Did you know that 63% of the customers prefer good product images over product descriptions? Indeed, quality product images are a MUST - whether for business promotion or to appeal to your customers. This is why photo post-processing at present is a matter of much concern among visual marketers.
It is common for individuals and business agencies to want to edit their own product images. It leaves space for exercising own creativity and style in the post-processed images. This can consist of anything from simple color adjustments to complex retouching.
But, what if the work turns out to be more tiresome and time-consuming than you expected? Or, what if the task complexity exceeds the current editing skills of your in-house designers or employees?
Outsourcing the editing task to professionals can help when you hit such a post-processing wall. The quality makeovers and strict turnaround time of such services make them a popular choice among business agencies. Yet, there are some controversies surrounding photo outsourcing. You may have doubts about the cost value or losing control over the turnarounds. This can impede your outsourcing decisions. Some of the doubts may even turn out to be true in certain cases. Especially, if the photo outsources agency is not chosen wisely. But, the alternate scenario is also possible. Outsourcing the post-processing task to the right agency will improve your business productivity. In such cases, the pros of photo outsourcing outweigh its cons. Here I am going to put forward five top reasons why you should take the risk of outsourcing your images. Read on to see why image outsourcing is more of a necessity for your business than a choice!
Value your time, energy and money!
If you post-process your own images you can indeed save the cost of outsourcing. But, have you considered the hidden cost of doing it yourself? Are you making the good value of your time? Let’s assume it takes you or your staff 10 minutes to complete editing one image. This means it will take them 1 hour to complete editing 6 images and an approx.166 hours of work to edit 1000 images. At 166 hours, this translates to about one month of work with a conservative rate of above 3000$ based on your staff's professional and your company background.
But, a professional outsource team can do the work for you in a matter of 24 hours. Sounds appealing, doesn't it? Now comes the question of price. The range may vary from one company to other. At Ingen studio, you can get a complete eCommerce image editing package at a range of 1.25-1.95$ per image. This translates to around 1500$ for 1000 images. The result is a time saving of 142 work hours and more than 1500$ savings of cost. You also save the cost of purchasing expensive editing software or hiring in-house editors. This is why companies refer to the cost-cutting tool as the topmost reason for image outsourcing. So, why wait? Outsource your images and make better worth of your time and money!
Scale up your employees’ activities
The tedious task of photo editing can take away precious work time from your in-house staffs. Too much time on post-processing can lead to distraction from core business tasks. Not to mention the "creative burnout" of your employees from such long hours of editing. This is why 43% of companies take advantage of outsourcing to improve work efficiency. Companies also outsource their photos to better enable the staff's focus on core business activities.
Indeed, image outsourcing can help exercise your staff's creativity on high-growth activities. This can include meeting potential clients, optimizing marketing strategy, and creating new products. Focus on such core activities, in turn, increases your business ROI (return on investment). So why overload yourself and your staffs with low-level image processing? Outsource your image editing chores and scale-up the activities of your in-house staffs!
No, you don’t lose control over the end results!
One of the assumed downsides of photo outsourcing is that of losing control on the final look. To resume the control factor many prefer in-house designer over outsourcing. But, the truth is that you can, in fact, have a degree of control over the turnovers. When outsourcing editing of your digital RAW files, you can dictate the final look. You can specify the color fixation, tone adjustment or retouch type and you would get back the exact look. Again, many outsource agencies like Ingen studio provides output files in JPG or PNG format based on client demand. This allows you to make minor changes, like background fixation, if needed.
The truth is, professional editors will edit your images to look the way you want them to be. An experienced outsourcing agency will know the art of catering to different customer styles and needs. So now you can outsource, sit back and watch your images get post-processed according to your style!
Quality matters!
Reducing cost is not the only reason for the popularity of image outsourcing. It lets companies choose from a large pool of talented workers from all over the world. You can hire the professionals according to your work style and needs. Apart from cost reduction, outsourcing is more about the value of the work being done. The fact is that your employees may not be as well equipped to handle complex editing tasks as a veteran photo editor. Again, professional image turnarounds can promote your brand value and increase potential customer flow. Statistics show an 89% client satisfaction on the quality of the outsource service received. Surely, your business deserves much better than some mediocre image turnarounds!
All work and no play make you dull!
Photo outsourcing lets you and your stuff get the creative rest you deserve. Any business- large scale or startup- requires a lot of creative dedications. Over-burdening yourself or your employees with a complex task like photo editing can affect their professional performance. This can also affect one's personal life. Outsourcing your photo editing tasks can help you and your employees get back on schedule. It helps to preserve the creative freshness for more important business chores. But most importantly you and your employees get a little time off for yourself and your family. Undoubtedly, a little ‘me time’ is essential for you and your employees to keep up the work motivation.
Conclusion:
Finally, I would like to say that letting go of your “cherished images” can be hard. But, once you find the perfect photo editor, you will definitely want to outsource more. You will realize that having someone do the works that you do not specialize in, or that takes too much of your time, is quite liberating. You can finally find the more personal time and dedicate your creativity on core business activities.
