Impactful visual imagery — from logos to mascots — is crucial to today’s brands. What would Nike be without the swoosh or Frosted Flakes without Tony the Tiger? Well, they wouldn’t be the brands we know and love. Marketers need to have easy, secure, and reliable access to these assets. And this is possible by using image metadata. But what exactly is image metadata?

In this guide, we explore what image metadata is, why it’s so important, and how to manage it. Let’s get started.

It’s no secret that today’s brands run on imagery: logos, company photos, product imagery, social media assets, and so much more. Brands use this content to tell a unique, compelling story about their company’s mission, products, and services. Without these images, this story is a lot harder to tell. That’s why it’s critical to store all of these visual brand assets in a secure and easy-to-access location, but what does that look like?

Just as people have relied on physical libraries for centuries to access, organize, and manage physical content, digital libraries exist to do the same for digital content. Without a central source it becomes much harder to keep track of brand assets, putting teams at risk of wasting time, money, and resources to recreate or track down the content they need to use to tell their story. That’s where image management comes in.

Photographs have the power to tell stories, engage emotions, and inspire action — without using a single word. That’s why marketers rely on them to connect with their audiences across markets, channels, and devices. 

To keep pace with the ever-growing need for compelling visual imagery, marketers are relying less on expensive equipment and formal photoshoots, and more on smartphones. Not only has the technology in smartphone cameras advanced significantly in recent years, but they allow images to be created quickly and affordably. 

And because smartphones are always with us, they are also fueling user-generated content — which marketers use to support their content marketing strategies. Afterall, consumers are more likely to take recommendations from friends and family members than brands when making buying decisions. And further, we enjoy sharing photos with each other, as evidenced by 50+ billion photos uploaded to Instagram to date!

But using a smartphone to take outstanding shots entails more than just aiming and tapping. Here are some simple tips and tricks that can help even amateur photographers take pictures that measure up to marketing standards. 

Compelling images move people. Marketers and creatives have known this for a long time and rely on strong visuals as a foundational element of brand storytelling. They also rely on dependable, easy-to-access tools, so they can spend more time crafting the story itself and less on a cumbersome process.

If you’ve ever managed digital photos you already know many of the challenges. Like how organizing hundreds or thousands of photos can quickly get out of control. How time-consuming it is to search endlessly for the right photo. Or how risky it can be to use a photo that you may or may not still have permission to use. The bottom line is ⏤ if you want to make your brand story more effective, you can’t afford to compromise on managing your assets. You need a robust photo management software solution.