Headshots Should Amplify Your Brand
OK, I admit it – I’m a bit of a LinkedIn junkie – reading articles, researching businesses and individuals, and of course looking at profile photos as well as headshots of management/leadership teams on their LinkedIn Profiles and business websites. The good news is that businesses and individuals are starting to realize that posting any image is not an effective strategy – indeed, it’s not a strategy at all.
Like it or not, we all have pre-conceived notions about how things are supposed to be – we have internal biases (rightly or wrongly) that are the result of many factors (and are not the subject of this post). Yes, these evolve over time, and being introspective means that we acknowledge these and then make conscious decisions on how we will (or will not) act on these.
When we visit social media sites (assuming we’re not first timers), we likely have pre-conceived notions about what they’re like. Facebook is kind of a “free for all” – largely unregulated, you can find almost anything posted, and it can be used to connect, amuse, rant, socialize, and so on. And while businesses do have their own accounts on the site, the focus is primarily individuals, and mostly “B2C”.
In the case of LinkedIn, it is very much a business oriented “social media” site – but it is clearly not the same type of social media site as Facebook. For the most part, people don’t post family/personal events, announcements, or images. The focus is business related articles, announcements, images, videos, etc.. When people connect with other people, it usually is as a result of something related to business. Any ads that pop up, and there are very few, are business oriented – they’re not showing you an ad about that expensive camera that you were looking at but didn’t buy.
People who spend time on the sight are doing so usually in a business context – whether it’s someone posting an article or doing research on behalf of their business, or a salesperson looking to connect with key decision makers at a business in their territory, or a recruiter looking for candidates to fill job openings. When someone is using LinkedIn, their mindset is in business mode – and their expectations lean more towards professionalism.
So, what does all this have to do with headshots? Everything – your profile image should be reflective of you as a professional - show you (or your team if you’re a business) as professional. The expectations/pre-conception is that people on the site are professionals in a professional environment. You may be saying that well, we dress as business casual in our company – that’s fine, as long as your customers and/or people who will be viewing your profile expect or understand that is the norm.
Suppose you have a great shot of you on a boat, beer in hand, with a great smile and a beautiful background on a beach – and your title is Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at a biotech company in Boston. Nice shot for Facebook perhaps, but for LinkedIn? Not so much.
The example above illustrates the point – the image on the left, while pleasant, is not a professional looking shot – great for Facebook, but not for LinkedIn or a business website. The one on the right – clearly better and more appropriate, showing professionalism, confidence with approachability.
I often have clients who say they want to look different, stand out from the crowd, show their personality. That’s absolutely fine, as long as it’s within the “norms”. There are many ways to differentiate yourself in a photograph – pose, expression, lighting, background color and how it contrasts with your clothing selections/hair/makeup (if applicable). Same is true for businesses – companies that are growing rapidly, are fast paced, and have an open culture in a less “button down” industry would likely want a different look for their staff vs. a legal firm. We expect lawyers and similar businesses to have a “professional” look that reflects the type of business they’re in, and the issues they deal with. If you’re looking to hire a lawyer to protect or defend you, showing that the firm or attorneys are fun loving probably isn’t the message that will resonate with you.
For both businesses and individuals, high end headshot photographers usually provide a pre-session consultation to discuss the look you’re going for and develop a plan to achieve that. Guidelines should be provided for the subjects prior to the shoot to prepare them, and should include clothing, hair, makeup (if applicable) recommendations, along with an overview of the type of look desired. During the session, each individual should be coached on how to look their best and achieve the desired look. Shooting “tethered” allows Images to be reviewed with each subject during the shoot to both coach them and ensure the images are ones that they like.
For in studio sessions, clients should bring various clothing options and work with the photographer to explore a variety of looks to get the best headshot for their particular needs and branding.
For more information on how to achieve great headshots for you and your team, download my ebook: Marketer’s Guide to High Quality Team Headshots here:
https://www.barrybraunsteinphotography.com/marketers-guide-to-high-quality-team-headshots