Case study: Why Ella photo verified her Vivastreet advert

We’ve just launched our brand new photo verification service on Vivastreet, meaning you can upload a selfie to your advert and let potential clients see the real you.

Since it’s been live, hundreds of you have photo verified, determined to take advantage of the feature and the benefits that come with it. Whether it’s to generate more calls (meaning more money for you) or simply to filter out timewasters, photo verification has had a positive impact for many of you in improving your business.

We wanted to find out just how beneficial the feature had been, so we spoke with Ella, a London-based independent sex worker who was one of the first to photo verify her advert. Find out why she decided to use the service, and the benefits it has brought her, below…

 

Vivastreet: Hi Ella. So tell us, how long have you been using Vivastreet?

Ella: I’ve been advertising with Vivastreet for over 5 years now. It’s always been the most popular site in the UK, and so I get more calls here than anywhere else.

 

 

V: Great. What interested you in our new photo verification service?

E: Having already age verified my advert, I’d used the Yoti app and seen how easy it was to add the verification badge to my advert. So when photo verification launched, I was immediately interested.

One of the questions clients used to keep asking me was whether or not the pictures on my advert were really of me. Of course I knew that they were, but it meant I had to convince the client every time we spoke on the phone.

Being able to verify my photo was great news – finally I could prove that I was the person on my advert, meaning more time saved during calls, and more clients were confident in the content of my advert.

 

V: How easy did you find it to photo verify?

E: Verifying my photo was really easy and only took a couple of minutes. I’d seen an email advertising the new service, then saw the verification section clearly labeled in my account. 

The Yoti app was straightforward to download and use, and I uploaded my selfie with no problem at all. I also had the step-by-step guide open in case I got stuck – luckily I didn’t need it, but it was reassuring to have it there too.

 

 

V: Have you noticed a difference in the response to your advert since photo verifying?

E: Absolutely. Since I’ve added my verified photo, clients have confidence that I am the person in my advert. Because of this, I know that they’re interested in me and we can arrange a booking much quicker than before. Being able to build that immediate trust between us certainly helps to make our first conversation more time-effective and get down to the finer details of the booking.

Not only that, but because my advert is marked as photo verified for possible clients when they search on the site, more seem to be viewing my advert than before. I guess it is helping the advert to stand out and appear more visible in comparison to others. So not only do I receive a higher quality of calls, but there are more of them too.

 

V: What tips would you give anyone else looking to photo verify?

E: Firstly, definitely do it. I’ve told my friends to do it because of the benefits it has brought to me and my business.

I’d recommend making your selfie as high-quality a picture as possible. Take a good pic, thinking about the lighting of the room you’re in and if possible using a camera with a great lens. I took a few selfies and changed my verified picture until I had one I was really happy with and could show off the best version of me. It’s all part of creating a really compelling advert.

It’s also a good idea to select the option to make the picture visible on your advert. This is when you get all the benefits of photo verifying, as it allows clients to see the picture on your advert and have more confidence in contacting you over your competition who don’t have their selfie on display.

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Are you looking to verify your photo, just like Ella? To build trust in your advert and grow your business, photo verify your ad today. Simply go to the ‘Account verification’ section of your account and click ‘Verify now’ to get started.