When you first get your employer brand going, there are a few things that are top of mind: social media accounts, careers site, content for said careers site, employer brand ambassadors, etc. One thing that might not be on that list? Photos.
Photos easily fall to the bottom of the list of needs for your employer brand, because it can seem like such a ubiquitous item—of course you have photos of your employees…why should you spend valuable time curating them when you know that they’re on hand…somewhere…
Well, there’s your answer. You know they’re on hand somewhere, but when you really start hunting for them, many of you might come to a dead end; either because your picture supply is far less stellar than it is in your mind or because it’s full-on non-existent.
That treasure trove of pictures you thought you had that would help fulfill your employer brand needs turns out to be a supply of empty office photos, faceless shots of your employees, and the food at your annual party. All in all, your photos are missing the crucial elements of what’s needed for an employer brand:
- Variety,
- Culture,
- and, most importantly, PEOPLE
Now the problem of needing photos has been identified, it’s time to start thinking about where you can gather photos from. Here’s a quick checklist of places to start:
- Your comms team – they may have a great supply for you to tap into that you’ve just never seen before
- Your employees – ask for submissions of photos they’ve taken around the office or at events; chances are, they’re going to be more authentic and people-focused
- Yourself – that’s right, it might just be time for you to start building your own supply
However you’re getting them, once you have a plan of attack on how to get pictures for your employer brand, you have an important number to identify: how many photos do you need to kickstart your employer brand?
This is a situation where a little bit of pre-work is going to go a long way. You want to build a library of images for yourself before you start diving in on the bigger items—images are the foundation that your social media, careers site and content are built on, so make it a strong foundation. The last thing you want is to have an awesome Instagram idea, or a perfect piece of content, but no photo to share with it and give it a visual touch.
So, here’s a little formula for you to use in order to know how many photos you need:
(Instagram photos you’ll post per week + pieces of content to post per week) x 24 (weeks) = how many photos you need
First you’re finding the total number of photos you’ll need each week, then multiple it by 24 weeks, i.e. 6 months. Because in order to not scramble at the beginning and to sustain your employer brand without worry, you need a full 6 months worth of photos in hand. You also need a way to sustain that supply; a plan of action to keep getting pictures added to your inventory so it continues remaining level rather than being depleted.
It’s not easy work, but you’ll thank yourself down the road when you never have to scramble for the perfect image, and your brand will thank you when it flourishes with real photos of your employees.