Instagram Photo Ideas to Successfully Market Your Business

In today’s blog post, we’re going to discuss how to come up with photo ideas for your brand’s Instagram that your audience will LOVE, while successfully marketing your business. Click “play” on the video below, or continue reading this post to learn all about how to use visual content to successfully market your brand on Instagram (and beyond!).

When you’re coming up with ideas for your brand’s instagram (or really it could be your brand’s website, blog, or wherever else you’re posting pictures for your business) it’s really important to stay grounded in the fact that these images are marketing your business. This means you want your images to not just express who your brand is, but you also want your images to create a CONNECTION with your audience — you really need both of these aspects to create great visual content that will market your business. Today we’re going to go over what I believe is the BEST way to create that connection, which is to share aspirational visual content with your audience. First, let’s cover what aspirational content is.

so, what is Aspirational Photography?

Brands are figuring out that the key to serious, long-term success with their online marketing is to share aspirational visual content on their website, blog, instagram, (or wherever else they post content regularly). Aspirational visual content is photography that simultaneously represents your brand, and your customers innermost desires and dreams (their ASPIRATIONS). It represents the parts of themselves that want to achieve something bigger and grander. Below are some great examples of aspirational photography. Depending on what your aspirations are, some of these may really connect with you:

Why Use Aspirational Photography?

When it comes to posting aspirational photos for your brand, what you’ll want to do is learn what your ideal customers aspirations are, then visually communicate how your product or service will help your customers achieve them. By posting photos that show your audience that your product can help get them the ideal life moments that they’re dreaming of, that’s when your brand has officially taken your content marketing to a whole new level.

How to Create Aspirational Photography

Now that we’ve covered the what and why of aspirational content, let’s talk about how you can get aspirational photography ideas for your brand. Before we get specific, here are some questions to ask yourself to help focus your ideas:

• What feelings do I want my customers to experience when they use my product, service or see my brand and brand lifestyle?

• What are my customers aspirations?

• How can my brand help my customers achieve their aspirations?

Now that you’ve answered these questions, let’s look at how would you turn the answers into photography ideas. Here’s a big clue to get you started: aspirational content tells a story. Knowing that, it’s now time to ask yourself:

• What stories could I tell through photos that visually show my customers aspirations?

As you post these photos, your followers will be able to see themselves as potentially being in the image or video you post, which will ultimately will help evoke emotions inside of them that connect your brand to their biggest dreams. That is a connection you want to make. This will speak to the heart of how your brand will help your customers achieve their dreams. Once you have an idea for the story, message or feeling you want to communicate, I definitely recommend planning your next photoshoot around that idea. 

If you need some help planning and organizing your photoshoot, I have a FREE download I think you’re really going to like: my “Photoshoot Planner” PDF. It’s the visual planner I use to organize my ideas, inspiration, and poses for my brand photoshoots. If you’d like access to that, just fill out the email address you’d like me to send it to below, submit it, and it’ll arrive in your inbox within 15 minutes.

As you plan your next photoshoot, just remember to show your customers their wildest dreams, and then when it comes time to promote your brand, let them know how your product or service can take them there. This will help you create a stand-out, eye catching brand. 

Do you have an idea of what your next brand photoshoot concept is? I would LOVE to hear about it in the comments area below. And if you’d like more ideas on how to take your brand and your photography to the next level, check out my YouTube channel or other blog posts on this site, or find me on Instagram @sarahdeshaw.