In the digital era, where first impressions are increasingly made online, the significance of a cohesive corporate identity is paramount. Among the myriad strategies to enhance brand perception, professional team headshots stand out as a uniquely effective tool. These headshots do more than just put faces to names; they are a visual embodiment of your company's ethos, professionalism, and unity. Here's a data-driven look at why professional team headshots are indispensable for any business aiming to make its mark.
Why Company Headshots Are Your Most Underrated Marketing Tool
In today's digital-first world, the importance of a strong online presence cannot be overstated for businesses across all sectors. While companies invest significantly in various marketing tools and strategies, one powerful asset often remains underutilized: professional company headshots. Far from being just a simple photograph, a well-executed company headshot can be a game-changer in how your business is perceived online. Here's why company headshots are your most underrated marketing tool, backed by research and best practices aligned with Google's Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines.
Corporate Headshots Speak to your Brand
Often overlooked team headshots can communicate in ways that are in line with your brand or against it. A common place this is seen is on LinkedIn and on the "about" or "team" pages of your website. Like anything a headshot is going to communicate something and why not have it communicate who the people are that make up your company in the best light possible.
I challenge you to do a quick audit for yourself – go search your company on LinkedIn and pull up the team page on your website and ask yourself the following 3 questions...
Do you even have headshots on your website and Linkedin profiles?
If you don't you're missing out big time. Linkedin states profiles without headshots see 11 times fewer views than profiles that do. So consider if you have a team of ten that gets an average of 10 views a day, that adds up to over 36K impressions your business name is getting for free. Now without headshots, you're down to just over 3K a year. That's about a 33K impression difference of free outreach.
Not to mention the benefits you have on adding the human element to your business that has great impact on creating a bond with your customers. Or maybe you don’t like creating bonds with your customers?
Is there any consistency to your team headshots?
I'm not saying you need to have images that are all perfectly the same for your whole team(though you could and many do find this to be a good option) but you should have a consistent feel and look to the images. No need for the stiff look, get creative but be consistent. If everyone looks like their photo was taken at the different times it could make your prospects wonder if there have been a lot of turnover with your leadership and make them hesitate to take that new project with your firm.
Don’t make people wonder if there are issues going on within your business– have a consistent look that can be reproduced when needed regardless of if you need 1 person photographed or 1000 people photographed. Not sure what that looks like– we can help, get in touch here.
Are your photos up to date– meaning shot within 2 years, matching current hairstyles and color and so on.
I hear it all the time “we already have headshots” and I follow on cue with, how old are the images… If your photo is not current—meaning it's over 2 years old— it needs to be updated. Chances are you’ve aged(it’s life, sorry), you have a new hair style, your professional “uniform” has changed– the images you're showing are no longer who your people are. When you have a photo of someone at 25 and their now 32 you are no longer communicating who they honestly are. People feel deceived by this– leaving you to have to rebuild the trust you lost from this miscommunication.
If your team has old, outdated images what kind of message are you sending to your customers? Are you losing trust right from the start?
There are many factors that your headshots effect and it can help communicate your brand or it hand hinder it. If you're strategic about how you used your headshots you can leverage these simple photos. Clearly at Walker Photography, we’re passionate about headshots— we exist because we want to help you connect better with your customers and headshots help do just that.