10 Tips to Nail Your Stock Imagery
If you’re a young brand without a big budget to spend on regular photoshoots or bespoke graphics, stock imagery can be a great, cost-effective resource to add imagery to your website, Insta feed and other marketing materials. Here are our top tips for how to go about curating your image bank and use them to elevate your brand.
1. Embrace the stock image
Stock images often get a bad rep. And it’s often justified (sometimes, extremely justified) for looking posed, corporate, cheesy, or generally bizarre. But here’s the thing: not all stock images were created equal. There are some fantastic visuals out there and they can be a great resource if you know where to look and what to look for. And when curated properly they can be a great, low-cost addition to your content, particularly if you don’t have the budget for regular photo shoots.
2. AVOID THE ‘STOCKY’ STOCK IMAGES
It goes without saying but give a wide berth to men in suits doing a thumbs up. Or women laughing at salad (or any inanimate object for that matter).
3. CHOOSE THE RIGHT SITEs
Where you look for stock photos depends on what type of imagery you’re after. For creative and contemporary imagery, our top pick is Stocksy.com. They have curated galleries, featured artists, and not a single woman-laughing-at-salad in sight. On a shoestring? Head to Unsplash or Pexels which are both free and have some good quality imagery. For more sites, check out our favourite stock image sites.
4. BE CONSISTENT
If you’re using stock imagery on your website or insta feed, make sure there’s a clear visual consistency to avoid the overall effect looking disjointed. Think about the composition, styling, lighting and overall image treatment and not just the subject of the actual photo.
5. THINK ABOUT YOUR BRAND IDENTITY
Consider the key characteristics of your brand and whether the visuals elevate those or not. Is your brand more clean or rustic? Warm or cold? Playful or serious? Do the images you’ve selected reinforce those attributes? Is there a shared visual language to the photos?
6. MAKE IT YOUR OWN
By adding a photo treatment in line with your branding you can instantly make stock images feel more branded. Even simple edits like zooming in, cropping, using a filter or adding a border can make the visuals feel more part of your brand.
7. GO ABSTRACT
Ultimately, it’s a bit of a lottery and the chances of finding a good quality image depends on the popularity of what you’re looking for. If you can’t find the specific search term you’re after, get creative and try some more abstract search terms.
8. KEEP DIVERSITY IN MIND
Make sure the images you select feature diverse models. Stock imagery is getting better at showing a variety of skin tones and body types but there’s still a long way to go.
9. CREATE YOUR OWN!
And finally, if you’re on a budget or can’t find what you want, consider taking your own! It can be easier than it sounds. Next time you’re taking team photos (headshots for the website perhaps), think of simple poses you can get your colleagues to do that might be useful for your next promo image. Simple things like using a phone, pointing in different directions, checking your watch, or even just a range of facial expressions could be used to communicate your next marketing message.