Custom photography for your new or refreshed biotech website is worth the investment. One of the most powerful website design elements, photos create an emotional connection with customers, investors, employees, and others who can help your company grow to the next stage. As your company advances, custom photos give artistic life to your unique corporate brand and help create a consistent, compelling visual story that is distinctly yours.
While stock photos are convenient, pictures of the same smiling scientists in generic lab coats, in generic lab spaces, lack authenticity and don’t set you apart from the crowd. There’s no better way to reflect your company’s personality, share your vision, feature your team, and showcase your products or services than with custom photography.
The Value of Custom Photography for Biotech Company Marketing
Custom photography for your new or refreshed biotech website is worth the investment. It’s one of the most powerful elements of website design, creating an emotional connection with customers, investors, employees, and others who can help your company reach the next stage of growth. As your company advances, custom photos give artistic life to your unique corporate brand and help create a consistent, compelling visual story that is distinctly yours.
Planning for Custom Biotech Website and Marketing Photography
Just as planning your biotech company requires a detailed strategy, so does your website—and the photos that appear in it. Careful planning helps maximize your investment by attracting website visitors, leaving a lasting impression, and meeting your marketing objectives.
Here’s what you need to know when planning your photography session.
1. Solidify the Image You Want to Present on your Website
Your website is a high-profile marketing asset. Planning your custom biotech photo session is the ideal time to solidify your brand. Customer photos enhance the look and feel of your website in a way that consistently reflects your brand. If your company hasn’t spent much effort developing a brand image, now’s the time. If you have previously discussed these ideas, preparing for your shoot is a great time to review them and consider an update.
You can discuss questions such as:
- What are the website’s top objectives and how can the website support our other marketing programs?
- What company’s personality and values do you want to convey?
- What type of tone, language, and “look and feel” will appeal most to your key audiences?
- How do you want to showcase your innovations, science, technology, leadership, company environment, products, and services?
Some popular ways to start developing concepts for website photos are to check out competitor sites to identify your likes and dislikes, create a Pinterest concept board, put ideas into a Google Drive folder or your project app, or have a whiteboarding session to represent your ideas visually.
For biotech companies without a comprehensive marketing team, a website design agency with strong digital marketing expertise can help you solidify your brand.
2. Select the Right Biotech Custom Photographer
One of the key tasks when choosing the right biotech photographer is to find someone who will deliver high-quality photos that properly convey your company’s image and story.
Here are some useful criteria:
Biotech or Life Sciences Experience:
Ask the photographer what companies the photographer worked with that are similar to yours.
Budget:
Custom biotech photography can be costly but never sacrifice quality. When getting a price quote, check that the photographer’s quote includes the total process, including receiving the final images. If comparing photographers, quotes should be “apples to apples.”
Timeframe:
Before signing a contract, confirm that the photographer is available and can deliver the final product within your desired timeframe.
Comfort-Level:
Ask about and be comfortable with the photographer’s communication and collaboration style. You can tell a lot just by your initial phone calls and meetings.
Reputation:
Referrals and word-of-mouth from other biotech companies can provide important information, such as the photographer’s timeliness and technical proficiency.
Previous Work:
Look at the photographer’s website and those they have designed to get an idea of their style and range of work.
3. Set Expectations
Once you have selected a photographer, hold a kick-off or pre-planning session to discuss your vision, requirements, description of the process, and the date and format for file delivery. Your photographer should visit your location and know the areas where they may want to shoot.
4. Leverage Photos from the Shoot
Before the shoot, consider how you might repurpose photos for your presentations, brochures, advertising, and social media. You will leverage your photos while maintaining a consistent image across all marketing channels. Be sure to talk to your photographer about these ideas before the shoot, as it may impact many areas, including pricing.
5. Create a Shot List of Potential Photos
What types of photos do you need? An experienced photographer may already have a list of potential types of photos, such as headshots, office teams collaborating, working in the lab, interaction with products, or outside shots of the building. Companies can also solicit ideas (and volunteer models) from company employees.
As you refine your list, be as specific as possible regarding people, equipment, exterior of the building, and other specifics. Tie each photo idea to a relevant website location, such as the home page or team page. Ultimately, you and your photographer will determine a final list that meets your website’s objectives. As your website team builds the site, the graphic designer will recommend appropriate photos.
6. Scout Locations for your Photo Shoot
Photo shoots can be time-consuming. The best way to maximize the shoot is with planning. Once you have determined your list of photos, arrange for the photographer to scout out possible locations for each type of shot, detailing the positioning of people, products, and places.
Location scouting is often done a week or so before the shoot to ensure that props, lighting, and other equipment will be available and in proper condition when and where they are needed. Each shot location should be clean and clear of extraneous items. Know who will be in each shot, and tell them when they are needed and how long it will take.
7. Schedule the Shoot Day
Now that you have determined your shot list and locations, your photographer should help you plan a detailed, realistic schedule. Understand that you may need to be flexible to accommodate things beyond your control—such as weather, unplanned phone calls, and equipment situations. If the shoot is particularly complex or you have scheduling issues, consider splitting your shoot into two days.
Your schedule should include:
- The approximate times for each location
- When and where team members will be needed (and for how long)
- Times for breaks
- List of items, props, and equipment, especially those requiring special set-up
- Description of clothing team members should wear
Some employees look forward to a brief diversion during the workday, but the photographer will try to be as unobtrusive as possible to avoid disrupting the workday.
8. Ask for Day-of-Shoot Instructions from your Biotech Photographer
The day of the shoot is the worst time to realize that your sample equipment is dirty, your team members don’t have the right clothes, or your location is messy. Ask your photographer for day-of-shoot instructions so you can plan for an efficient shoot.
9. Plan for Comfort
The photographer and members of your team should be comfortable. Long or technically complex shoots can be grueling. Keeping coffee, snacks, drinks, and lunch on hand will help keep the photographer’s team productive and sharp throughout the day. Your staff won’t mind the extra doughnuts or sandwiches, either!
10. Have Fun with Your Photo Shoot
The Ladybugz Interactive team, specialists in biotech websites and other digital marketing, is excited to work with innovative companies at the forefront of scientific change. When you want custom biotech photos to elevate your website, Ladybugz can provide top-notch photographers who know the best way to capture the essence of your unique biotech company. Contact us today for your biotech company’s web design, branding, and logo identity.
