Comments on: Your logo + Social Media = friends?

By: Ron Sparks

Ron Sparks — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 00:00:07 +0000

@Loyan — It’s awesome that you are looking at your comments. I see what you mean and why you picked the profile you did.

By: Matt Riopelle

Matt Riopelle — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 16:57:26 +0000

Michael makes a great point: Photos add an intrinsic transparent quality to the conversation. I tend to trust those I can “see.” But doesn’t branding and identity still need to account for the bounding box that social media has created?

By: Jason Prothero

Jason Prothero — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 02:34:02 +0000

Yea, I’d say I prefer photos of people over logos. Hmm, maybe its time to change the ProWorks avatar… :)

Anyways, I think I found the original post Loyan was talking about. Its a study about what you are doing in your profile pic and how it affects people’s perceptions of you (smiling, looking away, etc):

“The 4 Big Myths of Profile Pictures”
(http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/2010/01/20/the-4-big-myths-of-profile-pictures/)

Also, this is probably obvious and its not clear how logos fit into this but:

“Twitter Accounts with a Profile Picture Have 10 Times More Followers Than Those Without”

(http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/5811/Twitter-Accounts-with-a-Profile-Picture-Have-10-Times-More-Followers-Than-Those-Without.aspx)

By: Jeff Jimerson

Jeff Jimerson — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 21:21:22 +0000

This conversation reminds me of some Facebook ads we ran for the MAC last year. I experimented with three different ads using three different images.

Ad #1: Just our logo. 5,383 impressions, zero (0) clicks. 0.00% click rate.

Ad #2: Photo of our empty office interior, no people in the shot. 95,785 impressions with only 91 clicks. 0.10% click rate.

Ad #3: Photo of a group of smiling faces taken at a MAC workshop. 59,165 impressions, 122 clicks. 0.21% click rate.

Granted, the message shifted a little between the three ads, and the number of impressions varied. By no means a scientific study, but probably confirms the obvious: Photos of people get more clicks than logos do… at least with Facebook advertising.

By: Michael Hyatt

Michael Hyatt — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 15:52:15 +0000

I think using faces creates more brand loyalty. With the exception of some really iconic brands (e.g., Apple), we connect and follow people. No one seeks a relationship with an institution.

I have tons of people tell me that they never cared about my company until they started following me or one of my colleagues and connected to us personally.

I think a photo subliminally communicates, “We’re real people here. We are not hiding behind a wall. We are transparent and accessible.”

By: David Siteman Garland

David Siteman Garland — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 15:46:12 +0000

Great topic here. Thanks John for bringing it to my attention. Hands down, I want to see the person. The personality. The human. Young or old. Male or female.

I know personally, I buy from people I know like and trust as opposed to “just” a logo. What about you?

By: John

John — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 15:14:27 +0000

The brands I enjoy following as well as the ones I work for are for the most part symbolized by icons/logos. In developing app icons say for the Intel AppUp or iTunes stores, you need to tell a story with just a few pixels. Going one level further and each of those brands have many people that work for them and I enjoy seeing and identifying their faces. Intel who has fully embraced social media, is one example . Once you know who they are you begin to identify all the face behind the brand.

Take these comments for example. Just seeing these faces, all of people I know and trust, evokes a feeling of community. I identify each one with a strong brand association as well.

As far as the death of avatar use , I do not morn it’s demise at all. It was a place for people to hide in anonymity.

By: Loyan

Loyan — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 14:09:47 +0000

I wish I had a link for you. I have seen a study showing that humans naturally direct their attention first to faces and then to where that face is looking.

That study influenced my current profile pick. I often recommend the use of smiling-happy-faces for web/marketing visuals.

PS: Chris Brogan commented here!

By: Chris Nordyke

Chris Nordyke — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 04:20:22 +0000

I’m with Brogan and Jimmers on this one. Important to pick the right photo though for maximum impact.
Kawasaki touches on this in an early Entrepreneur Magazine post on Twitter. See #3:
http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneur/2009/march/200084.html

By: Matt Riopelle

Matt Riopelle — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 03:14:50 +0000

Thanks for your imput Chris. So can I assume your iPad app icon will feature your face? ;)

But I agree. Attached to a conversation, faces do win.