We know how easy it is to get carried away with a beautifully curated Social Media feed, carefully planned captions and enviable branded graphics, but are you missing a trick by not including one of the most valuable (and free) assets you have….your face?
Studies have shown that Instagram posts with faces in are 38% more likely to receive likes and 32% more likely to receive comments. We checked our own insights and low and behold our top performing post of the last 2 years, based on number of likes, is a picture of one of our Directors’ Freya working hard at ‘Party at the Palace.’
Showing your face on Instagram (or any platform) is great for brand recognition, showing up consistently on stories with your face means your community will build a connection between you and your brand which is priceless when it comes to turning them into customers.
Don’t just take our word for it though, we spoke to Beth owner of one of our favourite brands Plastic Freedom, who said; “Since I started showing my face on stories I definitely noticed how it impacted my sales as I have seen an increase since I changed up my strategy.”
It doesn’t stop there though! Here are some other reasons why we love content with people’s faces in:
- It humanises your brand
Emotion and connection are everything. We as human beings thrive off social interaction and that doesn’t have to stop just because you are a brand… behind it all you are in-fact human…we hope.
- Builds relationships and trust
Having trust in a brand is what ultimately leads to sales. People are more likely to purchase from a brand that they love and have built a relationship with. Seeing the face behind the brand elevates that trust.
- Increased engagement
If you have started to show your face more and humanise your brand, you will reap the benefits with increased engagement through new conversations as your community starts to respond and reply to you and what you are saying.
Now, you are probably thinking this all sounds great and you would love to give it a go but you just can’t face being the face!
So, we are setting you a challenge to make February the month you show your face at least twice a week on your Social channels. Let’s call it #FebruaryFace.
Here are our top tips to get you started and fight the stage fright:
- Pre-recording your videos rather than going live or straight onto stories is a great way for beginners to get started and find their voice. This gives you the chance to practice and feel comfortable without the fear of it being posted straight away onto the platform. It’s still authentic and real because it’s YOU!
- Try not to play back your content to often if you don’t like hearing the sound of your own voice, it is too easy to be critical of yourself so watch it once and then move onto the next project.
- You may be tempted to look at your own face whilst filming but remember to look directly at the camera instead. We sometimes use our ring light stands so the camera is positioned the other way round, so we don’t fall into this trap.
- Pre- plan if you need to! Not all of us are natural in front of the camera like Holly Willoughby or big personalities like Oprah! Make notes about what you want to discuss.
- Watch other people’s stories and get inspiration from your peers!
Using features like Stories and Reels is a great chance to step away from your beautifully curated branded feed and show off your personality – go on, step out of your comfort zone today and let’s see your face! 😎