This is a guest post by Nancy Stuckwisch
Which one stands out?
Are photos of yourself the best way to make your brand recognizable and customer friendly?
Only if you never change the photo.
This is swimming against the tide, I know, but isn’t the point of branding to create a consistently identifiable image?
Shouldn’t we make it as easy as possible for our customers to recognize us?
Personal vs. Business Branding
Photos make this more difficult than it needs to be. I understand the point of photos is to make the connection – that there is a you behind your business.
A large part of small businesses appeal is our ability to personally connect with clients. I understand how a photo can help with that. But is it the best way to brand your business across the spectrum of social media, e-commerce and individual sites? Especially when so much on the web is about visual, non-verbal recognition!
For many solopreneurs it’s difficult dealing with the whole personal branding issue. I understand how you are your brand, but as a newcomer to the online world recognizing brands by matching them up with photos and then remembering what the business is called is not always easy.
Chatting with @SuzieQ is lots of fun. But Suzy’s site is called Purple Panties. For those new to Social Media (and LOTS of people are) why make it more difficult for potential customers to find your store. There would be nothing to stop you being @PurplePanties and telling people you chat to “Hi I’m SuzieQ.”
A few thoughts:
- What if you cut your hair? Or dye it another color? Shave your beard?
- Some sites (and screens) make the pictures really small and everyone looks a little alike..Smile, head a little tilted to look friendly…
- A photo as a favicon? Forget about being able to identify it
- Everyone (well, lots of people) are using photos – it no longer stands out.
Marketing 101
As a newcomer to PR, marketing and branding I’m on a steep learning curve. However, one of the most powerful pieces of information I absorbed was that your audience needs to see your brand/logo/ad 7 times before it sinks in. Consistency and repetition are the key. Make it simple for your customer.
We have all put tremendous effort into our businesses. I want people (aka potential clients) to see my logo and colors and say, “Thats Silver Magpies.”
With one minor exception, I use it everywhere because:
- It stands out.
- It works online and in the real world.
- It’s scalable – from favicon to full page ad.
- It’s on my packaging, card, invoices, websites – all opportunities to reinforce my brand.
- It’s mine ™ and all.
- There’s no disconnect between my Social Media presence and my business name.
- If I were ever inclined to do so, I could sell the business without new owners worrying about re-branding.
What about the personal connection?
Useful content, tweeting, email, conversation, Skype, video, and prompt customer service for clients and visitors are some of the ways I establish and develop relationships. But if you hunt, you might find my photo somewhere on my site. 
Nancy Stuckwisch of Silver Magpies has had a life-long fascination with vintage silver. She believes we should get the silver out of the cupboard, onto the table, and then into the dishwasher.
This is awesome. I remembered someone told me that he saw me somewhere and I look familiar to him, though I don’t know him and he doesn’t know me. Then he realized it’s my gravatar that he saw somewhere around the blogosphere. Ha!
Hi Gian. Thanks for the comment. I want people to make that connection with my business logo/gravatar…our actions on the web end up floating to places we never imagined I want to make it easy for people to connect the dots to my business.
Hi Gian. Thanks for the comment. I want people to make that connection with my business logo/gravatar…our actions on the web end up floating to places we never imagined I want to make it easy for people to connect the dots to my business.
This is certainly making me think. I’m about to start branding my new blog and I was about to put up a photo of me as an avatar. I think photos help people to see that there’s a real person behind the posts, it’s not an anonymous thing. I suppose I could do what Darren Rowse does on problogger – he puts the photo in the footer, and problogger is branded as just problogger.
Hi Aisha. Obviously I’ve made the decision that brand recognition is the important thing for me across social media. A photo of me is just another tiny picture of a brunette on my twitter stream but logos jump out. Make that connection with your iterations.
Plenty of auto-bot repetitive tweets are put out every day by accounts with a pretty picture! It the quality of what you say and do that counts.
I think photo avatar is good and in some condition it can’t be good because of privacy, therefore I never put photos in my avatar..anyways nice info learnt something new..thanks
Hi Andydh. Yes the privacy issue is a big one for many people. But it’s good to have some kind of unique marker to say hey it’s me!
Some very relevant points raised here. Although the picture of a person makes it look more humane and helps create personal connections with others present on the forum, but the logo of the business or blog ultimately proves more beneficial in the long run by creating brand recognition in the minds of the peers.
