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How often should you get new branding photos taken?

branding | photography

Contrary to popular belief, getting a brand photo done to post on your website and then leaving it for ten years is not ideal! Yet so many people pop a “quick pic” of themselves up on their ‘About’ page and then forget about it. But as I’ve already said on more than one occasion, branding photography isn’t just a headshot. It’s a lot more than that and so leaving it to grow mouldy and outdated on your website is doing your business a huge disservice. How often should you get new branding photos taken? Well, as your business grows and changes, you need to keep things fresh and current, so that goes for your branding photos too!

How often do you post to social media? 

If you’re a frequent poster to Instagram, say five days a week, you’re going to need new content more frequently than someone who only posts twice a week. Being clear on how often you use your images will give you a good idea about how often you need to refresh them. 

To give you a clear picture, a one-hour shoot will typically provide you with around 40 images. Drip fed on your social media in amongst styled quotation posts and so on, you could draw those out over 2-3 months, or even longer if you don’t post as often. But would you want to keep using those same images a year from now? Or in a decade? 

Most branding photographers will advocate getting a refresh of your brand images every 3-4 months. However, it’s not unusual to make it a half-yearly or annual thing either if budgets are tight. The point is, that batch of images is not going to serve your business from now until retirement, okay? A little refresh is good for the soul, so do try to get new images at least once a year if you can.

How has your business changed over the last 1-2 years?

You’d be surprised how different your business can look in a couple of years. You build up experience, knowledge, a list of clients and great word of mouth. You then start to find that the things you wanted for your business a few years ago are not the same as what you want today.

Reviewing and refreshing your brand every few years is a healthy practice for your business. It helps you to drill down things about your ideal client you might not have known before. You’ll also learn how to market yourself in new ways and what you now want your business to look like.

How have YOU changed over the last 1-2 years?

Two years ago, I was living in the UK, side-hustling while working as a paramedic, and I had purple hair. Now I’m living in Canada, I’ve left the paramedic life behind, and I’m working for myself full-time. The hair is still pretty purple, but it has a lot of other fun colours in there too!

The point is, I’ve changed a hell of a lot over the last two years. Confession time! Even I know my brand and photos need a refresh! Who I serve in my business now is hugely different from who she was two years ago. And so I need to update everything and start marketing to that new version of my ideal client.

Does your current branding photography date you?

What I mean is, can you tell your photos are from the ACTUAL 1990s and aren’t some retro homage to the era?! Take a look at your headshot. Was the outfit you’re wearing bought in this decade? When was the last time you even saw it, let alone wore it? And has your headshot got you posing like an 80s real estate agent? 

If you answered yes to any of these, then it’s time to get new branding photos.

Have I totally “outed” you and your outdated branding photos? Then we should talk about getting you some fresh, new ones! Get in touch, and I’ll let you know how I can help bring your branding bang up-to-date in a few quick steps.