To Stock or Not to Stock
As marketing professionals, we’ve all done it. With a deadline looming and in need of an image that conveys a certain message, we quickly open up a new tab, navigate to our favorite stock photo site, and start searching. It’s easy. It (occasionally) is fast. It seems cheap. But is this the right choice?
I know what you are already saying…”Jeff, you’re a photographer. OF COURSE you don’t want people to use stock images.” Sure, I would love it if everyone reading this were to hire me to create original visual content for them, but I am not “anti-stock.” A the end of this article I will even share a few important tips for using stock. Still, with the abundance of stock photo and video content readily available, I believe we all can get lazy and use these resources as our first choice instead of a safety net when there are no other alternatives. The consequences of this can at best be a lost audience, and at worst, a negative perception of your organization.
Stock Imagery: The Good
Stock assets are prevalent because there are benefits to them. You can use a free site and find quality images for most any need. Want better quality? Sign up for a subscription to a premium stock site, and you will have more and better options at your fingertips. Even if you go the premium route, there are subscription plans to fit most budgets.
In terms of quality, most reputable stock image sites offer quality photos. While this can vary, you will usually have enough choices to find a solid image fitting your needs. You may need to invest some time searching, but they are there. By the way, this seems an appropriate time to mention that a Google search is NOT a stock image site. Please be sure you have appropriate usage right before using any image.
Stock Imagery: The Not-So Good
The biggest problem with stock images is everyone has access to the same images. Your competitors. Organizations with opposing values. Do a web search for “Jennifer Anderson” and “everywhere girl” for but one example. At a conference a few years ago for church communications professionals, one attendee spoke to this subject. Their church had used some stock images for their “student” page on their website. Sadly, a local medical clinic used one of the exact same images on local billboards to raise awareness about venereal disease testing. Ouch.
Because of their lack of authenticity, stock photos are less effective than original content. Studies have repeatedly shown stock images are less engaging, lead to fewer sales, and are less effective in building trust with your audience. Which leads us to…
Stock Imagery: The Bad
The web is rife with scams. We all know that, and if you spend any amount of time surfing you have likely become at least somewhat adept at identifying scam websites. What’s the one thing they ALL have in common? Yep, stock images. *sigh* If your site is full of stock images, regardless of their quality, what impression are you conveying to your audience?
The amount of time it takes a human to develop a first impression is measured in milliseconds. According to CXL, “If the stock photo you’re using is at all similar to another website that created a negative experience for the visitor, they subconsciously project their negative experiences onto your stock photos, reducing trust and adding friction to the process.”
Stock Imagery: Options
There is plenty of good news regarding stock images. The best is you don’t have to use them! Talk to some local photographers. Look at their portfolios. Do their images have the general look and feel that you want? Just like any vendor partner, find someone you want to work with. The right fit is important.
Original photos don’t have to be a budget breaker. Once you’ve found someone you would like to hire for your project, talk with them about cost. Be honest about your budget and many photographers will be more than happy to work with you to find an option that’s a good fit for everyone involved. Don’t ask them to do the project for free to get exposure though. Exposure doesn’t pay bills. But I have bartered with clients by swapping services, I’ve worked out payment plans, and come up with other creative solutions to help my clients get what they need while I was fairly compensated.
If you absolutely cannot hire a professional, spend some time learning to take better images in-house. Today’s smartphones and beginner-level cameras are perfectly capable of creating high-quality images. Learn basic lighting fundamentals, understand composition basics, and know what your camera can and cannot do. Master a few basic skills with a photo editing app, and practice, practice, practice.
If you are going to use stock, be sure to have guidelines in place. The time necessary to create a branding guide or “style book” for your organization is well worth it. As the creative director for a local non-profit, I developed guidelines that allowed stock images when original options weren’t available, but not if they showed people’s faces. That was always a “hard no.” This allowed us to maintain a high level of authenticity and protected us against many of the common stock pitfalls. A branding guide also allows you to define the style of your images, so that when you do use stock, you have a greater chance of them looking at least similar to your original content.
Need some original imagery? I’d love to learn more about how I can help you.