Photography:
Showing clients your best side doesn’t have to be difficult
Working with a practice that has good photography is a marketeer’s dream.
It makes everything that we produce pop and instantly adds credibility and authenticity.
It’s our job to recreate the feeling that a client gets when they walk into your practice and interact with your team.
Your clients choose to use you because they love you and your team, and the service you deliver.
And the easiest way to reproduce that connection is to place the vets, nurses and receptionists your clients know and love front and centre of everything – from your website and social media, to leaflets and posters and anywhere else you’re communicating.
But getting these personalised photos is easier said than done. Hence why so many practices don’t have them!
First things first, it pays to hire a professional. Let’s get that out of the way early. Pay someone to come to your practice and the return on investment will be massive.
Even then, there’s work to do to make the most of your photoshoot.
Worry not. Here are a few tips and tricks to help you nail practice photography.
Decide what you want beforehand – and make sure it happens
It’s crucial to give your photographer a brief. No matter how experienced they are, you’re the expert on your practice, your team and what’s important to your clients.
It’s a great advantage to supply your photographer with a list of shots you want them to capture. This can be as simple as the services you want to highlight or the people who are most important as the faces of your practice – or as detailed as you require.
Here are some ideas for shots we think work well:
If you’re invested in a specific town or village, taking shots of the owner or lead vet out and about at recognisable local hot spots shows that you’re a true community practice.
Group shots where your team are candid and enjoying each other’s company show that you’re a great place to work, a nice message for clients and crucial for recruitment.
Pictures of your team cuddling happy patients are our Nirvana.
We want these to be natural and engaging – face licks are so much better than pets standing to attention because somebody out of shot is holding a treat!
It’s always a good idea to give your team plenty of notice that a photoshoot is scheduled, so they can get their hair done and get themselves ready – although we don't want too much makeup in our clinical shots!
It’s always a good idea to ask your photographer if they’re able to shoot video material at the same time as taking pictures. We could write a whole piece of content just on the value of video content – it provides so much value in communicating your practice’s personality, ethos and values. If you can kill two birds with one stone, you’re winning.
Use your photos everywhere
Having a full set of fantastic, emotive pictures isn’t the end goal – it’s just the start.
Now we need to get them out there in the world, working hard for our practice.
Here are a few ideas for how to make sure your team is seen.
-
We are big advocates of paying careful attention to your Google Business profile – and photos play a big role in this. Every profile should have at least 20 good quality images, uploaded by the practice – those uploaded by clients don’t count. And even if you have your 20, making sure the pics are updated, fresh and relevant is keeping your shop window as appealing as possible.
-
Websites with old, dated photography look… old and dated. Websites with attractive, friendly photography look… you get the idea! We talk in more detail about websites here.
-
Unless you’re a referral practice doing high value surgery, your health plan is the most valuable thing a client can purchase from your practice – around £360 a year of recurring revenue. So you want to make sure the materials marketing your plan look as good as possible.
-
Struggling for inspiration for your social media accounts? Tease that you’re having a photography day, give clients a glimpse behind the scenes, and then use the best pics one by one over the weeks and months that follow telling stories about your practice.
Dos and don’ts
-
Do look for a photographer with experience working with pets. As you know full well, they don’t always perform for the camera! If your photographer has a few tricks for capturing his models’ attention, life will be easier.
-
Don’t take pics of pets with black fur – they can look like they have no features!
-
Do have team member and pet eyes on the same level – it makes the pic easier to work with in different shaped spaces on websites and leaflets
-
Don’t take team member bio pics in a location you won’t be able to replicate the next time a new hire starts.
-
Do – if taking pics of pets in and around the practice try to make it obvious they’re in your practice so they don’t look like stock shots, for example in front of posters or branding.
We’ve been involved in every stage of this process a dozen times, from putting briefs together for photographers to printing artwork showcasing the finished product – and everything in between.
If you’d like to tap into that river of knowledge, book a chat with us below.
Vet practice marketing
To us it's personal
If you’re eager to improve your practice’s marketing but you’re unsure where to start, I’m taking on new clients for the next quarter! Book an initial discovery below!
