Stock or custom imagery? How to choose your visual content
Have you seen this image before?
With nearly 100 million views, chances are you’ve seen this image. Photo by Rodion Kutsaev on Unsplash
I’d be suprised if you hadn’t seen this image of a bright yellow wall with a woman walking past. At the time of this blog, the stats show it’s had 99,737,152 views and 893,527 downloads!
This photo was first published on Unsplash (a stock imagery website) in July 2015 so it’s been around a long time. It’s a striking image, yet it quickly lost impact when I saw it appearing on so many business marketing visuals. Now when I see it in use, I automatically get a cringe reaction. Yes it’s a bright, bold image, but is it relevant to your content?
A visual that doesn’t support your message will detract from your audience’s experience
When your content is supported by strong visual elements, it helps you and your business stand out. A thoughtfully selected visual will:
Grab your audience’s attention
Quickly make an emotional connection, and
Facilitate understanding by bridging the gap between concepts and words.
Audiences prefer custom imagery
Ideally you will be able to use custom brand-aligned images to support your content, but when time or budget constraints are a factor, there are a couple of tips that will make your images not appear like stock images.
1/ Customise your stock photos with an image editor
Example - I used Photoshop to change the wall from yellow to my brand blue, added my logo and used my brand font.
Note: check the license agreement of your chosen stock image allows editing.
2/ Use stock images as secondary
If you have a custom image, use this as your primary or hero image, supported by stock images.
3/ Select a stock image that hasn’t been overused
You can check the usage statistics on a stock image. Fantastic stock images are available, just be mindful when choosing stock that:
they are as relevant to your topic as possible.
they aren’t the most popular item in the search filter
Custom images perform better
When possible, use imagery unique to your brand. Investing in custom photos, illustrations or icons will reinforce the authenticity and professionalism of your communications.
