9 Reasons You Need Professional Headshots For Your Construction Marketing.
Your trade and construction photography is one of the most powerful ways to bring the human element to your Trades And Construction business.
And showing us the human side to your business is going to help do a lot of the heavy lifting in your Trade and Construction brand and marketing.
People buy from people.
I’m sure you’ve heard that saying.
Photography is one of the ways people get to know more about you before meeting you.
You’ve probably heard the saying ‘a picture is worth a thousand words.’
And it’s true.
How many times have you looked a photo of someone and made a conclusion about the kind of person they might be without even meeting them?
Perhaps deciding if they might be worth having a meeting with?
(Dating Apps anybody?).
Well, other people are looking at your (and your team’s) quality of headshots and making initial conclusions about your construction business too.
You want them to come away thinking ‘yes, I’d like to talk to them about my project,’ don’t you?
And by taking the leap and investing in professional headshots for your construction marketing can, and will, raise your business game.
So, let’s find out what the 9 reasons are that you need professional headshots for your construction marketing…
1. Professional Headshots for your construction business will improve your construction branding.
First impressions are everything.
Especially in the Trade and Construction industry.
For us mere mortals (non-construction pros) one of our biggest pain points in hiring a contractor is TRUST.
So before we even ask you around to quote for us, we’re already sizing you up based on the things we know or can see about you.
What your website looks like.
How up to date your social media pages are.
How you engage with people at a networking meeting.
Right down to your business card.
Every part of your brand is being scrutinized - whether we’re even conscious of doing it.
It's just how the human mind works.
❓ Do they look like they know what they’re doing?
❓ Are they showing us they’re experienced?
❓ Do they take their business seriously?
❓ Will they be running off into the sunset with our deposit? 🌅
By having a detailed, professional website, this goes a way towards helping answer these questions.
Same goes for your social media, your networking efforts and everything else you do in your Trade and Construction marketing.
And this includes your photography and headshots.
When you stop using blurry holiday snaps in your construction marketing (or not using any images of you and your team at all!) and start using professional headshot, the was we look at your Trade and Construction business goes up a number of gears.
Professional headshots teamed with a thoughtful, helpful website give clients every reason to pick up the phone and start a conversation.
You are giving them less reasons to turn away from your business at this early stage because your brand and marketing is giving every reason for them to want to find out more.
And as we say time and time again…
Build your Trade? Nail your brand.
2. Professional Headshots for your construction marketing will elevate your personal branding.
Whether you know this or not…
What you do as an individual will affect your Construction Brand and Marketing.
Read that one again.
Your PERSONAL brand is as important to your business as your BUSINESS brand.
Your PERSONAL brand has a direct impact on your BUSINESS brand.
Whether you like it or not.
By association we link personal brands to business ones.
The most successful Trade and Construction businesses I know and have worked with for the last decade are those who are led with directors and team members that have exceptional personal brands.
So what is a personal brand?
Simply put.
*Personal branding is the effort to communicate and present your value to the world. A brand is an emotional connection.
Now we understand the link between what you do and say as an individual can affect your Trade and Construction business, we can look at how this works in your marketing.
As a business owner in the construction industry, you know that first impressions are everything.
In today's digital age, that first impression is often made on your website or social media before you even have a chance to shake someone's hand.
That's why it's so important to make sure your personal brand is up to scratch.
And what better way than the first time a potential client comes across you on LinkedIn, Facebook or your Meet The Team page on your website they are met with a professional headshot that shows you in your very best light?
Professional.
In your branded workwear (perhaps).
Smart, non-distracting background.
Versus.
A blurry selfie.
Shot on holiday.
With the kids in the background.
Not the one.
Think about how much more seriously you will be taken if that first impression photograph looks like this…
Your personal brand will skyrocket. 🚀
3. Professional photography will show your team in best light for your construction marketing.
A good photograph is a hard one to master by yourself.
And the process of snapping oneself (and pressure) can feel daunting (for them) when you say to your construction team ‘everyone needs to supply us with a photo of themselves for our marketing.’
Yet this is something we see - time and time again - construction companies do.
Ask their team to submit their own photos to them to use.
Which couldn’t be a worst decision in terms of a unified brand – more on that later.
By working with a professional photographer, they know what they’re doing.
They do it day in, day out after all.
You and your construction team should be able to communicate to your photographer if there are any worries that concern you about being captured on camera.
And then, the photographer can take this on board with the shots.
Which means your team feel more comfortable.
They are usually also very experience in dealing with people NOT comfortable being on camera.
They should have a host of tips and tricks up their sleeves to help put a team members at ease so that they can in fact capture you and your construction team in the very BEST possible light.
Which should look like this…
✅ Warm.
✅ Approachable.
✅ Professional.
If you have a very nervous team member that has had to cobble together their own photo
OR
been subjected to a their boss putting a Canon in their face (brand of camera, not weapon - That would be brutal!) in the office, then you are NOT going to get photos that give that warm, approachable, professional feel that is reflective of your construction business.
Work with the pros and let them bring the best out of your team.
Because you capture your team in the best way, you’ve just nailed one of the most important parts of your construction marketing… the human element.
4. Make for a better first impression for your Trade and Construction marketing.
We touched on this slightly in the first point.
But just to help bring home how important that first impression is.
By giving the WRONG first impression to your ideal client you run the risk of those clients never coming back to you.
Why?
Because we make a judgement of a business and if it’s a negative one, it’s pretty hard going to rectify that.
