Group shots
September 11, 2016 at 10:50 am | Posted in copywriting | 9 CommentsTags: business, communication, content, copwriter, copywrite, copywriter, copywriting, group shot, photo, team, website
All together now …
A small-business client sent me a photo of herself posing with staff and colleagues at an industry function.
She asked if and how the shot could be used on her website.
After examining it, here’s what I said:
Normally, pics like these bore readers to tears (so I advise ditching them).
This photo, however, is unusually well executed.
So, the questions are, will your website’s target audience:
- Know who these people are?
- Be impressed?
If 1 and 2 are YES, you could use the pic as is, with no copy at all.
If 1 is NO but 2 is YES, you’ll need to identify the people by name, title and organisation for optimal effect.
You could do this the usual way (i.e. via a caption) but it might be a bit long given the number of people in frame.
Alternatively, you could embed these data such that they appear when the screen cursor hovers over each face.
Or, you could add a number to each person and add a legend with the data beside or below the pic.
Or, you could distil the pic into a silhouette (e.g. black line or solid shape on white background) and add numbers to each face – plus a legend as described above.
Regardless of the answer to question 1, if 2 is NO there’s no value in using the pic.
My client was grateful for this analysis.
And I realised two things:
- Though my forte is words, I’ve been around long enough to pick up some visual tips.
- I’m good at laying out solutions to help people decide things and get them done.
I hope you got something from reading this too.
🙂
Brought to you by The Feisty Empire.
Pic by The Happy Rower.
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Paul Hassing
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Reblogged this on Word-nerdy blog and commented:
Another insight from the talented Paul Hassing.
You see, we word-nerds learn a lot about all sorts of things.
Comment by Desolie Page— September 11, 2016 #
One of the things I most love about editing is all the new things I learn.
And like you, I’ve absorbed quite a bit about the importance of the visual elements within a document.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom. 🙂
Desolie
Comment by Desolie Page— September 11, 2016 #
Wonderful, Desolie – thank you. I love it when we’re on the same … page! 🙂
Comment by paulhassing— September 11, 2016 #
[…] So many people seem to want to use photos in their various communications that it’s great to get some expert advice from one of Australia’s best copywriters, Paul Hassing. Here’s what Paul told a client who wanted to use a photo […]
Pingback by When is a picture worth 1,000 words? | Winston Marsh— September 19, 2016 #
Geez, when you get mentioned by Desolie Page AND Winston Marsh, you’ve either given out a lot of Monte Carlos, or written something half decent. Many thanks, Winno! 🙂
Comment by paulhassing— September 19, 2016 #
A pleasure to spread your excellent thoughts to my friends and colleagues.
Comment by Anonymous— September 20, 2016 #
😀
Comment by Paul Hassing (@PaulHassing)— September 20, 2016 #
Test comment to demonstrate new settings.
Comment by Anonymous— September 20, 2016 #
Now this is a comment I can get behind.
Comment by adamnrave— December 16, 2019 #