From the moment potential customers interact with your business online they are receiving an immediate impression about your brand. Whether this interaction happens on your website, on social media, or on a paid advertisement, the feeling your potential customers have when they see your content will make or break whether they continue to interact with you.
Why are images so important? Well, it may seem ironic considering we are trying to market music lessons, but the photos, fonts, and colors you choose for your website are of UTMOST importance because visual marketing is significantly more efficient than text. Your first chance to grab someone’s attention is by images – and THEN go into more detail in text.
Use this chance wisely and choose photos that best represent YOUR brand.
Here are a few basic tips for choosing the best photos to advertise your music lessons:
Choose photos with PEOPLE in them
Good marketing causes an emotional response, not a neutral response. When people see a photo of another person’s face, it elicits a reaction.
On your website and in your paid ads, I suggest using photos with faces that have emotion! Examples of this include:
-students engaged: smiling and playing their instrument
– teachers & students interacting in a positive way
-students hanging out together having a good time
What are we seeing? This young student knows how to tune her cello ALL on her own!
What is it saying to us? …absolutely nothing.
Don’t miss out on a big opportunity to show how YOU want your customers to feel when they sign up for music lessons with you. Avoid using close ups of piano keys or other instrument parts and avoid close ups of hands.
Pick pictures that display GOOD TECHNIQUE
We’ve all laughed at funny photos online of stock photography where the model is holding the instrument upside down or at a weird angle that would make the instrument unplayable. I’ve personally looked at a lot of music lesson marketing photos at this point and it’s a sore spot for me.
Most of these photos are beautifully shot by very professional photographers with wonderful lighting and gorgeous models, but absolute lack of consideration for how to hold the instrument properly.
It’s important to take the time to either take photos that display good technique, or at the very least – proper posture with the instrument!
Remember that some parents of your potential students also play musical instruments. Using stock photos with poor positioning can cause you to lose interest from parents who are “in the know.”
Use Your Own Photos
Authenticity is something that is becoming more and more important online. Music lessons are such a personal choice for most parents, and it’s important that you show off what makes YOUR school special.
While it may be tempting to use free stock photography, it’s worlds better to use your own real life photos (if they’re shot nicely).
Try taking some snapshots of your lessons! Your potential customers will get a better feel for what your lessons are actually like.
A few tips:
-If you have an iPhone, try using the .5 or 1x option and taking the photo horizontally rather than vertically
-Experiment at the angle the photo is taken
-Make sure the lighting is good
-Make sure things aren’t growing out of anyone’s heads
-Try to choose photos where students look like they’re engaged and not terrified or overly concentrating
Even better if you can afford it – hire a photographer to come in for the day!
Note: make sure to have parents/students sign off on a photo release to do this – it’s important to give individuals authority over where their likeness is used
Use Horizontal or Square Photos, and Take them from Further away
When I took photography class in college, the professor insisted we crop in camera. This was long before digital photography was accessible, and this rule is now pretty moot.
Whether working with a professional photographer, or taking photos for their websites themselves, I always advise photos to be taken from as far back as possible, and HORIZONTALLY. That way, they can be cropped later on without looking blurry or weird!
Photos taken too close or vertically are significantly more difficult to work with for most web designs, and will just not look good most of the time on varying devices – especially if you plan to use them for a hero image (the big image at the top of many websites).
Most importantly: What do you want the photos to say about your business?
Some music schools are geared more towards students who want to play for “fun” and some are geared more towards “serious students.”
Always consider your ideal client demographic and choose photos that reflect the clients YOU want to attract.
Choosing great photos is an excellent starting point to having a better website!
