A (Great) Picture is Worth a Thousand Likes

Tips for creating more visually captivating photographs with just a cell phone

By Daniel Rivera

Once upon a time, all a business needed to grab a consumer’s attention was a catchy tagline. In today’s world, media channels are constantly evolving, and battling brands are always looking for ways to make their content stand out over the competition. Your social media posts reflect your bank’s brand and for your brand to stand out, your posts must do the same. We all know (at least we should know) that a social media post cannot rely solely on witty text to draw the attention of anyone scrolling through. At the same time though, just posting any photo will not do the trick either.

Despite what you may believe, you don’t need a fancy professional camera to take stellar photos. Most of the time, your smart phone will do the trick. Here are some simple tips for creating more visually captivating photographs with just your cell phone:

Look for the Light:

The first step to taking a great photo is to find the best light source and to adjust your shot accordingly. You want to make sure that your subject is well-lit while also not having them stare directly into the sun. Sometimes your options are limited, and your phone will adjust accordingly. However, if your phone is automatically setting the exposure too low, tap the screen on the area that is appearing too dark as you’re setting up your shot, and your phone will adjust the overall exposure to compensate for that part of the image.

Tell the Story:

Getting a great group photo isn’t just about gathering everyone for a quick picture. You’ll want to incorporate some elements into the frame that help tell the story. If you are raising money for breast cancer awareness, make sure everyone is wearing pink. If you’re sponsoring a concert in the community, be sure to show the musicians on stage by your bank’s banner. And if your bank is taking part in the town’s parade, show off the colorful float as well as anyone walking by it, ready with goodies to throw out to the crowd.

Make ’em Smile:

Happy people want to work with happy people. So, regardless of whether you’re trying to attract new customers or new employees, make sure those in your photos are showing you their best smiling faces.

Enhance Your Photos:

Sometimes, you can get a great-looking shot straight out of the camera that needs no additional work — but many times — your photo could use a little enhancing. Adjusting the brightness, contrast, color saturation, and crop of your photo are all you need to make your photo pop. You don’t even need to purchase a software subscription to make these simple edits either. Adobe has free mobile versions of their Photoshop and Lightroom programs, while Snapseed and PicMonkey are also great photo-editing options worth looking into, all available for Android and iOS devices.

Media and its impact on consumers is constantly evolving. So, now that you’re ready to take your smartphone photography to a whole new level, just imagine what you can do with your bank’s brand once you’ve taken it a step further with video!

Rivera is marketing coordinator at The Bank of New Glarus and a member of the 2021–2022 WBA Marketing Committee.