Hi Tuubol. I really believe that in the end the human connection is made by how you interact with people, not by the tiny image by your comments/tweet/etc. That image is a recognition marker and people who know it think oh hey – it’s Tuubol – he always has something interesting to say. That’s the important part of creating the connection.
I have to say I disagree with this…strongly. I get what you’re saying and it makes sense in many respects, but personally, on Twitter for example, I never follow ‘brands’ back unless they start talking to me regularly.
Unless we are talking about a 20 person business, I want to see a person not a logo, I want to feel like I know them.
It’s a psychological thing, but if somebody uses a logo how do you even know you’re talking to the same person all the time? I know you can never be sure of that, but my guess would be having a photo makes it far more likely that its that person who is posting.
“your audience needs to see your brand/logo/ad 7 times before it sinks in.”
That is simply waaaaay too simplistic and not really true except in the minds of statisticians. That may (or may not) be an average, but we all digest stuff differently and there are predominantly 3 different types of convincer strategies, which is fundamentally what we’re talking about.
Some people get it first time. Some people need to see something multiple times. And others need to see it over and over again.
The rise of the small business is muddying the marketing waters, but people like Tim Ferriss, Steve Pavlina, Guy Kawasaki, Chris Brogan, Leo Babauta, Darren Rouse and my main man Mr Martine have done ok branding themselves
Hey Tim – Thanks for the thoughtful comments. We may have to agree to disagree. ;~)
However, I think you agree with me about THE point “I never follow ‘brands’ back unless they start talking to me regularly”.
That’s the key – >It’s all about what you do online. Do you endlessly send out one way or engage in dialogue?
The people I connect with on Twitter and other social media platforms are the people who engage. I don’t base my ‘follow’ criterion on an avatar. I base it on what they do. But I love seeing a logo in my tweet stream because it stands out against the stream of photos and grabs my attention. (I don’t think this is a factor of my vision either.
The web is such a visual medium, why not make your flag a great big X that marks the spot?)
As for wondering about who you are talking to – first, the same thing applies to accounts with a photo…further, plenty of spam bots hide behind photos.
But if you listen to/chat with someone regularly you can “hear” their voice. People have very distinctive styles (in fact it’s quite amazing how much voice one can put into 140 characters!)
Thanks again for the comments.
Nan
The human brain is brilliant at remembering faces, way, way, way, better than it is at remembering logos which is why companies spend millions positioning themselves and their brand.
There is hardly a face in my Twitter stream that I wouldn’t recognize, but it’s not the same for logos, they all blend in to one, especially when they have to be reduced so much.
In my field of self development, I honestly cannot think of one person that’s anywhere near the ‘top’ that uses a logo rather than their face as an avatar.
Logo speaks corporate to me, but I appreciate that some people disagree. I’ll tell you what though, I’d be willing to wager a lot of money that if you threw out the questions “Do you prefer to follow faces or logos on Twitter? the response would be overwhelmingly in favor of faces. I’d go as far as to say I bet it’s at lest 5:1 maybe even much higher.
That has to say something.
Hi Tim - but they spend all that money positioning a logo not a face. I wouldn’t be able to pick Phil Knight’s photo out of a twitter stream, but I sure could find Nike.
I honestly can’t say the same about the faces in my twitter stream, unless the photo has a distinctive feature, such as a red cap, too many of them look too alike.
In fact if people change their photo (which a couple of people I am in close contact with have done recently) I often miss their tweets in the stream, because I don’t recognize them!
Changed photo = no consistency => lost connection
As to whether people prefer to follow a photo or logo on twitter, I not convinced that’s the important issue. I’d prefer to have a small and tightly engaged group than 100,000 followers just tweeting out. :~)
Nike?? I thought we were talking about solopreneurs and small businesses not companies that have spend 100′s of millions of dollars marketing their brand.
I have named a number of very high profile people on Twitter that use their face successfully and I could have included Gary Vaynerchuck, Jonathan Fields, Robin Sharma, Jeffrey Gitomer and his Royal Sethness, Seth Godin. And that’s just off the top of my head.
I honestly cannot think of a single company of that size that does what you are suggesting. I’m sure there are some, but I’m scratching my head.
Uh, you were the one who mentioned millions of dollars on branding…
“better than it is at remembering logos which is why companies spend millions positioning themselves and their brand.”
