The Best Photos for Employer Branding and Recruitment Marketing
In today’s competitive talent market, candidates don’t just want to know what your company does. They want to know who you are. The best photos for employer branding don’t just show your company—it invites candidates to see themselves there.
Whether you’re revamping your careers page, launching a recruitment campaign, or simply posting to social media, the images you use shape perception and drive engagement. As you organize your employee photoshoot, keep in mind: Investing in an intentional, authentic photo library isn’t just a creative decision. It’s a strategic one.
Why your employer brand photos matter
Your photo library is more than just a folder of headshots—it’s a key component in your employer brand strategy. Photos offer instant, emotional insight into your culture, your people, and the employee experience. And they meet candidates where they are, whether that’s skimming LinkedIn or clicking through a blog post.
A strong photo library supports:
- Consistency across channels: Maintain brand continuity from job ads to social to your careers site.
- Connection with candidates: Real images create emotional resonance and drive action.
- Scalability: When done right, a robust photo library saves time and increases impact across the funnel.
Say Goodbye to Stock Photos
While stock photos may feel like a necessary shortcut, they’re costing you more than you think in terms of lost attention and trust. Today’s job seekers are savvy and can spot a staged handshake or perfectly diverse corporate meeting table from a mile away.
These images don’t reflect your actual culture—and worse, they signal inauthenticity.
Real employee photography outperforms stock photos every time. Highlighting real members of your team builds credibility, humanizes your brand, and creates a visual identity that’s unmistakably yours.
Best Photos for Employer Branding: What makes a photo great?
Every photo should serve a purpose. Your photo library should include a mix of styles that serve different purposes depending on the channel, audience, and goal. As you plan your photo library, keep these best practices and use cases in mind:
1. Direct Eye Contact
Photos where employees make direct eye contact with the camera establish instant connection. These images are engaging, personal, and perform well at the top of the funnel. They’re best for the places where you want to capture attention and build personal connection — job ads and career site hero banners, to name two.
2. Candid, In-the-Moment Shots
Showing employees in natural, unposed moments is perceived as more authentic and relatable. These candid shots enhance brand trust and bring stories to life and work best in your middle of funnel channels, like your careers blog and team and culture landing pages.
3. Off-center Subjects
Framing your subject slightly off-center leaves room for copy and design overlay, and has more flexibility to work with tricky dimensions. Include at least a few of these in your shot list to support social media graphics, email headers, and banner images.
4. High Color Complexity
Photos with vibrant, layered color palettes demand more visual attention and perform better in crowded feeds. Keep an eye out for bright backgrounds or textured backdrops as you plan your photography locations! These images work well in paid ad spaces, organic social, and awareness campaigns.
What Types of Photos Should You Capture?
Here’s a foundational checklist to build a diverse and versatile photo library:
- Employee portraits: Mix editorial-style images with informal, candid portraits of employees in action. Include uniforms and common equipment in photos to create more relatable images.
- Team/group shots: Showcase collaboration, whether that’s brainstorming at a whiteboard, troubleshooting machinery, or celebrating a team win.
- Workplace environments: Let candidates visualize themselves in your space—whether that’s an office, manufacturing floor, lab, or café.
- Remote and hybrid setups: If you support flexible work, represent that visually. Show employees on video calls or working from home in realistic ways.
Pro tip: Build your photo library with scalability in mind. Capture different angles, orientations (portrait and landscape), and context so your content works across platforms.
Final Thoughts: Turn Photos Into Strategic Advantage
The best photos for employer branding don’t just “look nice”—they drive results. They grab attention, build trust, and help talent self-select into your culture. And when they’re thoughtfully produced, they create lasting value across all your recruitment marketing efforts.
Ready to upgrade your employer brand photography? Learn more about our photography services and let’s bring your stories to life—one authentic image at a time.
