Businesses and marketers have received the message: visual content sells. One photo can speak volumes about a brand, catching the attention of consumers much more effectively than text-based content. The growing popularity of sites like Instagram and Pinterest have led many businesses to be more visual in their marketing efforts.

But as tempting as it may be to start snapping and uploading photos of your customers, there are legalities concerning this type of behavior. Businesses probably already realize the dangers of using photos in their marketing efforts without permission, but these dangers extend to your in-store behaviors, as well. There are many benefits to involving your loyal customers in your online efforts, but it’s important to learn the rules. In this article, we’ll cover a few things you can do to stay safe while creating and sharing visual content.

For more information on the value of visual media in marketing, here are some great articles on the subject:

• Excite Audiences by Finding the Visual Angle of Your Brand
• The Power of Images in Social Media Marketing
• Get Visual: Driving Traffic with Google Images

Snapping Photos of Customers

While there are laws allowing the photographing and posting of photos of people in public, the rules change when the person taking the photos represents a business. It’s one thing for John Smith to snap a picture of a crowd and post it online. It’s quite another when a local business takes that picture and posts it online.

This issue is especially tricky when the people in the photos are identifiable. If your picture features one person or a small group of people, the people in the photo could take exception to being used as part of your marketing campaign. Even if your photo is intended to be displayed once before moving down your feed, it could live on forever in an album on a sidebar or the photo collage featured at the top of an Instagram user’s profile page.

Click below to read the full article:
Forbes/Entrepreneurs