Should You Use Stock Photos For Your Business?
Using stock photography was popular 15-20 years ago. When the web was new(ish) it was a cheap way to get professional looking images on your website. Now, it’s just a bad idea.
What Are Stock Photos?
Stock photos are staged generic photos sold online for use on websites or marketing material. Typically they are beautiful business people smiling in suits, climbing ladders, shaking hands, walking tightropes.
There is also more cheesy stuff like punching through a graph, bursting out of a box, and such. They have become so cliche, that they don’t convey any message or add value to your site.
Advantages Of Stock Photos
They’re cheap. Licenses vary but for websites you would pay between $20-40 per photo you use. There are also free stock sites, and of course some people just steal photos anywhere they see online and use it.
Well the last one isn’t cheap, because when caught, you’ll be liable for thousands in punitive damages.
What’s wrong with using stock?
Google has done studies on stock photos. They found the images were immediately recognised by viewers, and ignored, as if they weren’t there. So basically they are wasted screen real estate.
They have fallen out of favor in Australia, but are still popular across the Pacific. So you’ll find most of these shots have elements in them that just don’t quite fit right for a Sydney based business. You can just feel it’s not local.
American Actors
Most stock comes from or is aimed at the USA. So any people you see, they have a distinct American feel to them. It becomes unrelatable. Not enough to say the photo is wrong, but enough to instill uneasiness in your viewer.
The viewer won’t know exactly why they feel this way. This uneasiness translates to distrust, and it’s attributed to your business, not the stock photo. So now you’ve just made your audience feel like they don’t like you.
Alternatives To Stock Photos
One alternative is custom stock photos. It was kind of a band-aid solution used a decade ago, but still had the same problems.
It was still a poor substitute for custom photography. A cliche shot does not connect with your viewer or give your business a human touch. It makes your business cold and uninviting. In fact research shows that simply replacing a stock photo with a real one increases conversions on that page by 35-45%.
This is where Sydney corporate photographers help by learning about your business and crafting effective imagery which promotes your business.
We can come to your office and help you create lifestyle/business action photographs that show what you do. We help you craft the story of your brand. It’s an easy effortless session where you feel completely natural.
By replacing an actor with the real you in your office environment, customers gain an immediate trust in you. Firstly they know you exist. They see you are friendly and competent, they see you have a real office and aren’t operating from your kitchen. Most importantly, it shows you care.
Build Trust With Lifestyle/Business Action Photographs
Every photograph on your website should be building trust and selling your brand. Business Action photography gives you the energy shown in a stock image but using your real staff.
By seeing others interact with you, viewers get a feel of what it’s like to be your client. Seeing your other happy clients is a subliminal testimonial to your services. It may be that little push that is the difference between filling in the contact form and going to the next link in Google.
Executive Images has helped many businesses create photographs that look better than stock photos and actually help grow your brand image. Contact us now for a free image health check and let us help you connect with your ideal clients.
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