INSIGHT
HOW VISUALS CAN
IMPROVE YOUR
BRAND MESSAGING
A recent update of her professional headshots sparked a thought-provoking revaluation of the power of
visual imagery in digital campaigns, writes Lee-Ann Johnstone of Paysafe Group.
IF YOU KNOW ME, you will know that
I hate having my photo taken. I have no
“right side”. I shy away from the camera
at events and prefer taking pictures,
rather than being showcased in them. As
part of my journey towards being more
authentic to myself, my work and focusing
on personal learning this year, I decided
recently that it was high time I updated
my professional head shots and update the
brand of me.
So, I went in search of a photographer
who could do my personality visual
justice who I knew would make me feel
comfortable enough to let my guard
down in front of the camera. After much
discussion around the brief and plenty of
research in both Instagram and *Pinterest
(yes – I fall into the category of 44% of
online women who turn to Pinterest for
inspiration1, a channel I feel is still grossly
undervalued, but that’s another story!) I
felt ready.
The results were better than I could
ever have imagined, and the photographer
certainly did a great job in capturing my
personality on camera. Feeling rather
pleased with myself, I set about updating my
profiles online with these new images. What
happened next was quite interesting, and
led to a thought-provoking discovery which
has changed my valuation of the power that
visual imagery has in digital campaigns.
A picture (update) can paint a
1,000 words...
My photo update had stimulated new
conversations, leading to new business and
a journey of visual discovery.
People I had not worked with for over
ten years were now getting back in touch
just to find out how I was, what I’d been
up to since we last spoke and what I was
doing now. They told me what they were
up to and through this discussion we found
synergies to work together again in our new
roles. I was invited to new events to share
and network at, outside of just the iGaming
industry. I had interesting conversations
about payments, social media, PR,
sponsorships, as well as connecting with
new affiliates I’d never met.
I saw a spike in the number of new
views my social profiles were getting on
LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter right
after the photo change, not to mention the
increased number of recruitment link-ups
and paid advertising requests I received in
the week directly after.
The point is: all these new leads,
contacts and (re-)connections have led to
some great new business opportunities,
apparently all because I changed how I
looked online. I learned that enhancing
the visual representations of yourself, your
site, your brand and your business are just
as important as the content or wording you
put alongside it.
I thought about the power of executing
visual content and messaging in my own
digital marketing activities, and how I
could use this reaction to improve my
conversions and customer engagement.
The age old saying of ‘Don’t judge a book
by its cover’ simply isn’t relevant in our
information-mobilised society today.
Our digital evolution means we
are visual processors
I started investigating to see how digital
marketing is increasing its reliance on the
power of imagery to speak louder than the
words that we read every day. I found the
most amazing statistics online from a number
of different sources and already conducted
studies, which I have collated here.
●●*65%
of people who see a visual image can
recall that image three d