Image Safety For Pest Control Marketing

The internet makes it very easy for any business to find pictures to use for their websites. A few words and a click later and you have many images available for you to use. While some fall under Creative Commons, which means you can use them freely (or with attribution), others are not able to be used and using them could put you in a position of copyright infringement. As a pest control business, you do not want to set yourself up to be in that situation, so an easy and smart fix is to take and use your own photos. Not great with a camera? Hiring a photographer to get a few shots may be worth your while, even at a cost. Below are some reasons why having your own photographs are great for marketing your pest control business and keeping yourself safe from any copyright infringement issues.

Your own images are more relevant

Having photos of people who actually work for your pest control business and visuals on them on the job, in your uniform or driving your van are great ways to show customers that you want them to know what you are doing. While stock photos may do the same thing, they almost always are easy to pick out as stock and that you did not take the time to gather your own photographs to use for your website. This may look bad as they may assume you do not want your work photographed or that if you cannot take the time to gather your own photos, then your other work may lack as well.

You can have more creative authority with your own photos

Taking your own photos and having them on hand can be fun. You may have a very serious company that gets the job done and showcasing your photos is great. You may also have a very fun-loving group of workers who get the work done but also enjoy a good time. Showcasing your own personal work culture can be a great asset. Maybe you have fun office get-togethers or have an office dog or cat, show this to your customers. As much as customers want the work completed, they also want to know they are dealing with a human and a customer-centric company on the other line. Not being able to give them a little glimpse inside your business through your own photos may actually hurt you in the end.

Branding

When you have your own images, you can do more branding work. Whether branding means adding your logo to all photos or having a certain style in which you are going for, each is much easier when you use your own photos. You can ensure the photos have a certain filter, have your branded company and logo colors, or any other details you would like. Stock photos have many stipulations on what you can and cannot do with the photos so having your own gives you the most creativity and freedom for branding.

Creative Commons

Going back to the idea of Creative Commons, it is important you create your own portfolio of photos to simply avoid having to ask yourself if a photo is free to use or not. There are very honest people on the internet and there are people who seek the opportunity to extort those who do not understand Creative Commons and many pest control companies may or may not understand these concepts. In a nutshell, people can list their photos online and they can either be used or cannot be used. For those that can be used, sometimes you can use them without any issue, sometimes you need to attribute to the photographer, and sometimes they can only be used non-commercially, so you can’t make any money off of their use. Knowing this, some people sometimes place photos in one category and then change it without the users knowing. They can come at you with lawsuits about the photo, even if you used it correctly based on its original placement under Creative Commons. Is this fair? No. But, it is a reality and having your own company photos takes this question of legality out of the mix.

Consistently updating pest control photos helps marketing material

Taking the time to hire a photographer or take photos on your own can ensure your pest control company always has marketing material. Taking photos of each pest treatment, each season change, or even an update on a holiday get-together with your employees are all great ways to market to future and returning customers. Not having to find new photos each time also saves you time as well to focus on the marketing itself instead of gathering images to market. These are simple reasons why having your own photos can be a much better approach than stock photos when it comes to your pest control business.