…just responding.
Let’s return to solopreneurs. Yes, absolutely all these people you mention on Twitter are without doubt very high profile, but if they change their photo I’ll miss a lot of their stuff because I won’t be able to recognize them. I suspect a lot of other Tweeps would too.
And if you are new to social media (which I am) if people use a photo and name as twitter handle and it does not match business name then it can be confusing to make the connection. Especially if I stumble across your site independently and not via your twitter profile.
I know I’m swimming against the tide, but it’s important to make people think about how they brand themselves or their businesses.
Whatever you choose to do consistency is king…and consistency is more difficult to achieve with a photo.
There is a clear difference between large corporate and solopreneur/SME since the large corporate will not necessarily have a person doing the responding on ther FB page or Twitter. My main comment further up is in the context of solopreneur/SME.
At the end of the day though it’s an informed, personal choice – what works for Nancy and what works for Tim may be two different things but it doesn’t make either one of them invalid. If Nancy uses her logo on FB and Twitter but attracts followers that she interacts with regularly – followers who visit her website and buy her products/services then it’s working for her and that’s great.
Food for thought – I agree with the branding and would use the icon that goes with the business I’m ‘promoting’ when commenting on blog posts etc (except that I always have a blank avatar as I’m not signed in to Disqus but…..) However a photo on a FB profile is a must as few poeple (and I’m included in this) won’t friend someone without a photo unless they get a compelling message as to why they should be friends. For Facebook pages different story and there I would go for a logo unless someone is trading as themselves in order to profile more than one business offering.
Love to know what Nancy, Michael think.
Hi Gillian – some more excellent points. Thanks for taking the time to read and comment, I really appreciate it.
It’s worth considering the type of business as well. Tim is selling personal coaching services. I’m not, I sell products – in my case it’s antique and vintage silver. I want to make it as simple as possible for customers to find me – hence my decision to go for the consistent use of visual and written cues.
An FB personal profile is a different kettle of fish entirely. I have an FB profile *only* because I needed (or thought I did, still unclear!) it to establish a business page…but don’t have my photo on that because I don’t use FB in a social sense. I barely have enough time to keep up with SM for business purposes, let alone personal ones! My FB page has my logo and that’s the bit I try to be most active with.
In the end, is the logo thing working for me? Yes it is. Anyone filled with curiosity can see my pic by clicking on the site link in my twitter profile. But I like to think it’s working, not because it’s a photo or a logo, but because of what I do. Actions are what really count in the end.
I think you have it absolutely right, always a balance the brand personal and professional, and social has blurred the edges for most of us. For me the business gravatar makes perfect sense and I try to make sure its everywhere but then sites like Quora pick-up your Facebook profile pics and then what do you do…consistency wherever you can and like you say what happens if you change your profile pic and if you have a haircut or a sense of humour and change your pic to something whimsical. Better to keep them separate where you and as you say may be against the swim but makes sense to me.
Hi Amanda
Kudos to you for making it all the way through!
For me it is about consistency and using a logo seems to me to be the best way to go about it. It may be as Tim says, simplistic to believe that people need to see something 7 times in order to remember it, but I’m not a marketing or PR person. I’m an antique and vintage dealer who ~also~ has to do the marketing and PR and it’s all about doing what you think is best for your business.
Nancy, you remind me that I need to do something about having one photo as my Gravatar and a different photo for my Twitter profile. I’ll have to do some market research to find out which one people find more “branding.” So thank you for that heads-up!
Also, I’ve enjoyed seeing your images of silver through Michael’s RTs on Twitter. I’m not quite the magpie you are ; ) but I love your attitude toward using those heirloom items — and considering family and friends the *best* occasions to bring out the good silver!
Hi Courtney – Totally unsolicited opinion, but I like your twitter pic better! :~) More distinctive….just don’t change it, lol.
Thanks for reading all of this and your kind words about my philosophy and the images Michael has been so generous to RT for me. They are greatly appreciated!
Nancy, such kind, “unsolicited” words are always welcome. Thank you.
: )
Thanks for the food for the brain. I’m not sure I agree. It first brought to mind, George Carlin. He was his brand. His looks changed over timely – 10 times over. And his different looks didn’t deter him brand recognition. Great post!
