Headshots and Branding
When you’re researching a business (not a product search), where do you start? You probably visit their website and land on their homepage. Very often, the next page you’ll visit is the About page – there you’ll find a summary of the business, perhaps some history – and very often the people. For services businesses, (financial, legal, medical, etc), these pages are particularly important as people ARE the product. Seeing people’s faces, along with a short biography or something about them, is an important piece of your corporate image – it makes the person real (vs. simply having text on the page). Those images convey something about the businesses’ culture, values, and competence – and it’s important the look of those images support/amplify your branding – indeed, they are part of your branding.
That look should be deliberate – clothing choices, lighting, background color, expressions, crop – all should be given careful consideration, and be consistent. That doesn’t mean everyone needs to look the same – you want people to look as natural and comfortable as they can, showing their personality. Some people’s smiles look more natural when showing teeth, others not. Similarly, some people’s expressions may exhibit higher energy than others. The right expression for each individual is important though – studies have shown that viewers decide whether someone is competent and trustworthy in as little as 80 milliseconds when looking at an image of that person! And the best angle of the person’s face/body towards the camera varies with the individual.
A consistent look conveys a cohesiveness, power, an attention to detail – it also builds trust and reinforces your brand - and that the people are part of a team. Consistency in lighting, backgrounds, color balance, and crop are fundamental aspects in order to achieve that powerful look.
Below is a comparison of images of the executive team from 2 companies. The images on the left were from an actual business website – it’s a hot mess! The color balance is different, as is the lighting, crop, background, and overall look. You would never guess they all work for the same company. The images on the right convey much more of a business that is cohesive – yet there is variety in clothing, energy, angle towards camera. The people look like the best of who they are as individuals, yet part of a team.
Businesses make a significant investment in their websites, branding, and ongoing marketing efforts to reach their intended audience, conveying the message that they are competent, knowledgeable, experienced, and can help their prospective clients solve their particular problems. The headshots of their team should not only reflect that message, but amplify it with a consistent, high quality look.
