Coming from the wedding industry, it’s often frowned upon for a business to use stock photography as it’s seen as showcasing work that you were not involved in producing.  However, in the wider entrepreneurial world that I get to spend my time in, it’s very different and actually the use of stock images can be very helpful in your marketing and general business.  I’ve previously shared the trends I’m seeing in stock photography, and today I’m going to share how I think you can successfully use stock images…

 

 

Stock images can be used for social media

There are a few ways that stock images can be helpful when it comes to finding things to post on social media…  You can use lifestyle based ones to show what you might be up to at the weekend, I mean who has the time really to take a instagram shot of your waffles or pancakes, you want to be just diving straight in, so a stock image will save you the trouble!

If you share quotes or testimonials, a stock image could make a really lovely backdrop for those words, adding a bit of interest rather than just being plain text.  They can also act as background images for headers for things like facebook groups, pages, etc.

And do you see those accounts celebrating the start of a new month, they’re often stock images as well.

 

They’re great when you’re launching something new

If you’re launching a new service or course, then like above for social media, you can use them to overlay text on.  But you can also get “mock up” stock images where you have a curated scene with perhaps a laptop, mobile phone or book, where you would then add a screenshot of your sales page, a sneak peek into course or membership content or even if you’re launching your new website – a look at what the home page may look like.

 

 

On your website

Stock images are great for adding interest to your website, where your face (and products) aren’t needed, for instance as part of your contact page, to brighten up a services page – note, if you’re selling products then always use images of your products so as to not confuse the viewer and your potential customers.

 

For your branded collateral

This one is a bit of a catch all, but stock images can be great in things like e-books, opt ins, sales pages, brochures, email signatures.  Anywhere that doesn’t need an image of you or your product!

 

A word of caution…

When using stock images there are a couple of things I want you to take note of… Firstly, make sure that the images you are using have a licence that includes whatever you are planning on using them for.  For instance, some commercial licences don’t allow you to use them in an e-book that you’re then selling (ours do).  Secondly, make sure that the images you are choosing are cohesive with the rest of your brand, both from a content but also from how the image is edited – if you have a light and bright aesthetic to your brand, you want stock images (like ours!) that match, rather than dark and moody edited images, and vice-versa.

 

Until next time,

Amanda x

 

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Are you looking for stock images that have a real lifestyle feel to them?

Then I’d love for you to check out the Stock Photography Shop, there are new images being added every season, so bookmark the site and pop back from time to time.

 

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