How to Use Local Project Photos to Strengthen Your Precast Marketing

Marketing is a visual art. When we look at a photo or graphic, our brains make quick connections. As a precast business owner, the photos you use in your marketing should aim to help your current and new clients form positive connections, build trust, and present your work in a visually appealing way. But how exactly can you use local project photos to strengthen your marketing and attract new clients?

Why Project Photos Are One of Your Most Powerful Marketing Tools

Photos act as a documentary for projects, helping track construction progress, facilitating communication with clients, providing valuable marketing materials, and, when turned into marketing content, can showcase your company’s capabilities and strong local partnerships.

According to a study from the Visual Teaching Alliance, 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual, and visuals are processed 60,000 times faster than text. We remember more, and process faster when pictures are, well, in the picture, especially when those visuals are eye-catching and relevant.

So, how can you use local project photos to strengthen your marketing efforts? Start with these recommendations, and keep scrolling to see real examples from Aster Brands producers putting them into action.

• Online Portfolio/Project Page: Create a page on your website that hosts your project photos.
• Social Media Opportunities: Use photos to support ongoing content creation and keep your channels active.
• Client Communications: Share photos of your work with clients to show them what you can do
• Marketing Documents: Strengthen marketing efforts with real project visuals in sell sheets, catalogs, and guides.
• Local Advertising: Putting an ad in the local paper or renting a billboard? Don’t forget to include an image that shows off your services.
• Trade Shows: You’ll need a booth design, and pictures are typically used as backdrops, in slide shows, and in handout materials.

Most importantly, showcase your local partnerships through project photos. Featuring project photos that involve other local businesses (the project’s contractor, engineer, etc.) allows you the opportunity to cross-promote and stand behind the work of others. This type of social proof shows that you work well with other local businesses and aren’t afraid to give credit where credit is due.

An example of this might look like a social media post featuring before-and-after project photos, with text overlay that describes the solutions used and calls out the contractor and engineer involved. In the post description, you’d want to give credit (tag, mention, etc.) to the contributing parties so they can repost, like, share, etc. A task like this takes minutes to create and is an easy, solid way to gain visibility. Looking to grow your social media impact? Check out our recent article, Leveraging Social Media to Grow Your Brand, for great information geared toward quick, easy wins.

Before you dive into creating marketing content with your project photos, it’s important to understand what types of photos make the most impact.

What Type of Photos Should I Take?

Ideally, you’ll want to take photos of the following:

• Your products, when they are cast, cured, and ready to go to the jobsite
• What the jobsite looks like before the project
• During construction
• Immediately after completion

Additionally, revisiting projects after a year or so, or when greenery is in bloom, to grab a few more pictures, is good practice. We know you’re out driving around anyway–might as well make a stop to make your marketing team happy.

For more direction on taking project photos, view our guide “5 Tips for Taking Project Photos That Sell.”

Online Portfolios & Project Pages

Show off the projects you precast on your website. Bonus points for including brief descriptions and crediting project stakeholders.

Social Media Opportunities

Project photos can fill your social media calendar quickly.

Client Communications

Adding project photos to email communications, whether they are scheduled streams or one-off emails, can help advance a potential deal, strengthen client relationships, and give every potential customer a clearer picture of your capabilities. You can also add project photos to slideshows and presentation materials for client meetings.

Marketing Documents

Sell sheets, installation guides, product catalogs–whether you are co-branding an existing brand resource, or making something from scratch–consider adding your own project photos.

Local Advertising

Local publications, billboards, and events are great opportunities to showcase your work.

Trade Shows

Project photos help you stand out from the crowd at industry trade shows and events, and should be incorporated into your booth design and handout materials. High-quality project photos can even be submitted by project stakeholders for awards competitions.

Project photos are more than just documentation. They are one of the most effective marketing tools at your disposal. If you regularly take and share local project images on your channels, you can build credibility, strengthen partnerships, and reach the right audiences. Treat every local project as a marketing opportunity, and you will have a steady flow of content to help your business grow.