Why Raw Photos Introducing a Teammate Does So Well on LinkedIn

The simplest post that outperforms everything

I've watched companies spend weeks on a single thought leadership piece. Custom graphics, three rounds of edits, the whole production. Then someone on their team posts a slightly blurry photo of a new hire with a two-paragraph caption, and it gets 10x the engagement.

This isn't a fluke.

Teammate intro posts with raw, unpolished photos are one of the most reliable content formats on LinkedIn. And the best part? Once you get why they work, you can do this over and over without it ever feeling stale.

Why This Format Works So Well

People connect with faces, not logos. LinkedIn's algorithm and its users both favor content that feels human. A real photo of a real person triggers something a branded graphic just can't. We're wired to pay attention to faces. It's basic psychology.

It's a pattern interrupt. Scroll through any LinkedIn feed right now. Polished carousels. Corporate announcements. Walls of text. Now picture a candid photo of someone grinning at their desk on day one. You stop scrolling. That pause is everything.

It humanizes your company. When you introduce a teammate, you're not just announcing a hire. You're showing that real people work there, that you actually care about them, and that your culture is something worth seeing. That builds trust with customers, partners, and future candidates in a way no "We're hiring!" graphic ever will.

It invites genuine interaction. People love saying "Welcome aboard!" It's one of the easiest comments anyone can leave. These posts generate engagement because the call to action is baked right in.

What Makes a Great Teammate Intro Post

The formula is dead simple. That's the point.

• One candid photo. Not their LinkedIn headshot. A real moment -- their first day, a team lunch, them cracking up about something during a meeting. The less staged, the better.
• A simple opener. "Meet Sarah, our new engineer." Or "Excited to welcome Marcus to the team." Don't overthink it.
• A personal detail or two. What were they doing before? What gets them excited about this role? Weird hobby? Cool background? This is what makes each post feel different.
• A genuine compliment. Why are you pumped to work with them? What stood out during the interview? Be specific here.

Here's a loose template if you want a starting point:

"Meet [Name], our new [Role] at [Company]. Before joining us, [he/she/they] was [previous context]. What excited [him/her/them] most about joining? [Specific detail]. We're already impressed by [specific quality]. Welcome to the team!"

Why This Never Gets Old

Finding content formats that are repeatable without going stale is one of the hardest problems in content strategy. Teammate intros solve it naturally because every person is different. Every new hire, every promotion, every work anniversary -- it's a new story every time.

I've seen companies post these weekly and keep strong engagement for months. The subject changes every time, so nobody feels like they're seeing the same post twice.

And you can go way beyond new hires:

• Promotions and role changes. Celebrate someone stepping up.
• Work anniversaries. Throw up a photo from their first day versus now. People eat that up.
• Team events. Group photo from an offsite or team dinner.
• Behind-the-scenes moments. Someone presenting at all-hands, whiteboarding with the team, whatever.

If you're using a tool like TeamPost to schedule your LinkedIn content, you can batch these ahead of time. Every time someone joins or hits a milestone, draft the post and toss it in your queue.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Don't make it a press release. "We are thrilled to announce the strategic addition of..." -- absolutely not. Write like a person talking to other people.

Don't use a stock photo or overly produced image. The whole point is authenticity. If the photo looks like it belongs in a corporate brochure, you've missed it.

Don't forget to tag them. This gets your post in front of their network and lets them engage with it too.

Don't write a novel. Keep it to 100-200 words. The photo does most of the work. Let it.

Start This Week

Look, your next LinkedIn post doesn't need to be a deep industry analysis or a polished think piece. Grab a candid photo of someone on your team, write a few honest sentences about them, and hit publish.

You'll probably be surprised at what happens.

More on visual content: why raw photos and vertical video work so well on LinkedIn and why vertical video is LinkedIn's biggest opportunity right now.