One of the most undervalued parts of visual marketing has got to be business headshots. It seems that as businesses grow and invest in different forms of media for their platforms product shots and staged images come first. This isn’t a negative thing and are brilliant things to invest in but I’m here to say don’t forget about the employee headshots!
Commercial portraits are key in providing a relatable and comfortable experience for your customer. They ultimately act as the conduit between your online and in-house presence and for some customers will be the only face of the company that they will experience. Introducing real employees through business headshots is the perfect way to present your businesses authentic values.
Let’s get into the benefits of business portraits…
1) Build a connection
A business headshot helps to build a connection with the customer. If what they see on the site is coherent with their experience in house, then the customer knows what to expect. This is not only a way to provide your clients with a comfortable experience, but it also presents your business as a transparent and honest one.
2) An honest experience
A friendly real face provides a far more relatable experience than a “perfect” one that you may find using stock images. Customers like real people and honest experiences, so providing a professional yet approachable image of who makes your business work helps to humanise your company. Essentially, it gives your business a face - a real one!
3) Invest in your staff
The power of professional business headshots over in-house ones is that not only does it show that you respect your staff and invest in them, but also that you are investing in your marketing materials. When it comes to getting your name out or providing a flawless online experience for your customer, professional yet unique marketing is key. What better way to investigate that area than with your local photographer?
4) Tell your story (your way!)
Oftentimes when a customer is searching for a product or service, they will have multiple companies in mind. At this point the potential customer is comparing you against your competitors. The role of your marketing material, from visual to contextual, is to paint a story for your customers. The employees of your business are a huge part of your company story so don’t leave it up to the customer to imagine what they might be like, provide that part of the story in a professional and positive way!
5) Keep it up
Consider updating your business headshots every couple of years. Initially investing in different parts of your business is one thing, but ultimately, it’s the maintenance that matters. People change and to effectively maintain professionalism and integrity you need to regularly update your business headshots to evidence that, this ensures that all of the good stuff we talked about before like building connection and familiarity for your customer continues to evolve as your staff do!
6) Multi-use!
And finally, one last benefit of having a business portrait for your staff is that it is multi-use! You can use it on an about us section of a website, staff identity cards and even professional social platforms. This provides a really easy and professional way to maintain consistency.
Ultimately, when it comes to professional business portraits the answer to the question “should I invest?” Is if you are able to, then YES, without a doubt you should!
It is a funny one because it is never going to be the thing that makes or breaks your business, but, having insight as a company to invest in all of the elements of your business that help to build trust, create connection and maintain professionalism are what will ultimately be the traits that make for a super successful business!
"As a small-business person, you have no greater leverage than the truth." - John Whittier
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