support tickets.
Creates Desirability
With elevated visuals comes desirability. Appetizing images can make people crave what you’re offering, and that kind of sensory effect is fantastic for your marketing campaigns. But you don’t get that kind of result without investing in a professional who knows how to evoke emotions through photography.
It Displays Your Real Ingredients
You probably use real, premium ingredients in what you’re selling, and that’s something that deserves to be boasted. Stock or AI imagery will never be able to display the high-quality ingredients you’re using, and what does it say about your business if you emphasize using real ingredients but use non-real imagery?
With professional food photography, you’re showing off the “USDA Organic” or “Gluten-Free” labels on your packaging. The ingredients that go into your product. The lifestyle you’re helping create. Those all lead to visibility, transparency, and authenticity.
Where to Use Food Photography
Having professional food photography done is just one step. Knowing where and how you can use it to reach people throughout the sales funnel is where you’ll really see the results.
On your website
Using high-quality photos across your website (think banners, across pages, and on PDPs) not only creates a visual hub for your buyers, but it’s also a great boost for SEO.
Across your social media platforms
The pressure is on to put out content that not only looks nice, but also actually creates impact in your business, on every platform. Reaching buyers on social media requires a new level of quality in your assets.
Physical advertising
From magazines to pitch decks for new retailers, professional photography will create the first impression that gets buyers on board.
Wholesale sites
Using food photography across sites like Faire and Shopify will visually elevate your brand to potential retailers, which will in turn create new partnership opportunities.
Jeremy Lee | Minneapolis Food Photographer
If you’re ready to take the next steps towards the strategic move that is investing in food photography for your brand, I’d love to be your photographer. Reach out here, and we can chat about your vision, strategy, and what food photography can do for your business.
While you’re here, check out more food photography-related blog posts:
