CORPORATE HEADSHOTS
Livingface Photography specializes in Headshots for companies and organizations, whether you have 25 or 10,000 employees.
LinkedIn radically changed the Headshot game but nobody noticed... well, as of now, only a select few progressive companies have reacted to this shift by instituting uniform, professional headshots.
LinkedIn is now the first place most prospective clients, employees, collaborators and press go to connect with your company. Consider that 94% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn to distribute content; 40% of users check LinkedIn daily; a professional headshot makes your profile 14 times more likely to be viewed.
Surprising then that so few companies have considered how their employee headshots look on LinkedIn and the impact this has on the company’s branding and marketing strategy.
Firstly, please go to LinkedIn and type in your company name and scroll through the first three or four pages of your employees.
If you are one of the few companies with uniform headshots, and they have been taken by an experienced professional photographer, then it's probably all good. More likely, however, you will find a mishmash of non-existent, mediocre, professional, terrible, old-fashioned, and in some cases embarrassing Headshots. This looks unpolished and unprofessional; and is not in keeping with the rest of your brand.
As a highly visual culture, we instantly judge a person, and their affiliations, based on their appearance. Employees and their headshots represent your company. Many visitors to LinkedIn, including potential clients, will assume that your company is responsible for the Headshots.
As a result of handing off headshot duties to your employees, or various departments who select their own photographer, prospective clients and employees are seeing: (1) the obvious inconsistency in look and feel from employee to employee and; (2) the incongruence with your company’s branding.
Does this not reflect poorly on your company? Is there any doubt that this affects your bottom line?
WILL YOU LEAD OR FOLLOW?
The digital business landscape has evolved so rapidly that it has been challenging for companies to keep pace. LinkedIn Headshots are a casualty of this accelerated evolution. That said, forward-looking organizations are starting to act on this fundamental shift. We predict that uniform, professional LinkedIn Headshots will be the standard in the near future. Will you take control of this imminent development now or wait and play catch up later?
Headshots are no longer just for senior management and those within the company whose pictures are included in marketing materials. These days, everyone from CEO to assistant have LinkedIn accounts advertising that they work for your company. At first, LinkedIn was more of a personal social media platform for business. Now, the lines between personal and professional are blurred. Many HR departments are now tasked with monitoring employees' social media activities, lest the company be painted in a bad light.
The days of randomized Headshots on Linkedin are numbered. Uniform, professional Headshots are the next frontier in LinkedIn marketing. It's happening now.
Take control with Livingface Photography: (1) Recognize LinkedIn Headshots as an untapped, overlooked yet integral branding and marketing platform that has immense influence on potential clients and employees. (2) Check out your industry rivals on LinkedIn. See that they are likely in the same boat as you. Act now and differentiate your company from the competition. (3) Hire Livingface Photography to help you make cutting edge use of LinkedIn by bringing your employees’ Headshots into alignment with your brand.
TAKING THE HEADSHOT TO THE NEXT LEVEL
HOW TO TAKE A GOOD HEADSHOT – The “Emotional” Component
On LinkedIn the very first thing people see when they check out your profile is your picture. Instant judgment. However, this judgment does not primarily concern your level of attractiveness. It’s more about: (1) the quality of the image (your LinkedIn profile is 14 times more likely to be viewed if you have a professional photo); (2) what emotion you are conveying.
Alas, it’s staggering how many people sit in front of my camera with trepidation. Of course, this general reluctance is totally understandable considering the twisted images of perfected beauty that we are bombarded with on a daily basis.
Take a look at the this comparison.
The 'bad' shot is friendlyish but there is a holding back, a hesitation. Unconsciously, potential clients, collaborators and employers pick up on this pensiveness and it negatively influences their assessment of you. Now take a look at the ‘good’ headshot. Look at how her smile lights up her eyes. Look at her confidence. Who do you want to work with?
By the way, Millennials just became the largest cohort in the workforce. Why is this relevant? Millennials want to do business with people and companies that tap into genuine emotion and experience (ie) Stoic, shadowy headshots are out. Bright faces and authentic, assured smiles are in.
No doubt, it takes courage to be open in front of a camera in such a focused setting. But if you can manage it, you will feel better about yourself, people will respond positively and you will enjoy increased professional success.
Even in the short time we spend with each employee, it is a priority for us at Livingface to make our subjects feel relaxed and comfortable. What separates Livingface from most other headshot photographers is our 14 years of capturing wedding, family, baby and school portraits. In short, we have our ways of eliciting graceful, genuine smiles. Honesty and confidence takes the dynamic headshot to the next level, and adds to your bottom line.
BACKGROUND
With respect to backgrounds, we can go with the standard greyish or to further connect your headshots with your unique company branding we can customize the background to subtley or overtly match your company colours (please visit the Headshot Portfolio for samples).
We will come and setup between one and four studios at your offices (depending on the number of employees) and will shoot for however many days until we have photographed your entire company. Then, we will institute a regular maintenance schedule whereby we will return to photograph new employees.
DEFINE YOUR LINKEDIN PRESENCE
Make a statement with uniform, professional LinkedIn Headshots that set you apart from the competition. Impress clients and employees with your company’s commitment to excellence in every domain of your business.
Contact Bard at Livingface Photography now to align your employees' LinkedIn headshots with the rest of your brand • 416.732.1904 • bard@livingface.com
"LOOK YOUR BEST"