How To Pick The Right Stock Photos
“That looks like a stock photo.”
No one has ever said this as a compliment.
If time or money is an obstacle, stock photos can be welcome additions to your site and social media… assuming you pick the right ones. The tightrope you walk is that they must look and feel authentic without actually being authentic.
And because your brand is the foundation of your business, photo selection should not be taken lightly.
Here are seven recommendations that will keep you on the right track.
1. Look For Closeups
Closeups are often better than the alternative. They provide more focus on whatever it is you want to showcase and you eliminate anything in the background that may not gel with your brand. In addition, photos with a slight blur of the background can make objects, people, or places pop.
Pro Tip: Stock images can be expensive so make sure you have the perfect image for the placement by downloading a comp or preview image first. It will have a small watermark, but you can add it to your marketing material or website first and see if it looks right before buying.
2. Keep Digging Deeper
If you fall in love with an image on page one, so have dozens of other people. These sites prioritize the popular images. To stand out, sometimes you need to dig deeper. It can also be helpful to experiment with different search phrases. Choosing the low-hanging fruit is a great way to blend in.
3. Match Your Geography
If your company focuses on a specific city or region, keep the geography in mind. Here in Indiana, you’ll be hard-pressed to find mountains and palm trees. Hoosiers won’t view those types of images as authentic. If you can’t see something outside your window, don’t include it in your photos.
4. Become A Mirror
Your audience should be able to see themselves in your photo. Otherwise, they may not relate and choose to look somewhere else. If your target market is basically everyone, show everyone. Limiting your photos to specific ages, races, or genders isn’t helpful. If you target a more niche audience, such as young mothers, make sure your photos capture that mom life.
Pro Tip: Use filtering capabilities to refine your search by age, race, gender, and even down to the orientation of the photo. This will help narrow down your search.
5. Do Your Research
Before selecting your photos, do yourself a favor and research competitors. Click around their website. Scroll through social media. Glance through marketing collateral. The last thing you want is to promote your company as unique and different while also looking like everyone else. If your competition is using a specific stock photo, delete it from your list.
6. Skip The Props
Props in stock photos often break the realism. The financial industry is a common culprit. If you type “mortgage” into a photo site, you’ll be bombarded with images featuring cutesy toy houses. These options may scream mortgage, but they don’t scream authentic. Remember, photos don’t need to tell the full story. Your copy will add context and depth.
7. Look For Cohesion
Finally, keep in mind that each photo is not a one-off. They’re all part of a whole. You want them to look like they go together. Once you’ve selected enough images, put them all in a folder. Next, look through them one after another. Do they belong together? What are the common threads? Get rid of any that feel like outliers.
Pro Tip: If you find a photo you love, most stock sites will include links to see other photos by the same artist, with the same model, or even in the same series of photos. This can be a great way to build a cohesive library.
Picking the right photos can and will take time. To help get started, here are a few sites that offer free, quality stock images.
If you want help uncovering and defining your brand, contact us today. Our brand workshops go beyond the surface level to identify both who you are now and who you want to be.