Matrix Group International

Month: April 2014

  • Just Say No! to Stock Photography

    Just Say No! to Stock Photography

    Sample stock image of people meeting
    Here’s an example of an image that is clearly a stock image. Do these people look real to you?

    Whenever I meet with clients about their websites, the conversation inevitably turns to the topic of stock photos. Most companies are photo challenged, so they ask us to help them find good stock imagery. My answer? Just say NO! to stock photography, especially of people!

    I feel hypocritical even writing this blog post because this blog is full of stock images. Heck, I’ve even blogged about Matrix Group’s favorite stock image websites.

    So when and why do I encourage my team and my clients to say NO! to stock photos?

    • When the web page is about a place or an idea, then I think it’s okay to use stock images. You can use a stock image of New Orleans, or use a stock image to convey an idea, like food safety or computer security. Of course it’s preferable to use your own images, but you almost need to be a pro to develop photos of concepts or ideas.
    • But when the page or website is about your organization and what you do for your customers and members, it’s best to use images of your own staff and customers. Otherwise, it’s like bringing a fake boyfriend to a wedding; the relationship isn’t real! (I know I’m going to get in trouble for this analogy.)
    • When you are talking about what you and your employees do and stand for, the pages just ring false when you use stock images.
    • When talking about your customers, who they are, and why they matter, the pages lack credibility because you are using other people’s customers! And God forbid the image you chose winds up on a competitor site!

    “But Joanna,” you say, “it’s hard to get good images of real people, my staff, my customers, my partners.” Yes, I totally agree, but I absolutely believe the effort is worth it. Here are some tips for developing a stock-free mindset.

    • When you can, hire a professional. We recently hired a pro to take photos of the staff and office. We wanted a collection of photos to use on our website, our proposals, and social media. We compiled a list of the shots we wanted (head shots of senior staff, meetings, lunch, etc.) and we made sure we owned the images outright so that we can use multiple times on different platforms.
    • For the times you can’t hire a pro, invest in a good DSLR camera. There are really great DSLR cameras for under $1,000. I absolutely love my Lumix camera, which I purchased about three years ago for $899. This camera made our Creative Director wonder if I had recently taken a photography class because my photos looked worlds better once I started taking photos with  my Lumix.
    • Have your camera with you at all times and take lots of pictures. I believe that if you take enough photos, you’ll take at least a few good ones. Moreover, a good designer can take an okay photo and make it better through cropping and touching up.
    • Learn the principles of taking good photos by taking a class, reading the manual and reading blogs. Even a few tips can help you take much better photos. For example, I learned a long time ago to get close and to frame my photos so that people aren’t smack in the center of the image. Here’s a great list of photography blogs.

    Matrix Group is in the midst of a website redesign. (It’s amazing how painful it is to design a website for your own company.) Creative Director Alex Pineda said, “there will be NO stock images on this site.” So the team has gone about making it so. The images will not be perfect, but in a sense, that’s the beauty of using real people: you can tell they’re real precisely because they are not perfectly dressed, made up and staged.

    I hope I’ve inspired you to take the NO stock photos pledge, at least on company pages where you should really be showcasing your staff, customers and partners.

  • Want More Views and Clicks In Your Emails? Make Your E-Newsletters Responsive!

    Want More Views and Clicks In Your Emails? Make Your E-Newsletters Responsive!

    As marketers, we’re obsessed with metrics. And since email is a primary means of Responsive Emailcommunicating with our members, customers, prospects and partners, it only makes sense that we track open rates (the number of people who actually open and read our emails) and click rates (the number of people who click on a link). Here at Matrix Group, we’ve been working with lots of clients to make their emails responsive because in most industries, more email is read on a mobile device than on a desktop email client.

    Responsive design refers to the practice of designing and implementing a website so that it “responds” to the user’s device. Looking at a website on a wide screen over broadband? You might get a full screen, 4-column layout with high resolution images. Surfing a website on your phone? You should get a slimmed down version of the site with a single column of content, text that is large enough to read without pinching, and lower resolution images.

    But what about emails? Responsive email pretty much works the same way as responsive websites. Reading an email through Outlook on your desktop? You might see a nice layout, with 2 columns, images aligned to the right and left of content, a nice header, yada, yada. Browsing the mail on your phone? That same email gets simplified. It goes to 1 column, images are center aligned, content is shorter.

    Why bother making your emails responsive?

    • Users are more likely to delete an email they cannot read easily on their phones. Source: ExactTarget
    • There is a growing segment of the population that is mobile only, that is, they access the Web and email only through mobile devices.
    • Responsive emails are more readable on a phone. Period. End of story.

    We’re tracking the results of responsive e-newsletters for our clients and so far, the statistics are promising. Clients are increasing open rates in absolute terms by 1-4%, and clickthroughs an average of 2%. A few percentage points doesn’t sound like much but when you consider that most organizations get a 20% open rate and a 2 or 3% click rate, these numbers are significant. Consider this: one Matrix Group client saw an increase of 4% overall; since they have an email list of 100,000, an extra 4,000 people are now reading their emails!

    I think it comes down to this. Your emails are getting looked at on a phone. Your customer’s decision to open and click is influenced by many factors, including subject line, who the email is from, and whether or not the email is mobile-friendly. It only makes sense to make your emails mobile-friendly. And if in doubt, do some testing and learn more about your customers’ email preferences.