Choosing Your Profile Picture or Photo

First impressions last. And that holds true every time, everywhere, even online.

On social media, you see thousands of profile pictures. You see dozens every day. And every time you see someone’s profile picture, you form an impression of that person. In a split second, you decide if they are likeable, trustworthy, smart, or not. You judge them.

On Facebook, LinkedIn, X, and everywhere else, they are swiping right or left in their minds, connecting or dismissing, engaging with your content or ignoring your connection request.

Everyone judges your profile picture in the same way.

So your profile picture is key to your personal brand and online networking. It has an impact on your job opportunities, even your dating life, but ultimately, your career.

And perfecting your picture is a one-time action that gives you lasting benefits. So invest some time in the most important aspect of your online presence. You are the face of your brand, business. Your profile picture is the first thing your potential lead will see. Make sure it speaks YOU. 

Here are nine ways to nail your social media profile picture:

1. Show Your Face

This should be obvious, but if they can’t see your face, you’ve got a problem.

Faces are a uniquely powerful type of imagery. Studies about the psychology of images show that faces leverage a cognitive bias built into our brains.

Of course, you have passions. You love dogs, helicopters or skiing. But your profile picture isn’t the place to make this point.

 

If you are an avid mountain climber, great! Put your face in the profile picture and your passion in the background image, not the other way around.

The most popular website in the world is called FACEbook, for a reason.

I also recommend against cartoon heads, dogs and babies. Show. Your. Face.

2. Frame Yourself

Headshots are taken for the purpose of immediate recognition and identification.  Your face should fill most of the image. But this does not mean they need to be too close to the camera. Make sure you are properly framed within the shot so people can see you and a bit of background. 

Not too far, not too close. Let them see your face but don’t crowd the camera.

 

3. Turn Up Your Smile Setting

If your face is too small, they won’t be able to see your smile when the picture appears in smaller sizes. Remember, in the social stream, this image may be as small as 50 x 50 pixels. That’s the size of your fingertip.

Faces, just like body language, express an openness to connect, or the opposite.  For the body, closed arms, legs and hands can radiate a sense of unwelcomeness.

There are levels to the open expression on a face, from the scowling mugshot (“don’t you dare look at me”) to the high-beam open-mouth grin (“I love the world and everyone in it”).

See below five examples of openness in smiles:

Notice the openness in four and five. If you want to show openness on your face, try opening your mouth!

You can imagine which of these would trigger more engagement on social media. Which would you connect with? Follow? Share?

Big smiles in profile pictures correlate with good social relationships

People who smile in their social media profile pictures are actually more likely to be happy later in life.  This was revealed in two studies of college students.

“Smile intensity coded from a single Facebook profile photograph from male and female participants’ first semester at college was a robust predictor of self-reported life satisfaction 3.5 years later.”

Those same studies found that bigger smiles correlate with better social relationships.

“Participants who exhibited a more intense smile in their Facebook photo had better social relationships during their first semester at college.”

So what’s the smile setting of your profile picture? I recommend three or four at least. Number two might be good for attorneys. Social media marketers often turn it up to five. So don’t be afraid to turn it up a bit.

4. Use Contrasting Colors 

Which of the profile pictures below stands out?

 

Social streams move fast. Color is a great way to stand out. When colors contrast with the colors around them, they stand out. This is simple and obvious when you think about it.

  • What color are most social media websites? Blue (a cool color)
  • What color is the complement of blue? Orange (a warm color)

Since LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter use a lot of blue, putting on an orange shirt (or any top with warm colors) will make you immediately more visible. These are also less common colors for clothing.

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5. Use A Simple Background 

The focus of the image should be your face. Busy backgrounds can take the focus off of you, which isn’t ideal. Best practices are to use a simple or flat-colored background.

The background is also an opportunity to use contrasting colors without changing clothes. Just use a different background. 

Which among the photos below do you think is the best?

The winner was the image in the top left.
 

6. Test Your Profile Picture With A Focused Group 

You can gather a group of your most reliable and trusted family, friends, and colleagues whom you know will give unbiased answers, to give their comments on several photos you wish to use. Make sure to include headshots with you in different smile settings, angles, backgrounds, and attire. 

Or if you want real, unbiased answers, you may also get some data from a focus group by uploading some options to PhotoFeeler. For less than $20, you can get 100 people to vote on your photo based on three criteria.

Upload several pictures to see how they do against each other. 

7. Get A Bit Of Brand Into Your Photo

Always think of branding. Your brand should speak through visuals, hence your profile photo as well.  I don’t mean screaming logos or texts. But incorporate some visual imagery whenever possible, but still discreetly.

Here are five ways to sneak elements of your brand into your profile picture.

  • Wear your brand colors: Wear a shirt with a splash of the company colors.

  • Put the brand color in the background: Put a tiny bit of your office in the background.

  • Add a mini-logo: It’s hard to make it fit, but if there’s room, you should.

  • Add a big logo to your background image: It's much easier to make it fit in there.

  • Live the brand: George LeClaire is a photographer, and it’s obvious from his profile picture. He’s holding a camera.

Here are examples of how brand elements can fit into a profile picture:

 
Warning! Avoid the logo profile pic. 

As we said in tip #1, faces are powerful imagery. Using a logo as a profile picture is a missed opportunity to be human and personable.

If you’re a mega-brand, of course, you’ll use your logo in your social accounts. But for most companies, avoid posting from behind a logo if at all possible. It just isn’t as social. Use the face of someone on the social media team.

You are not just choosing a picture. You’re choosing a voice for the business, the account, a personality, and a strategy.  So make sure your visual voice is “seen” too.

8. Use The Same Headshot On All Your Professional Profile

This is especially important for people with common names. If someone sees you in one place and wants to connect in another, make it easy for them by using the same picture on all of your professional social media profiles.

If you do this, it will be extremely helpful for people to reach out to you because, like a name, it has a “recall”.  There was a time, I was emailing with someone named Brian and decided to reach out on LinkedIn. But there are 430 Brians with his last name. And his profile picture wasn’t helpful.

If you look me up on Facebook or LinkedIn, you will see the same headshot used on my profile photos. I use the same photo across all my online content.

I’d say my name is not at all that common but I still make sure people can look me up quite easily.

 
 
 

Pro Tip! It’s easier to become recognizable if you don’t change it too often. Be consistent and keep the same profile picture for a year or two at least. These pictures are identifiable because they were used for years.

9. Use A Professional Photographer

If you’re serious about social media marketing, seriously consider this. The difference in quality between professional and amateur work is huge.Â