Why First Impressions Matter

Quite simply – first impressions do matter.

Need we say more? Well ok, so there are exceptions where a highly desired brand can actually buck the trend and therefore it visual impression is less important. However in these exceptions the product is likely to be already highly sort after.

For an SME trying to break into a market place already full of other brands and competition the only way forward it to make sure your brand gives a better first impression that the rest.

At Flapjack we not only recommend and advise on content, we’ve built content creation into our business plan. In order to grow your social media presence, high quality visuals are as important as the quality of the product itself.

Creative photography and design is key. Content taken of an event on your phone maybe fine to show as an Instagram story but is this really portfolio imagery to showcase your brand?

Ahh I hear you say, but we can’t just budget a £3k shoot on a Greek island to get a load of social media imagery sorted for our beachwear brand – especially when our follower base is only 500!

Of course you can’t. This could hardly be justified as cost effective.

So what can you do? Firstly any imagery you already capture be it for advertising, marketing, web or internal etc – consider the usability of this for social purposes or can you tweak it so you capture extra imagery for social?

Make your present content go further – if its not suitable (packshots for example are hardly Instagram inspiration!) then can you add on to your shoot or perhaps shoot some behind the scenes to be used for Instagram stories?

Quality content is key. As a fashion brand you would not compromise when organizing your yearly catalogue look book – so why compromise for your social media? Variable content is pretty much the holy grail for social media.

Your followers do not want to see the same imagery as your website – ok so you might need to do this for a while – but once you’ve built your following to a decent size you need to inspire them further.

Thinking outside the box is key. Can you tie in a PR and influencer shoot together?

Or even shoot a selection of social media content on a parallel set to your catalogue shoot?

The fact is we all want our social media to have a large engaged following and show off our brand in the best possible light. The only way to do so is to start dedicating time and resources to it.

An Instagram follower base of under 5k is manageable with limited resources but as this grows your business model needs to dedicate more time and effort to it. Content, engagement, strategy and effort come into the equation.

Want to get to 10k followers? You need to make sure you visual content is quality.

Want to keep your 25k followers happy?

Then you need to Inspire them visually. But that’s another blog post.

All imagery © Rob Matthews Photography

@rmpix