Especially when there is so much competition and noise out there from other Trade and Construction companies – you will quickly be forgotten.
By making a lasting first impression – and professional construction headshots go a long way in helping do this – you increase your credibility and improve the changes od enquiries and conversions.
Of course, there a TONNES of different things to consider in your construction marketing and no ‘one-thing’ is necessarily going to game-change things.
It's about covering all your bases and making sure you give the right impression at every place an ideal client may find you.
5. Help accelerate trust building with professional headshots as part of your Trade and Construction marketing.
‘Trust’ is one the biggest challenges trades and construction companies face.
According to scientists, we judge the trustworthiness of a face after just 33 milliseconds of exposure.
Yikes.
They also found this.
That certain facial characteristics connote trust. Mouth and eyebrow shapes were important. Angry-looking eyebrows and downturned mouths are untrustworthy. More trustworthy faces have slightly surprised looking eyebrows and a smiling ‘u’ shape mouth.
So what does this mean?...
SMILING IS IMORTANT!!
This is also teamed with other factors – such as your clothing (which should be branded for added brand awareness), how neat and tidy you present yourself and the environment in which you are photographed in.
When being photographed by a professional photographer, they should be able to help guide you into feeling relaxed and achieving the right facial expression from you that will help connote trust.
All these small tips go a huge way to building the trust factor before an ideal client has even met or spoken to you.
6. Professional headshots will help Create uniformity within your team for your construction marketing.
So you’re designing your website with an agency like ours.
And you’ve come to the MEET THE TEAM page.
Likely my FAVOURITE page for Trade and Construction businesses as it really helps build the human factor.
Anyway.
You ask all your team to send you a photo of them that you can use for the website design of your very professional commercial electrical business (let’s just say).
Here's what you get sent.
One of them sends a holiday shot wearing the most hideous floral shirt.
Another sends a photo where they are looking off to the side with a theme park in the background.
Another is angrily frowning and the shot is really blurry.
And the final one is a selfie shot where the phone was way too close to their face and kind of under their chin – giving chinchilla vibes.
THIS collection of photos are going to be used on YOUR professional website to instil trust, professionalism and integrity to your high end clientele…
Versus.
A professional headshot shoot day with a photographer and his backdrop.
✅ Where all the backgrounds are the same.
✅ Everybody is facing the same way.
✅ Everyone is wearing their branded uniform.
✅ Everyone is smiling.
✅ Crystal clear, unblurry, perfectly lit shots for all.
Now you have a collection of photos of a TEAM.
Where nobody stands out any more than another.
And the same high standards of photography have been applied to everyone.
Now your Trade and Construction team look like a force to be reckoned with.
7. Headshots are an investment you will get tonnes out of.
You won’t just get a single use out of a headshot.
They may not be the cheapest marketing asset to achieve, but one of the best ones from a Brand point of view.
💡 PRO TIP – Arrange a shoot day with your construction photographer where you photograph everyone in one morning/afternoon to keep costs to a minimum.
Here's some ideas of where you can start using your construction marketing headshots:
✅ Website – MEET THE TEAM page.
✅ Blog – Dedicate a blog to specific team members.
✅ Social Media posts.
✅ Social Media profile images.
✅ As part of an email signature design.
✅ Client confirmation – emailing photos to clients the day before arrival.
✅ Email Marketing – introduce team members to people on your mailing list.
✅ Brochures.
8. A bonding experience for you and your construction team.
We talked about arranging the photoshoot day to capture your team’s images in one session to keep costs to a minimum.
The added bonus of doing this is that in fact, you create a team bonding experience.
Everyone is in the same boat.
There will be team members who lack confidence in front of the camera and an opportunity for others to show their support.
The time spent together isn’t on site, client focused but team focused.
An opportunity for you too – as director – to take time and bind with your team in something more light-hearted than the day to day grind of managing sites.
9. Create a sense of pride for you and your employees.
We’ve been working with Trade and Construction companies for over a decade.
And in that time we’ve helped guide their photo shoots as part of their construction brand and marketing.
Something that they have told us – that we weren’t expecting – was how this helped create a sense of pride within their construction teams.
That their workforce performed better and felt more connected to the business.
That is also gave the directors an immense sense of pride that they had built their company to a place where they could capture their team altogether, in a professional light and promote and highlight individuals as part of their business.
I’m also told this also helped re-ignite an excitement for them in their business too – as often Trade and Construction directors are wearing many hats in their business and the stress and overwhelm can leave some lacking the love for a business that was once their passion.
⬇️ 9 Reasons You Need Professional Headshots For Your Construction Marketing Rundown:
1. Professional Headshots will improve your business branding.
2. Will elevate your personal branding.
3. Professional photography will show your team in best light.
4. Make for a better first impression.
5. Help accelerate trust building.
6. Create uniformity within your team.
7. Headshots are an investment you will get tonnes out of.
8. A bonding experience for you and your construction team.
9. Create a sense of pride for you and your employees.
🛠 Need a little more help nailing your Trades and Construction Marketing?
Course you do.
First. Let’s work out where you are with all things Marketing.
Got 3 minutes?
Take our Trades Quiz to discover how you score with all things ‘Off The Tools’.
We have heaps of tips, tricks, and hacks for your Trade and Construction business in our cheat sheets, videos and ideas waiting for you on the other side… i.e., your results page.
So, you can improve your score. And NAIL your Trade and Construction business.
Nice.