FIVE JUSTIFICATIONS TO STOP USING STOCK PHOTOS
July 8, 2018, by ELPriceLLc
It’s easy to access stock photos for your website and social media pages. Just plug in the right search terms (i.e., business handshake) and watch an array of photo options appear. An easy-to-get photo is rarely the better option. The right images can set your business apart from the competition, mean more money, better clients, and a stronger reputation. Here are five justifications for why it’s time to stop using all-encompassing stock photos that not customized for your business.
- Inconsistent Branding
How do you want to be perceived? Branding matters. Your photos are a vital part of your brand. And a stock photography service does not consider your branding goals. In fact, their specialty is creating completely all-encompassing photos that anyone can use. Almost by definition, the images will not be memorable. Worse still, they may actively undermine other branding efforts. Consider how stock photos that present middle-aged white males might harm the marketing efforts of a corporation that prides itself on diversity. Photos show potential clients who you are. Be sure the message they convey is accurate.
- Stock Photo Licensing Issues
Stock photos come with licensing restrictions. How you use the images, and how popular your website is, you could run mistakenly of these licensing restrictions. For instance, some stock photography houses limit pictures to 100, thousand viewers or a small number of viewers. Using a stock photo on your website and in a press release, you could quickly run over this restriction if something you write goes viral. When you hire professional photographer Ernest Price, you’ll know exactly how to use the photos.
- Branding Clichès
Stock photos are all-encompassing on purpose, make the images that are a sweeping statement to a broad audience. But when you’re marketing, you don’t want clichès photos. You want images that are interesting, unique, and that won’t make the potential client look elsewhere. Skilled photographers work with their clients to create pictures that tell a story that sets the brand apart.
- Inaccurate Firm Marketing
Elizabeth Buffum Chace Center – Serving individuals and families
Stock photos almost inevitably convey inaccurate information about your firm, your brand. They’re designed to look corporate and friendly, but they tell nothing about your firm’s story. At best, they create an all-encompassing image and prevent you from standing out—at worst, they say an inaccurate message about your firm, brand or the non-profit.
Potential clients are looking to your website for an accurate and deep intuitive understanding of your practice, service. Stock photos that don’t reflect your team members do not tell a truthful story—they do not reflect the people, processes, and values that make up your firm, brand or the non-profit. As a result, stock photography may draw in people who aren’t interested in what sets your brand apart. Professional custom photography sends a clear and specific message about your target client. This screens out people you don’t want to work with, and instantly attracts the attention of clients who are seeking a firm, brand or the non-profit precisely like yours.
5 Standing Apart from the Competition
Stock photography has a particular look. Knowledgeable clients can quickly detect it. Even if your client doesn’t know you’re using stock photography, they may have seen the images elsewhere. So when they look at stock photos on your website, you begin to blend in with your competitors. The nuances of your brand—how you work together as a team, your diversity, the personality of each team member— just don’t come through in stock photography because stock photos aren’t of you. Clients remember remarkable images that convey commitment and compassion. That’s what your firm, brand or the non-profit deserves.
Seeing is Believing
If you made an appointment with an accountant, you’d want to meet with the accountant, not a representative speaking on behalf of the accountant, a similar principle holds true for stock photography. Potential clients don’t want to see generic people who represent your brand. They want to look at the non-profit, your firm, brand. When clients see photos they’ve previously viewed elsewhere, it can make you seem less honest. After all, you’re using pictures of someone else, not of your firm, brand or the non-profit. Clients trust brands when they can look them in the eye and evaluate their personality. That is true even when they’re viewing a photograph. Don’t miss this priceless opportunity to develop client trust. You only get one chance at a first impression.
The ELPriceLLc Photography and Video Production Difference.
We understand that every firm, brand, and non-profit is different. There’s no such thing as an all-encompassing lawyer or law firm.
ELPriceLLc Photography and Video Production work with you to understand what sets your brand apart, then appreciate it in professional custom photography that tells your story.
Call us today @401 500 3151, and let’s get started on a project that can take your firm, brand, and non-profit to the next level.