PPB June 2018

cut and paste, that are worded for their end-user clients, not posts designed for distributors. Tell buyers how to use your products. Explain why a certain item is a great promotional vehicle. Discuss the types of campaigns where your products work best. And remember to be as specific as possible. How you say it can also make a difference. Write in a warm, friendly kind of way—me to you. It’s called social media for a reason—one person to another. Make it familiar, not formal. Write like you talk. And show a great photo of that product in use. The photo doesn’t have to be catalog perfect—a lifestyle shot of the product in use is even better, and you can take it with your smartphone. ​Next, create an archive of suggested social media posts your distributors can use when they’re pressed for time. In general, create an easy button for them to promote you. Three Types of Photos Today, it’s a visual world. (Sorry, fellow copywriters. Pictures attract and short copy sells.) People look at pictures, then read captions and short stories, not novels. So, distributors need photos to tell your story. When shooting the product photos for your catalog, be sure to get these three types of images to make it easier for distributors to choose your products: ​ 1 A great product shot , along with different angles of the product, particularly to show off imprint areas. 2 A “lifestyle” shot showing the product in use. This is particularly effective when used on social media. 3 Group shots of products. You’ll need these in traditional photo sizes, but also in a Facebook banner size—820 pixels wide by 312 pixels tall on computers, and 640 pixels wide by 360 pixels tall on smartphones. (Or, for us non-techie folks: four inches wide by one-and-a-half-inches tall.) The reason for these is that many distributors are looking for a bigmain header photo for their Facebook page, so they can refresh it often. They want to seemultiple products beautifully displayed to fit the Facebook cover shot area so they can showwhat they do. ​ Give them that, and your products could be the centerpiece shot of Photo provided by Towel Specialties People look at pictures, then read captions and short stories, not novels. So, distributors needphotos to tell your story. Lifestyle photos showing the product in use are in high demand by distributors for social media posts. | JUNE 2018 | 79 THINK