Have you considered the importance of your professional headshot for your social media presence and online marketing? In this age of online marketing, people want to know the faces and personalities behind the companies they are doing business with. They want to see YOU. Online marketing is just like online speed dating yet, your website and social media are doing all of the talking for you. How are your social media headshots representing your business? When you think about it, are you proud of the first impression you’re making with future clients? Rember . . . you never get a second chance to make a good first impression!
Why do you need an on-brand, professional headshot?
In this highly visual world, we live in, the easiest and fastest way to make an emotional collection with your audience (ie. future clients) is to have high quality, on-brand imagery that highlights who you are and what you are all about. A nice headshot will make that connection a thousand times faster.
How do you achieve an on-brand social media headshot that will make you shine online?
First, consider your audience. A medical professional would need to have a compassionate, kind, and caring headshot where he/she is leaning into the camera and seems attentive to their future audience or client. Whereas a defense attorney needs to come across as confident, tough, and authoritative. The two headshots would look completely different!
Second, consider how your client would see you dressed in an everyday work setting. You want to make sure your headshot represents how your clients would see you when they interact with you. Your headshot will establish that emotional connection and start to develop that know, like, and trust factor is essential in today’s marketing.
Third, consider the social media platforms where your clients are most active. If your clients are on LinkedIn, you’re going to want a more professional/polished-looking headshot. Whereas if your clients are more active on Instagram or Facebook, a softer candid, lifestyle headshot might be a better option for your headshot strategy.
Your social media headshot should stand out and separate you from your competition.
Make sure your professional headshot is up to date and represents the best version of yourself.
- #1 : You want to have your headshot taken at least once a year, and you want to make sure that it is a true representation of what you would look like when you show up to interact with your clients. I always recommend dressing for your headshots as if you are going to meet a client for a coffee second.
- #2 : You want to make sure your headshot is consistent across all social media platforms and your website. You want to have a consistent headshot for cohesive branding so that your clients associate your name and your face with your likeness, Always have your photo as your personal brand. You want to make sure your headshot is your profile photo on both your LinkedIn, your Instagram, your Facebook, and any other professional social media pages that you have so that they can quickly associate your face with your business name. Make that emotional connection!
- #3 : Consider having a lifestyle headshot taken to infuse a little bit of personality into your business. How is a lifestyle headshot different from a traditional headshot? A traditional headshot is usually taken on a plane background and is simply a photo of your face. A lifestyle headshot is taken in an environmental setting, think of an environmental business portrait. You might incorporate a little bit of the background of your office or a place where you do business on a regular basis. In addition lifestyle headshots usually incorporate a couple of business tools. These “props” help your clients get to know you a little better. For instance, a photographer might be holding their camera or a podcaster might be posing in front of a podcast mic. This just allows the clients to see a little bit of your personality and learn who you are and what you’re all about through your headshot.
That’s a wrap for this week! I am so grateful that you have stopped by my little corner of the internet to learn more It’s 2022 and time to bring your business to the next level. Let’s up to your branding game and show your personality off the world. Let them get to know you and tell them that you mean business. Fill out the contact form or shoot me an email, and we can chat about your next headshot session.
Have we connected on social media yet? If not, what are you waiting for? You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. I would love to connect with you and know more about you as well! I hope you will send me a DM so we can continue the conversion offline!
Shelly Niehaus Photography is a Boise, ID-based branding and headshot photographer. Shelly specializes in professional headshot photography, personal branding photography, and lifestyle photography. Shelly serves the greater Treasure Valley area including Boise, Meridian, Eagle, and Nampa.
