Month: March 2024

Here’s yet another observation of how digital technology has changed our lives: anyone with a smartphone can shoot a photo or video. 

If you are old enough, you can recall how people had to use cameras that required film. And, once you had shot the allotted photos the film permitted you to take on your camera, you had to have the film developed. It was a cumbersome process, but one that worked for more than a century. 

Today, with your smartphone, you can shoot your photo and instantly see how it looks.  And, because of the convenience of smartphones, you can take more photos because you no longer need to buy film. If you don’t like what you shot, hit “delete” and the photo goes away. 

According to new research from the British photo printing chain Max Spielmann (Max Photo), over 90% of daily photos are now captured with smartphones as opposed to professional or even film cameras. In fact, only 7.5% are taken on ‘proper’ cameras.1 

With the combination of convenience and crisp and clear quality of the images a smartphone delivers, it’s easy to fall into the mindset that “anyone can shoot photos.”   

When it comes to publicity and marketing photos, that is a flawed mindset. 

Look at quality photography from your consumer’s point of view 

While hiring a professional photographer is more expensive than simply snapping away with your smartphone, the quality of the images often provides a far greater return on your investment.   

Here are just a few important statistics that highlight photography’s importance as it relates to you and your customers:  

• 67% of consumers say the quality of a product image is “very important” in selecting and purchasing the product.2  
• 75% of online shoppers rely on product photos when deciding on a potential purchase.  
• Good visual content is 40% more likely to get shared on your social accounts. 

Here’s what you get with a professional photographer 

When you invest in professional photography, you gain years of experience in shooting and editing. You get the benefit of working with a trained eye that employs professional digital photographic equipment combined with the know-how to stage, light, and oversee the elements you want to project within a photograph.  

A 2023 survey conducted by a marketing intelligence agency for the photo and video industry underlines the importance of using professional equipment in PR photography. According to Suite48 Analytics, 64% of professional photographers said they take more than half of their personal photos with their smartphones. When it comes to taking photos for work, that number drops to just 13%.3 

Here’s why we advocate using photo pros 

At Wellons Communication, we always rely on professionals when it comes to creating a photo component to a marketing or PR program.  

1. Professional photography helps elevate your brand

Great PR photography helps consumers to get a better a sense of what your business offers.  

2. Great photos are a key element in telling your story

Having high-quality, personalized content to market your business is so important to standing out online. A good photographer knows what customers want and can provide ideas and insights to elevate your images.  

3. Professional photography equip you with marketing assets

Great images are a long-lasting asset that can be reused over time and repurposed for many different applications.  

4. Professional photography helps you increase conversions. 

High-quality photos can communicate a lot about your brand, including your attention to detail and dedication to quality. If your photos are poorly composed or look unprofessional, potential customers will get the impression that your business is not worth their time or money.  

So how does Wellons Communications get involved with photo pros? 

At our PR firm, we rely on professional photographers to bring your product or service to life. We work with all kinds of different photographers and can select photographers whose skills are well suited to your needs. PR photographers. Portrait photographers. Architectural photographers. Food photographers. Lifestyle photographers. The list goes on and on. 

At Wellons Communications, we can build an effective publicity or public relations program that will combine your memorable photos or video with the necessary communications and distribution programs that will and set the stage for more sales and conversions.  

Our public relations agency is ready to help you find a photo pro who will deliver quality photos that will make your customers take notice. 

The flavor of the moment in virtually all aspects of business, not just marketing, is Artificial Intelligence (AI).

There is not a day that goes by that you hear pundits speculating about the pros and cons of AI. Will AI take over original business planning? Will AI begin to overtake what has previously been done by humans? How will AI interact with how one operates a business?

The information about AI is coming at us hard and fast. New nomenclature. ChatGPT.

If you have the feeling all of the fuss about AI is a bit overwhelming, you have plenty of company.

The truth is that we are all suffering from an AI information overload.

Where can you go to get better acquainted with Artificial Intelligence basics?

There’s more information on the Internet than you have time or interest to bone up on Artificial Intelligence in public relations.

With that in mind, we’ve prepared a list of sites you might want to visit to become better acquainted with AI and get a better sense of how – or if – you may need to incorporate AI into your business operation in some fashion.

The sources we recommend are disparate and unusual. They range from a corporate law firm in South Africa and a California-based company that specializes in online data training for companies to the respected Wharton School of Business.

These sites will not unlock secrets about how you can use AI for your clients, but they are a solid first step in getting a better understanding of AI, its operation language, and how to proceed with using AI.

The best about these sites is that they define AI in terms we can all understand. 

Here’s the list.

AI information overload: A guide to staying informed without getting overwhelmed:

What is AI? A Quick-Start Guide For Beginners.

ABCs of AI: Here’s how artificial intelligence works 

How Do Businesses Use Artificial Intelligence? 

So how can we help you incorporate AI into your marketing and PR?

The best use of AI our public relations agency has discovered is its ability to enhance efficiency and allow us to mechanize some of the basis activities we use to distribute and categorize information.

In simple terms, a PR firm can use AI for distribution of press information, better identify potential users of information about your business, and more quickly research business trends that our clients can capitalize upon.

The truth be known, we are all moving into unknown territory with AI, but it’s territory that will increasingly become a part of business operations.

At Wellons Communication, while we are not throwing our arms around AI and proclaiming, “This is how marketing and PR will be totally conducted in the future,” but we recognize and acknowledge that it is a tool that will be useful—when and if it is needed.

When you are ready to explore how you can use AI in your marketing programs, think about our team at Wellons Communications. We would enjoy being at your side and helping you with your first forays into the world of Artificial Intelligence in public relations.