Where Are All The People?

I was searching building products manufacturers for images of their products with people in the photos to use in a presentation. The window companies have high quality, beautiful photography, so I started looking through a couple of leading manufacturers’ photo galleries. No people in the photos.

Next, I looked through the photo galleries of kitchen appliance companies. To my surprise, no people in the photos.

This discovery sparked a review of social media platforms for images of people using and enjoying the flooring, cabinets, countertops, bathroom fixtures, and even power tools. No people were found in the photos.

Am I completely mistaken to think featuring the people you are selling to and benefiting is off base?

Connecting with Your Customers

Gartner research reports that 77% of the customers journey is complete before they see the product or talk with a sales person. The final touch by the customer should be personal with one person interacting with another. Better yet, the interaction should be emotional so it will create a meaningful and lasting imprint on the customers’ experience.

Storytelling is being embraced as a means to connect with the customers in a personal and emotional way. Certainly a well-written story is compelling and effective. Telling this same story through photographs and video using people is even more impactful.

People Buy From People

We must remember that people buy from people. Yes, I know a large amount of purchasing occurs on faceless Amazon. Most of these purchases are commodity buys of products that are familiar to people. Large scale purchases still benefit from the personal touch. Just ask Amazon why they are opening 600 brick and mortar stores this year.

Your builder customers recognize the power of personal and emotional connections. They often include people in their marketing materials. Builders also invest heavily in showrooms, model homes, special events and realtors (aka sales people).

Even your customers know that using people in photography is a natural, compelling way to tell a story. Just look at their social media posts that feature your products. We haven’t even touched on experiential marketing like trade shows, lunch and learns, and traveling roadshows.

A Couple of Suggestions

So here is what I suggest.

1. Include user generated content in your social media. It is an authentic and affordable way to include people in your marketing.
2. Consider including people in your beauty shots. I know the cost of having “talent” in photography is an added cost. So is advertising that does not connect with the target audience.
3. Begin to incorporate personal stories in all of your publishing channels like social media. I know the products are important and so are the people that buy them and use them.

The decision to include people or not in your marketing is one of the decisions you make when creating your content strategy. Let us know if you would like to bounce around the idea of including people in your marketing. We are just a call, text or email away.