Professional Photography Sets Home Builders Apart Online
If you want your home building company to stand out online, professional photography is the first step. Your buyers are already online, and as they're flipping through photos of houses on Zillow and Trulia, you want them to stop on your property. How do you impress them? With awesome, high-quality photos of your amazing work. If you've been considering professional photography for your home building company, but just aren't sure it's worth the investment, here's what you need to know:
Why Should your Home Building Company Hire a Professional Photographer?
Professional photography is an absolute must when you're building out a professional home builder website. Whether your website already exists and you'd like to update, or you're thinking about getting a website for your company, one thing you definitely shouldn't skimp on is photography. And really, it makes sense — most people buy a house because of the way it looks. Sure, most people want a home that's structurally sound, but 9 times out of 10, the real deciding factor is what it looks like. Professional photographers are a must for any home builder looking to drive quality digital traffic, and here's why:
Draw in More Qualified Buyers
The better your pictures look, the more quickly people will convert. If you're putting your best foot forward online — on websites like Trulia and Zillow, as well as on your own website — it's easier for potential buyers to picture what their own lives will look like in your houses, which makes it easier for them to pick up the phone and call.
Highly Shareable on Social Media
Another great benefit of high-quality home photos is they're highly shareable on social media. People on almost every social media site — from Pinterest to Facebook — love a great photo of a breathtaking home. And if they really like your photo, then they're likely to share it, which means your home makes it onto more people's social media feeds. This expands your digital reach, and can help increase the number of qualified leads you have calling in, as it simultaneously expands how many followers you have on social media.
They're More Attractive
The bottom line is that a high-quality photo is simply more visually attractive than a grainy photo someone took with their smartphone. Consumers love to look at really beautiful homes, and professional photography ensures your homes fit in that category. With professional photography, you ensure your business, and your brand, appear visually attractive and professional across all platforms. This is key for home builders, especially if you're trying to break into a higher price point. Professional photography can convey the class and elegance you need to represent to attract buyers willing to make a larger investment.
So, it's pretty clear why professional photography is so great — it positions your company as a professional, high-quality builder who can put out elegant homes — but how do you hire a professional photographer you can trust to convey that vision of elegance?
Hire an Architectural Photographer
First and foremost, it's important to hire a photographer who has experience with architectural photography. There are tons of photographers out there who have experience doing work for realtors and housing developers, so be sure to choose someone who knows how to do the photography you need. Taking photos of houses is a little bit different than taking family portraits, and an architectural photographer will know just what to do to ensure your staged houses look like someone's future home.
Investigate Lighting
Before you hire any architectural photographer, be sure to look at the portfolios of some of your top candidates, and pay special attention to the lighting in their sample photos. Does the lighting they've used make the homes look larger, or smaller? Does the light seem warm and inviting, or too dark on the edges, and overexposed in the center? Quality lighting is absolutely key in architectural photography.
Many homes are much bigger than the lens can capture, so quality photographers know how to play with the light, and add in additional lighting in places with really high ceilings, so the home doesn't look smaller than it actually is. Be sure to take a good look at your professional photographer's portfolio before finally making a hiring decision.
Know Your Rights
The last thing to do before finally hiring your photographer is to know your rights. There are tons of different intellectual property and copyright licenses you can purchase from your photographer, but it's good to know that most home builders usually don't need exclusive rights. If you think about it, you're probably only going to use the photos you have taken for a year or so, until you sell the house you're advertising.
So, it doesn't really make sense to purchase all the rights to every photo you have taken (it can also be very expensive). Talk to your photographer about purchasing the temporary rights to the photos he or she takes of your homes. That can be much cheaper, and then you won't have to keep paying for those photos long after you have a use for them.
High-quality photography is one of the key ways home builders can set themselves apart online. The homes you build are your product, and they're your best advertising resource as well. If you invest money in making your homes look good, you'll be investing in your company's professional image. Best of all, you can share those photos to get people excited about the work you're doing, and grow your digital following at the same time!
Still not sure where go with your home building company's digital marketing strategy? Evenbound can help! We often work with custom home builders and home developers to boost online traffic, and increase ROI. Check out the case study below to see how we helped push one senior care residence to the top of the market:
