USING STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY IN YOUR BRAND MARKETING

So many choices.

We all know that there are TONS of websites that sell stock photographs of almost anything you can dream up. 

Need an awesome picture of a sunflower field? Done. 

Need a photo of a professional woman answering a phone? Done.

Need a photo of a clown balancing on a tightrope over NYC? Done.

While it's possible to find all of these images quickly and easily sometimes stock photos just aren't the right option...and sometimes they are (I'm looking at you clown). 

When is it ok to use stock photos?

Our general rule is that stock photos are fine if you are pairing them with generic, non subject specific text. For instance, that photo on the the left side of the screen is a stock photo. We use them for our general information pages simply because we have a LOT of pages with info that isn't specific to the image.

We also think that if your options are a stock image or a tiny-grainy-10 year old cell phone photo that the stock photo is the only logical choice. This is ESPECIALLY true for print projects. That 10 year old cell phone photo is going to look even worse printed than it does on your computer screen, trust us. 

When should you not use stock photos?

The answer to this is pretty common sense.

First, don't use stock photos on your about page or when referring to your own staff. Even a quick cell phone pic is better than a stock photo is this case (we're talking about a current pic, not one that's 10 years old - see above). Whip out that iPhone and snap a quick pic of Marsha sitting at her desk with a smile on her face - it gives your audience something real to connect to.

Let's talk about your product images for a second. If you run an e-commerce site you should NOT use stock photos. Use photos of items that you sell. If you have ever tried to shop online and found a shirt that you LOVE on the home page and then were unable to find it listed for sale then you will understand why it's so important to use your own photos on your online store. 

Build a connection with your audience.

The point of using images on your website or marketing materials is not purely aesthetic. You are using images to convey your message and connect with your audience. When you're choosing the images that you want to use keep that in mind. Ask yourself "If I saw this photo would it make me feel connected to my company or would I feel indifferent about it?" If your answer is indifferent, consider choosing a different photo.

We hope that this short article will help you make an informed decision about stock photographs on your website and marketing materials. If you have any questions about your marketing materials we'd be happy to chat with you.

Marketing that works.
We're your marketing people.

Request Your Free Website & Branding Evaluation
Enhancing Local Search Rankings through Reviews

Enhancing Local Search Rankings through Reviews

By Chase Jacobs • January 15, 2023
Reviews are a secret weapon for local businesses.
A poster that says business greeting cards on it

Business Greeting Cards - How to Use Business Greeting Cards to Strengthen Customer Relationships

By Chase Jacobs • June 15, 2022
Business greeting cards are a very cost-effective marketing tool that small businesses can use to strengthen customer relationships. Business greeting cards come in various formats, from e-cards to SMS cards, you can send them to customers and prospects on occasions like birthdays and anniversaries, congratulate them after a major achievement, or simply to thank them for their business. Here's a blog post from one of my partners about business greeting cards that I found to be a great read so I wanted to share it with you. Enjoy!
Which website is best for a business?

Which Website Is Best For A Business?

April 17, 2022
This is a popular question that we get a lot. What type of website should I use for my business? Should I build a website myself? Can’t I just let my sisters’ boyfriends nephew build it? He seems like he’s good at computers? My friend is telling me to make a WordPress / Wix / Squarespace website because it’s so easy to build yourself. These are just some things we hear regularly. Let’s dig into these. “My friend is telling me to make a WordPress / Wix / Squarespace website because it’s so easy to build yourself.” I had an initial consultation with a new client last week. She reached out to us about building an e-commerce website for her business. During our meeting, it came up that for the last year she had been trying to work on building the website herself via Shopify, but could never get it to look how she wanted it to look. She said that she had spent hours searching for instructional videos on YouTube on how to do this thing or that, only to find that more often than not, she found something else had broken because of following the steps she was told to take. She told me how frustrating the entire process has been and how she can’t even guess how many hours and hours that she’s wasted trying to figure it out. Shopify, WordPress, Wix, Squarespace and these other are easy once you’ve put in the time to become familiar with them and how they work. After only a short time of using them, you should have no problem figuring out how to add a photo, text box, links, etc to your budding new website. That being said, while these tools are easy to start, they can be much more difficult to master. Learning the more onerous tasks can be quite frustrating when attempting to learn via trial and error. Can you figure it out? Of course you can. Anything is possible if you devote the required time and attention to it. Also, how long is this whole learning and development process going to take? 40 hours? 80 hours? How many hours a week are you prepared to dedicate to researching and learning how to build your website? Ok, it’s done! All of your hard work paid off and your business’s new website is live for the public to access. Does it represent your business in the professional way that it needs to be presented? Does it work well on smart phones? Do visitors feel encouraged to take the next step in your buyer’s funnel, or are they backing out of your site and heading to your competitors? For most business owners, the tiny amount they save by building their new site themselves pales when compared to the time savings, ease of development, professional final product and increased customer conversions that they get when they choose to work with a professional website developer like us. So which website is best for a business? The one that pays for itself time and time again because it looks great, works great and helps guide your visitors into becoming paying customers. Schedule a call with us today to discuss how we can help your business with a new website, social media management, SEO and other marketing services.