Why you should start using better pictures for business

It’s time to sharpen up your images, writes Danika Ferguson.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Why?

Firstly, because it conveys emotion, which inevitably takes many words to express. It can snapshot an event. It can reflect a sunlit moment in time.

It’s because research shows our brains are able to remember pictures far better than written text. In fact, we can remember more than 2,000 images with 90% accuracy.

And it is because people rarely have time to read 1000 words when one image will do the trick.  

We’re inherently visual creatures and that’s why you should be using visual content for your business.

Whether to attract more eyeballs to your content or to improve engagement with your audience, visual content is the starting point for every excellent content marketing strategy.

But in today’s image-obsessed society (fuelled by social media), most images have been edited and filtered to increase their appeal.

Why are filters important?

Yahoo Labs’ research into photo-sharing platform Instagram has found that a filtered photo is 21% more likely to receive views and 45% more likely to receive comments  – and while that’s great news for people who spend hours contemplating the perfect filter, it’s less cheery for the rest of us.

Nothing will beat the perfection of a professional photographer and the services of a graphic design team, but for better pics on the fly, app makers have come to the rescue, with easy, foolproof ways to improve the snapshot you took of that smiling customer or the less-than-perfect headshot of your CEO.

Here’s our guide to 7 great (mostly free) photo apps to make your business shine in 2017.

1. Coloursplash

What is it? Coloursplash allows you to convert your photos to black and white and add colour to certain sections of the image for a more dramatic effect.

How does it work? Upload your photo, select a filter and use an adjustable brush tool to colour certain segments of the image.

What to look out for: Pop up ads appear each time you start a new ‘project’ – frustrating but not prohibitive.

2. Canva

What is it? Canva is a simple graphic design tool founded in Perth that provides you with hundreds of templates, features and design elements to create graphics.  

How does it work? Upload your own images or work entirely from a template to create your graphics and creative images. Pay for a business account and unlock the ability to load brand colours, logos and invite team members to join. The platform is subscription based, and some templates and graphic elements come with a small price-tag when the final product is downloaded.

What to look for: The platform struggles to download large image files and designs when complete.

3. Over

What is it? Over allows you to edit images and overlay text and graphic elements on top of a photo.

How does it work? Upload your own image or select from their existing library of designs and edit away. Edit panels provide you with multiple options to change text style, colour, size and position.

What to look for: The app is focused on text overlay so only basic editing options are available for the background image, so make sure it’s a good one.

4. Fused

What is it? Fused is a photo manipulation app that allows you to merge two images together in a creative way.

How does it work? Choose a background and foreground image from your photo library or their collection and click through the editing options to merge the two images together in creative ways.

What to look for: Creations are watermarked with the Fused logo on it when downloaded. Works best for making silhouette images using a plain background with an interesting subject in the foreground.

5. Facetune

What is it? Allows you to airbrush and edit portrait and selfie images until you achieve that perfect Hollywood glow.

How does it work? Upload an image of a face and you can edit almost any feature. Make a nose smaller, remove blemishes and redness, brighten eye colour, whiten teeth – you name it, the app can probably do it.

What to look for: Be careful not to make any rookie mistakes that overly distort the face.

6. Prisma

What is it? Prisma is on the quirkier side of photo editing, allowing you to apply artistic filters to an image, e.g. mosaic style, anime drawing, pop art or painting.  

How does it work? Upload an image, select your preferred artistic filter and swipe your finger across the image to adjust the intensity of the filter – it’s that easy.

What to look for: You can’t edit the original image within this app.

7. Pixelmator

What is it? Think Photoshop on mobile and without the hefty price tag. Pixelmator is a full-feature editing platform for photos, and offers the most comprehensive editing features in this line-up.

How does it work? Enhance and edit images, sketch, draw and paint as well as adding text and shapes to photos.

What to look for: This app will set you back $7.99 – a very affordable price if you regularly edit lots of images on the go.

These apps are a great and inexpensive way to create great visual content, and a good starting point for any business looking to rethink their visual content strategy.

Photo by Jason Chen.

Is it time to focus on your visual content? Our digital and design strategists can help you plan and execute a flawless content strategy, giving you the support and expertise to take your visuals to the next level. Have a coffee with us today and find out how.