If Pinterest and visual marketing is anything to go by, it’s pretty clear that good photography is as imperative for your business marketing as good writing. Here’s what you need to know about the hottest and latest trends in marketing with photography, a.k.a image marketing:

Pair Typography with Photography – Typography is visually attractive text, paired with or over the photograph. The wonderful thing about this trend is that it can be used a number of ways. You can blend images with bold text or go for a more feminine feel. It’s really hard to mess up on this, especially if you review some basic typography paring guides. What’s popular right now is to use just a bit of text to aid people in quickly grasping the purpose of your image. 

If you’re snapping shots with your iPhone, you can use an app called Over to layer text on. It’s pretty simple to use and is a steal for just $0.99. Things to watch out for with Over: (1) uploading to Instagram right after tends to cut off just the tiniest lower bit of the photo, so position your text higher, (2) you can’t edit your photos in Over, so first use an editing app to add filters or make any necessary light adjustments.

Filter This, Filter That – Courtesy of Instagram, every single good photo now has a filter to it (and chances are it’s a vintage filter). To get an idea, check out the Over link above and see the marketing photos on their app store. Just about every photo has a filter on it, be it vintage or saturated tones. Needless to say, your photos should too. Apparently no one is interested in a straight up shot – and I get why. Applying a filter stimulates an emotion and adds depth to any normal photo.

For just under a buck, KitCam is a pretty nifty little app that lets you take/import photos and add necessary filters before you share them. Designed for the iPhone 5 but suitable for 4S, KitCam helps you (1) take a level photo, (2) play with lens types and (3) add a filter from a selection of filters that would shame Instagram. Now here’s the best part: you can do all this in video mode so you can come up with some really cool videos.

You can still make filters work for you even if you don’t have fancy gadgets. Basic free IrfanView will do the trick. To achieve a basic filter, up the photo’s gamma. This alone gets your photo to have a matte feel, like images used for luxury marketing. To get it to have the trendy vintage feel, follow up a gamma boost with an increased color saturation. Usually you’ll just have to bump up the color field for one shade, like red.

Composite Photos – Take two or more photos together and blend them into a single image – and you have a composite. Composite photos were already pretty big in graphic design, but now they’re making their way into photography as well. You’ll need Photoshop and a designer’s eye in addition to good photos. The upside here is that you can add texture to your images and make one image work in multiple ways. This trend is just starting to take off, so expect it to really come into full swing later in the year – but why wait till then to get in on composite images?

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by Shireen Qudosi

Shireen Qudosi is Benchmark Email's Online Marketing Specialist and Small Business Advocate. An Orange County based writer, Shireen specializes in online marketing and public relations. She has written for over 75 publications and has launched nine successful new media campaigns to date. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Denver Post, the Oklahoman and Green Air Radio, among others.