The Importance Of A Good Corporate Headshot
In 2012, the Cognition And Emotion Journal published an interesting study on facial features. The research showed that you make your decision to trust someone within 100 milliseconds of seeing their face.
Talk about the importance of making a solid first impression, right? A less than ideal first glance spells out certain doom for your business. So what if you could get that first impression out of the way before your client walks through the door?
Corporate headshots can build trust among clients.
Every successful business professional knows that the customers ought to come first. Always. Building a healthy, growing client base is difficult but far from impossible.
Smiling pictures are an easy way to make clients comfortable with your business in seconds. When someone browses your website and sees a cheerful employee, it can create a positive connection in their mind. This same empathy is directly related to the first impression idea that I touched on earlier.
In her article about first impressions, Stephanie Burns emphasizes that you don’t get a lot of time to prove yourself. With the new age of social media, people are finding products online now more than ever. This means that your first impression is no longer when the client steps through the door. If they’ve been on your social media or website, it happens well before you meet face to face.
Clean headshots show your clients who they’re supporting when they choose you over the competition. It puts a smiling face to the company name.
I understand firsthand the kind of impression that a quality headshot makes. At my company, we even pay for professional headshots when we represent someone, showing additional attention to detail.
Corporate headshots can reinforce values.
If a client is attaching your face to the company’s name, the picture they look at should show your core values. For example, employee selfies on your About Us page come across as unprofessional. Another rookie mistake is cropping a family photo only to feature the employee. They might look beautiful, but the business can look cheap.
You could have the most clean-cut, polished website, but it won’t matter. Clients now associate your business with a selfie of Amanda and Bobby together at Taco Bell. While these kinds of “casual” photos are relatable, you don’t want to confuse the client.
Yes, it’s important to highlight the human side of your company. But you can do that and maintain an aura of professionalism. Casual corporate headshots are acceptable and may even be the better option, depending on your line of work.
Clients want passion and expertise to radiate off the screen as they explore your website. None of those things jumps out when they see a picture of you and half of Aunt Carol’s arm at Thanksgiving in 2007.
Article written by Adam Jacobs for Forbes.com.