What the Heck is Faceless Marketing?
A month ago, the concept of faceless marketing came up in a meeting with my client as we considered ways to leverage high quality video content without compromising the anonymity of their team in a sensitive niche. The rise of the faceless marketing trend has been apparent throughout the last year and is offering a new version of content marketing to those who dislike being on camera and/or don’t want to be the face of their brand. A lot of people may ask “What the heck is faceless marketing!?”, and I’ve got you covered today with the details!
What is Faceless Marketing?
Faceless marketing is a newly trending marketing method in which the brand utilizes captivating imagery and copy (text) of value to engage their audience on social media, removing their faces from the equation and allowing the subject matter to speak for itself. This encourages a wide variety of benefits such as increased brand authority.
More creativity possibilities
By taking away faces, you are now faced (no pun intended!) with the creative challenge of developing high quality content that speaks for itself. This offers you many more options when it comes to text storytelling and intriguing visuals. However, that being said, it can be more difficult to grow and connect with an audience when you remove the emotional connection of the face-to-face. You should enter into this approach with that expectation and some solid creative ideas that you believe will convert regardless of face factor.
Money saved
You may also be saving precious funds by not investing a ton of resources and money into sets, lighting, models, OR paying your staff to be on camera during hours when they could be putting their energy elsewhere! This is typically a perk for the larger businesses who would be investing a good chunk of money in staged video shoots.
Increased personal privacy
For individuals who would rather not be the face of their brand, or who simply cannot / should not be given the nature of their industry, faceless marketing offers an increased sense of personal privacy and anonymity that you otherwise wouldn’t have with small business marketing efforts. If your staff would rather not put themselves or their likeness on the internet, this form of creative marketing may be appealing.
Reduced sense of pressure
Because you won’t be showing up on camera every day, this greatly removes a sense of pressure that many small business owners feel to look extra polished, make sure they are wearing makeup and that their hair isn’t a mess, the list goes on. Let’s be honest: We would all be working from the couch in our PJs if we could every day! Faceless marketing gives us some lenience here and allows us to be ourselves without being judged for how we look.
Quickly cultivated trust
This is largely a preferred form of marketing for Gen Z individuals who have grown up feeling burned by brands time and time again, encouraged to question what all these social media influencers are selling to them. This generation is seeking out a more authentic, content-focused approach to marketing, and may come to trust your brand more quickly if you don’t enlist well known faces and instead let the content do the talking for you.
Larger platform & brand authority
Since you are relying on the high quality content to shine, your brand often receives quicker recognition as a trusted creator and is provided with a larger reach, positioning you as an authority in your industry because of what you create. Think of all the accounts with dreamy travel videos and delicious recipe tutorials. Have you ever cared who was behind them? I’d argue no, because you simply care about the value the videos add to your life.
This all being said, I have to be honest in sharing the fact that faceless marketing really only succeeds in specific niches and certain industries will lend themselves easier to this trend - such as food/coffee, real estate, hospitality, tourism, etc. You typically need a subject that is already quite visually captivating and aesthetically pleasing in order to truly thrive with a faceless marketing strategy. As with anything else in marketing, it’s great to experiment and try new things, so I certainly suggest giving it a try if you’re drawn to it! You never know what might happen. :-)