I’m thrilled you enjoyed the post Patricia and that you’re not sure! As for George Carlin, well he was George Carlin, which is in a different league than most of us. And George Carlin’s face was famous for representing George Carlin long before social media ever burst on the scene. I just wonder which way is easier to stick in people’s minds.
It’s buried in comments above, so perhaps you missed it, but I wrote this post after missing tweets from people I am very close to because they changed their pictures.
The look changed and their tweets sailed right by without catching my attention….:~(
There are good points to be made on both sides and it does matter what kind of business you’re running. A brand is a brand it’s not the number of employees in a business that make the brand, but the… (wait for it) BRANDING.
Both ways work, and they work in different ways for different reasons. It’s not like one way is right or wrong.
Tell you one thing I’ve seen is a few folks on Twitter especially who had distinct visual brands because of their unique non-photo avatars and when they dropped them in favor of photos I believe they made a mistake. However that’s just my opinion and it’s not like their follower counts went down, or anything.
On the other hand, what would truly be better for Nike? One Twitter account with a swoosh logo on it? Twitter accounts for different sports for which Nike makes gear, each with a differently colored swoosh? Or nearly every single person at Nike on Twitter as themselves with a photo avatar?
Unless all three were tried and the results measured, I don’t think we could definitively say which way worked best, and even then, it would only be the best way for Nike, not for any other company.
Michael – Thank you so much for the opportunity to guest post on Remarkablogger. I’ve had a great time engaging with your audience and am really glad it sparked some conversation.
Thanks too for taking a chance on following a faceless logo twitter newbie. I vividly remember my delighted astonishment when I saw you’d followed me. You really do meet amazing people on Twitter.
Nancy, you’re welcome and it’s my pleasure. At the end of the day, you know
you’re doing something right when you have sales, and that’s the bottom
line.
Well you obviously know where I stand on this!!
I agree – keep the brand consistent. I now am going to see if I can find a picture of you..
I agree and disagree. Privacy issues are really a great concern for me too; and not to mention that I am getting a lot of dating requests, which I could have avoided if I used a logo. But still I want people to know the real me behind my business.
I also agree with you saying about what if our appearances changed. I think people are used to it and they quite anticipate it. Having the same profile picture for 10 years will mean that it is quite old. I do not expect the real person to look exactly as in the profile pic, but I can recognize the person. All it means is the personal connection. I think that is important for any business than a inanimate logo (the pic is inanimate too but got you with emotions there!).
Both have their pros and cons.
I truly feel you have put something in perspective for me, my work is that which I want known more than my face, lol. Can’t sell my face, wouldn’t want to! So, a logo needs be found.
I truly feel you have put something in perspective for me, my work is that which I want known more than my face, lol. Can’t sell my face, wouldn’t want to! So, a logo needs be found.
very intresting
I think Avatar make a someone’s profile becomes more attractive.
Regards,
Handcrafted silver jewelry‘s designer
I have to say i was going to use my photo on the website but thought better of it, aybe someone would recognise me or maybe it would put people off. so insted we used models and nobody knows who the are
I think that’s probably the worst thing you can do. Nothing screams “fake”
and “inauthentic” like using stock photos of people instead of real people.
Use your own picture or use a logo. Cartoons, characters or other highly
sylized versions of yourself are perfectly acceptable instead of a “real”
photo.
I’ve seen a trend with cartoon characters in logo’s and video presentations. It always makes me think the business isn’t as serious as it should be. But maybe that’s me. The world is changing.
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Hi,Thanks for the post… i afraid to put my photo in web… my friends tells me not to put it.. this post makes me to think to put it..
I had to read this article! I’ve had the same Avatar over 5 years. Matter of fact a look nothing like the picture anymore
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Privacy issues are really a great concern for me too; and not to mention that I am getting a lot of dating requests, which I could have avoided if I used a logo. But still I want people to know the real me behind my business.
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I also have to disagree, and I’ve done plenty of work on this over the last couple of years with consultancy clients. Using a logo (unless it’s an instantly recognizable one like Nike) doesn’t work. It makes it much harder to get followers, and people seem reluctant to engage with a “logo” rather than a person. Time and time again, I’ve switched companies from using logos as their avatars to using real people (but adding the name of the business into the handle, so you get Joe – Nike for example, and every time I’ve done it their follower count and the number of people interacting with their page has increased dramatically.
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