With potential customers, investors and industry writers looking at your startup’s website, a team photos page with strong photography is essential. The “About Us” section is one of the first places people click when looking to learn about your company. Seeing the team humanizes, and is an important part of building, your brand image.
Unfortunately, many startups overlook this aspect of their branding as they either don’t recognize its importance, or have put it low on the priority list. Here are a few ways this can be a costly mistake:
Are your team photos the same size and quality? Do they have a consistent style and background? Inconsistent photos are not only unpleasant to the eye, they present an image of disorganization. See how you stack up against your competitors by checking out the team photos on their website; this is exactly what your potential customers are doing when deciding whether to choose you or your competition.
Like most startups, yours probably wants as much attention from the media as possible. What you may not realize is that your “About Us” section is where many writers head to pull pictures for their story, especially if you don’t yet have a published press kit. Their universal need? High resolution photos. Writer’s are chronically swamped, so your goal as a startup is to make it as easy as possible for them to write about your company. Low quality, grainy photos don’t achieve that goal.
What image are you looking to present to website visitors? It’s vital that your company photos convey that image as part of your overall branding strategy. If you’re a fun, casual company, formal headshots won’t clearly convey that. If your aim is to project a professional image, an array of photos that were clearly snapped on a smartphone will quickly undermine your efforts.
In a blog post about team photos, Brafton made a compelling argument both for and against using employee provided photos. Their examples were Kickstarter, a casual brand, using personal employee photos as a way to show off their diverse culture, and Vimeo, by contrast, whose mismatched array of personal team photos undermine the brand’s own high-quality format.
The problem that can arise from asking employees to submit their own photos for your team page is that they’ll likely choose a picture based on personal preference, not what is appropriate for a company website. This can result in inconsistent, low quality photos that convey an unprofessional image.
A professional photographer isn’t only an asset because of their technical abilities, but also because of their ability to bring out the best in people during photo shoots. Let’s face it, many people dislike having their photos taken, and that can translate to photos that look stiff and uncomfortable. Professional photographers are experts in the art of getting people to loosen up and relax, resulting in photos that look genuine and authentic. People visit your website’s “About Us” section to connect with your team, and see the fabric of which your company is made. Genuine and authentic will always give a better image than stiff and uncomfortable.
Above all, it’s important to remember that your team photos are presenting the face of your company. Ask yourself what impression you want website visitors to be left with after visiting your “Meet the Team” page, and be sure to plan your team photos to project that image.
