People do business with people.
It sounds simple but it’s something that can easily get lost when you’re marketing a company. Your website might explain your services perfectly. Your logo might look fantastic and your branding might be consistent across every platform.
But potential customers still want to know one thing.
Who am I actually dealing with?
A professional team photograph can answer that question immediately.
It puts real faces behind your business and gives potential clients a glimpse of the people they’ll be working with. Done well, a team photograph can communicate professionalism, confidence and personality in a single image.
Your Team Says a Lot About Your Business
Your employees are one of your biggest assets.
They are the people answering the phones, meeting clients, solving problems, managing projects and delivering the services your business is known for.
So why not make them part of your marketing?
A strong team photograph shows that your business isn’t just a logo or a website. There are real people behind it who are proud of what they do.
For professional services, consulting firms, engineering companies, construction businesses, medical practices and many other industries, that human connection can make a significant difference.
Your Website Needs More Than a Stock Photo
Stock photography can fill a space on a website but it can’t show your business.
A potential customer might see a generic photograph of people sitting around a boardroom table but they don’t know who those people are.
When they see your actual team, everything changes.
They can see the people they may eventually meet. They can get a sense of your workplace and they can begin to put faces to the names they see throughout your website.
Authentic photography makes a business feel more established and more approachable.
A Great Team Photo Doesn’t Have to Look Stiff
When someone mentions a corporate group photograph, many people imagine everyone standing in a straight line with their arms by their sides.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
Your team can be photographed in a way that reflects your personality and your workplace.
You might prefer a clean and polished group portrait or something more relaxed and natural. Your team could be photographed around a meeting table, in your office, outside your building or in an environment that has relevance to your industry.
The best approach depends on your business.
The important thing is that the photograph looks like your team rather than a generic corporate group.
Team Photography Builds Trust
Before contacting a business, people often research it.
They look at the website. They check Google reviews. They browse LinkedIn and social media.
They’re trying to decide whether the business is credible and whether they feel comfortable making contact.
A professional team photograph helps during that process.
It shows that you’re an established business with real people behind it. It also gives potential clients an opportunity to see the personalities behind the company.
That can be particularly important when your services involve long-term relationships.
Don’t Just Photograph the Group
A team photoshoot doesn’t have to produce one photograph.
In fact, that’s one of the biggest opportunities businesses miss.
Alongside the main group photograph, individual portraits can be captured for each member of the team. You can also create smaller group photographs, leadership portraits and natural photographs of your staff working together.
Suddenly one photoshoot has created an entire library of marketing content.
Your website can feature individual team profiles while your LinkedIn page can introduce new staff. Your marketing materials can feature your leadership team and your social media can show the people behind the business.
Professional Headshots Create Consistency
If everyone on your website has a different style of photograph, your team page can look inconsistent.
One person may have a studio portrait. Another may have an outdoor photograph. Someone else may have a cropped holiday picture.
It doesn’t reflect the professionalism of the business.
A professional team photography session allows everyone to be photographed with consistent lighting, backgrounds and composition.
Each person still looks like themselves but the images work together as a collection.
Use Your Team Photography Across Your Marketing
Once you’ve invested in professional photography, there are plenty of ways to use the images.
Your website is only the beginning.
Team photographs can be used in capability statements, brochures, proposals, tender documents, presentations, newsletters, social media, LinkedIn posts, company profiles and advertising.
Individual portraits can be used for staff profiles, media opportunities, speaking engagements and professional networking.
This makes your photography an ongoing marketing resource rather than a one-off website expense.
Show Your Company Culture
People want to know what it’s like to work with a business.
A team photograph can communicate more than simply who works there.
It can show energy, collaboration and personality.
For businesses competing for talented employees, professional team photography can also play a role in recruitment. Potential employees can get a feel for the people and environment they’re considering joining.
Your team culture is part of your brand whether you’ve deliberately photographed it or not.
Keep Your Team Photos Current
Businesses change.
People join. People move on. Teams grow and new departments develop.
If your website still features people who left the company years ago, it can create the wrong impression.
Updating your team photography every few years keeps your website and marketing materials current and ensures potential clients are seeing the people who actually represent your business today.
It can also be a great opportunity to update individual headshots at the same time.
Make Your Team Part of Your Brand
Your brand isn’t just your logo.
It’s the experience people have when they deal with your business.
Your team is a huge part of that experience.
Professional business team photography allows you to show the people who make your business what it is. It creates a more personal connection with potential customers and gives you a collection of professional images that can be used throughout your marketing.
The right photograph can make a company feel more approachable.
It can make a website feel more credible.
It can help a potential client remember your business.
And sometimes, that first impression is exactly what gets someone to pick up the phone.
Ready to Put Your Team in the Picture?
If your team has grown, your website has changed or your current photographs are looking a little dated, it may be time for a fresh set of images.
At Creative Focus Studios, Wes McNeil creates professional team photography and individual business portraits designed around how your images will actually be used.
Whether you need one great group photograph or a complete collection of team portraits and marketing images, the session can be planned around your business, your people and your brand.
Your team is one of the best things about your business. It’s time to show them.
