Are your company leaders or followers?

We all hear about 'Branding' but are obviously unaware of how other people view our business.

With so called Social Media it is very unspecific perhaps even random but because we do not know who is in the audience then it is important not to have a Two-Tier approach. The internet should not be treated as a poor relation.

We still see plenty of pretty poor images from Market Leaders who feel it is 'just' LinkedIn or 'just' Facebook. Any Brand Manager would go apoplectic to see how these are viewed and certainly as 'Professional Photographers' we would be given short shrift if we offered such work.

If it isn't good enough to go in a brochure or an advert / editorial, it shouldn't go out at all.

Market Leaders are leading the market mostly based on their First Class Presentations and Marketing. CPD'S, Brochures, Adverts, Websites all portray their place in the market as leaders.

They can choose which projects they work on based on margin and profitability not necessity.

The higher margins are partly used to pay for their marketing producing a self perpetuating process. The ultimate clients such as Ballymore, Land Securities, Berkeley Group, Oxford Estates et al will have great websites with CGI's showing their projects as either top end residential or as class leading commercial buildings by the nation's top architects.

This is what Market Leaders do, or should do.

By being in control they plot their own course which keeps them at the top of the pyramid and the envy of all those below. Not least as all those below are doing less prestigious projects and fighting each other for margins.

Perception is Key. Look at your company as an outsider.

Are there any great images on your website? Are they specifically yours or hand-me-downs? Is the Latest News up to date? Do you produce Case Studies? Are there Progress Updates on the projects you are working on?

This is an image by us for one of our clients who are Market Leaders. It shows the products they make and install and the prestigious projects they enhance

Are You a follower?

Is your website not up to date? When were your brochures last updated? Are the Images yours or purloined from Leaders? Do you offer CPD's? Are You BIM Ready? What design input do you offer? Are there Case Studies showing your latest projects? Do they show the capability and scope of your work?

In our experience the leaders get it wrong, especially on Social Media but this is mostly where there isn't a 'Filter' system to look at content before it goes out into the world, via whatever medium. Once a standard is set nothing should fall below it, certainly from a branding perspective.

 If you are a follower and want to get the better work and margins, it is a long haul but as someone once said every journey starts with a first step. As a certain midlands football team are proving anyone can achieve their goals with good organisation and hard work but it has to be on ALL fronts.

If you are looking to change perception stand outside your shop and look in the window.

Start with Professional Images, it is an investment not an expense. Get two or three quotes (Per project, not per hour or day).

Show potential clients how good you are and EXACTLY what you do. Most importantly show people what makes you better than your competitors: 

Our email header shows some examples of our work

In our case, Front Elevation, it might be:

• National Coverage
• Close to London
• CITB CSCS Card holders (For working on Live sites)
• Low Costs, Fixed Prices and complete expense transparency
• Royal Photographic Society members
• Professional Indemnity & Professional Liability Insurance
• Case Study & Editorial preparation services
• Website & Graphic Design Services
• Your images will be seen by 5,000 Construction Industry LinkedIn contacts, at no extra cost
• Budget Plans available

If you are a leader you will be commissioning your own photography giving you a library of high resolution high quality images at your immediate disposal. As these are YOURS and you can vouch for their origin then you have no problems where you use them.

If this is the case give us a call to see if we can offer more for less, quite possible.

If you are a follower, you will beg others for images that are not original and you may not either be aware of their origin (copyright conditions) or have permission to use them in brochures (if they are Hi-Res) or advertising.

The projects don't always have to be recent as long as they are good examples of your work

The updating of your website and images of your completed (not necessarily recent) projects which show your, or your products, prowess are a great start and good quality images across LinkedIn, Facebook, website and promotional material is a must to get your place at the top table.

If your sales people have time to take photographs then that should be the first concern. Paying someone else who can go anywhere at any time and do a better job makes perfect sense.

Technically anyone can take a photograph, then again technically anyone can service a car but I don't do that myself, even if it might save me money!!

So just stand outside and look in. Or even better ask someone else to. We can help the leaders and the followers with either the first step or the whole shooting match. You decide.

We can help however big or small the step

Paul Scott, Front Elevation - 07894 16552

[email protected]

Website Gallery

https://www.frontelevation.co.uk/index.php/image-gallery

Power Point / LinkedIn

https://www.slideshare.net/PaulScott19/front-elevation-construction-photography