We’ve all heard the saying…
“A picture is worth a thousand words.”
What’s interesting is that – given the number of people who have heard that saying, it is surprising to see the number of people who don’t understand what that saying really means.
A Recent Experience:
Over the winter, I did an Advanced Persuasive Communication talk for a fantastic group of folks in Chicago. During that talk, we discussed the ability of a photo to “say” far more than could ever be stated in words.
To start off that topic, I showed the audience a photo of Brit – a female client who owns a company that focuses on personal training for women who want to model swimsuits or compete in fitness/figure competitions. The market for this type of training is significant – and larger than most would imagine.
While Brit does very well in that area, her desire (why she contacted me) was to expand her business and operate group classes for reasonably fit women who had a desire to bump things up. Brit’s not talking about aerobic or Zumba classes. Rather, group workouts that are quite intense.
When Brit and I first met, she told me that she had already spent a lot of money (about $85,000) with another marketing company and didn’t have very good results. They had built her a website, created beautiful brochures, shot two videos, etc., etc., etc. Still, the results were lack-luster at best.
At our second meeting, I sat down with Brit and did a thorough review of her current marketing plan (including a complete review of the aforementioned materials). There were a few things that jumped right out in terms of mistakes, the most obvious being the copy (the actual text).
The text sounded good when you read it, but the choice of wording was a nightmare. Lousy writing from professional writers is more common than air travel delays.
The bigger mistakes, however, were less obvious (to Brit and her former marketing company), and yet – were very obvious to yours truly. The photos on her website, and in her marketing materials, were all wrong. When I say “wrong,” I mean WAY WRONG.
The photos were professionally shot. The lighting was perfect, nice composition, etc. It wasn’t the photography itself that was the issue, rather – it was the inherent design of the images. It was the selection of images, and…it was BRIT.
Brit was the problem!
Here’s what I mean:
Whether it was Brit’s company website, her brochures, or her other materials, all the images featured Brit wearing competition swimwear, body oil and glitter. In other words, in every shot, Brit is looking cut, tan, wearing a thong or g-string, and high heels. Brit has a butt and a set of calves that would leave you speechless. In short, she looked fantastic. Even women couldn’t help but stare in awe.
The problem was that Brit looked TOO GOOD for her intended audience. Brit’s target market are females 18-55, who want to ROCK the beach sporting a bikini body that will make men stop in their tracks. And while that target market is already in better shape than your typical suburban mom (soft, muffin top, needs to lose 20-50 pounds, etc.), the fact is that the women looking for the “better” bikini body are not even close to the level of those women who are preparing for a fitness or figure competition. Not even a little.
To put things in a clearer light, Brit’s marketing materials (especially the photos) had set the bar well beyond the reach of her target market. The photos of Brit set a bar that was PERCEIVED to be well beyond the reach of even those women who were not fitness models, but were still in better than decent shape. Brit’s photos overpowered the text. The photos painted a picture (an undesired picture) that was inconsistent with the purpose of Brit’s marketing campaign. Add the photo issue to the poor copywriting in her marketing materials, and what you had on your hands was a very expensive, and very unfortunate marketing lesson.
Jump ahead a month after our meeting, and the first thing we did was reshoot all the photos. The new photos showed Brit in attire that was less “modelesque.” Instead of wearing a competition bikini, Brit was wearing a normal bikini. Instead of looking so glittery and oiled-up, Brit toned things down a little so that she was closer on the spectrum to a California bikini beach body (although still a step above) than she was a competition figure model.
Next, we re-wrote all the copy (text). The way Brit’s materials had been written in her original marketing campaign, you might have thought you were purchasing a Rolls Royce . In other words, the words were too showy for her intended audience.
The end result was a NEW marketing campaign that was customized for Brit’s target market – one that convinced her clients that getting the ULTIMATE bikini body wasn’t out of reach.
The POINT:
Make sure that your images are conveying
the right message for your intended audience.
Have A GREAT Day!
…Dr. Marc & The Mind Virus Team