As an individual, a group or a business, you’ll be aware that you project a certain image into the world – a representation of what you’re about and what you stand for. This awareness is all-the-more heightened online, where you exist literally in image form, whether on a Facebook profile or a company website. As your image is so important, it can really pay in life to manage the image you present to the online community, so here are some top tips behind the curation of an enticing, professional and immaculate online image, whether you’re brushing up your personal profile or that of your business.
Table of Contents
Consistency
There’s something harmonious in consistency that people never quite pick up on in the con-scious mind, but that’s incredibly important when fostering a certain image for mass consump-tion. Take Instagram filters, for instance. It’s always best to decide on your favorite filter and use just that – perhaps you’re a travel company, using a red-fade filter to suggest warmth – so that even the mere color scheme of your images is communicating a consistent message: in this case ‘buy our holidays – they’re gloriously warm.’
Professionalism
Take that bit of extra time to do a number of edits on your photos before you publish them online. This might involve straightening out the horizon, sharpening up the in-focus subject, or simply cropping to a more appropriate image size or shape. The professionalism with which you hold your photographs will reflect completely on your image: shoddy photos taken on poor camera phones or outdated digital cameras will only communicate a noncommittal atti-tude towards your image that will not inspire confidence. Instead, be proud of the images you promote, and they’ll reflect back kindly on you.
Additional Features
We’re not so much suggesting heaping not the Snapchat icons and emojis here, but making some smart and appropriate additions to the images you upload in order, again, to communi-cate professionalism and even your digital expertise. You can use some simple software to make beautiful Facebook photo covers that you’ll be able to roll out for your personal or busi-ness profiles on social media, or otherwise add to any of your online content. The rise of the ‘meme’ – the photo combined with text – shows just how potent this combination can be for image production and dissemination: if you can get it right, you’ll be tapping into current me-dia trends.
Schedule
Lastly, it’s no good publishing 10 photos at once and then nothing for a month or two: inactivi-ty betrays a lack of investment in your image. Instead, back up your images and stagger their release – say once a week – in order to promote the idea that you’re diligent in your marketing and you’re consistent and constant in the eyes of your followers, gently reminding them that you’re there. Scheduling your publishing may seem odd, but all businesses and media outlets practice this, so you’ll only be following the accepted trend.
With image being so important an aspect of our online existence, it’s no wonder that people are keen to improve theirs: hopefully, the tips provided here will be of some inspiration to any-one with image improvement in mind.
