Imagine a prospective future resident is browsing your website, learning more about your community and growing more comfortable with the idea of a move. She notices a photo of a nice-looking gentleman playing a game of cards with friends. He seems so familiar! She wonders, “Where have I seen him before?”
Then it hits her: That same man appeared in an ad for another senior living community — your closest competitor. How much allure does your community lose when your prospective resident realizes that the man doesn’t actually live there, but instead is a paid model?
Stock Photos in Senior Living
Stock photos are fantastic for many purposes. Royalty-free photos are cheap, fast and abundantly available. They represent a diverse population, depicting people of both genders and every race, age, hair color and style of dress.
But these convenient marketing props also have some downsides. As your prospective resident found, a stock photo you’ve used prominently can end up in a competitor’s materials or — even worse — in an ad for a product with which you’d prefer not to be associated. Sure, exclusive rights are available for purchase for rights-managed photography on sites such as Getty Images, but you’ll pay upwards of $1,000 or more for it.
Resident Photos in Senior Living
If stock photos and exclusive rights in your geography are cost prohibitive — at least for images you’ll prominently feature on your website and in other collateral — what’s the alternative? One approach is to take photos of real residents. But that option can be fraught with peril, too.
Some senior living communities use any and all photos of residents that are available. Photos may come from club meetings, outings, special dinners, resident birthdays and other events. Photographers range from activities directors to family members to residents themselves. Snapshots taken by inexperienced, unprofessional photographers are oftentimes poorly lit, poorly composed and unflattering to their subjects.
While candid snapshots can be a good fit for social media, they should not serve as the foundation for professional marketing materials, which form the public image of the community. If you’re using candid shots on a routine basis, you may be missing an opportunity to showcase your community at its best.
Fortunately, there is a third option.
Create Your Own Stock Photos
Imagine this scenario: You have a library of dozens — even hundreds — of beautiful, perfectly lit images. They’re digital, easily accessible, and cropped and sized for all your marketing needs. Best of all, the subjects are your own residents.
By hiring a professional photographer for a professional photo shoot, you can create your own stock photo library and have the best of both worlds: A variety of readily available, amazing-looking images that feature real, live residents of your community.
Setting up Your Photo Shoot
The key to creating your own fantastic stock images is planning. Start by interviewing several photographers or marketing agencies who are often networked to photographers who specialize in senior living. After explaining your goals for the shoot, ask to see the photographer’s portfolio to get a sense of his or her style and experience. Discuss how the photographer plans to achieve the images you’re hoping to capture.
Your chosen photographer will need to visit your campus to view all the locations you’re considering for the shoot. You’ll want a variety of settings, including dining venues, common areas and outdoor spaces. After you’ve identified appropriate locations for your shoot, make a list of shots you’ll need.
Next, book your “models” by choosing eight to 10 residents to appear in your photos. Ideally, try to have a diverse mix of people, including both men and women along with different ages and races. Once your models have agreed to participate, be sure to get — and keep — signed releases giving you full rights to use the photos as needed in your marketing.
On the day of the shoot, ask your models to bring a change of clothes or two so you can vary your shots. You may want your models to dress up for a formal shot in the dining room and dress casually for a “coffee” or “brunch” shot in your bistro, for instance.
Lastly, ask the photographer to take each shot with and without residents in it so that your “lifestyle” photography is supplemented with architectural photos, including “beauty shots” comprised of your most appealing spaces and architectural features.
Stay Tuned for Part II
You now know the advantages of creating your own stock photos and how to get started with your photo shoot. In Part II, we’ll cover:
- How to create amazing active shots with your resident models.
- What scenes on your campus you should include.
- How you can store your images safely and access them easily.
- Actions to take if one of your resident models moves or passes away.
The post Resident Photos in Marketing – Part I appeared first on Walker Marketing | Best Marketing Agency.