Looking around at different ad campaigns, email marketing, and website design of your competitors, it may be pretty easy to spot “fake” stock photos over genuine, candid shots of real people who are part of the company. But what’s the harm in using stock photos when they’re fast, cheap, and easy to access? Here’s a look at the difference between stock photos and real photos, and the harm that stock photos can do to your overall digital brand strategy:
What is the difference?
The main problem with stock photos is that there is an artificial quality to them that is very easy for a consumer to spot. Whether it’s the perfect lighting, fake smiles plastered across faces, or the stiff poses that don’t seem natural to anyone who has ever worked in an office before, the use of stock photos can be jarring. If your digital brand strategy includes marketing your company as genuine, trustworthy, real, warm, and friendly, you aren’t going to achieve any of that by using stock photos.
Real photos of real people in your company doing real things will go a lot farther towards establishing trust and relatability among your customers. Consumers who recognize stock photos as ones they’ve seen before in your competitor’s marketing materials aren’t going to understand why they should choose you over that competitor. In fact, using the same stock photos as others in the industry can actively harm your overall digital brand strategy.
Personality and Branding are Key
Real photos help establish and build your unique brand story. If you want customers to connect with your company emotionally and develop a bond that drives them to choose you over other companies, you should strive for authenticity, reality, and distinctiveness. Stock photos will definitely not help you achieve that!
Can’t I Just Take the Photos Myself?
I mean, technically, you can! You have a smartphone, and you know how to use it! However, many companies don’t have the time to take hundreds of carefully planned shots, edit them to align with the company’s branding, and integrate them seamlessly into their web design, marketing materials, and other branded items. That’s why they turn to stock photos in the first place! But hiring a professional photographer offers you a great return on your investment. Hiring a professional means that you get carefully curated, perfectly shot photos of precisely what you need, without having to spend the time, money, and stress of figuring it out yourself.
If your company needs professional, curated, and unique photos for your digital brand strategy portfolio, our design team at Anchor Wave can help. We create and use images unique to each client so that the customer has a branded, authentic experience. Our professional photography is designed and cultivated to show off the client’s distinct culture and impact in the community, which is rarely achieved through stock photography. To learn more about how we can help you develop your unique branding through custom photography, just schedule an initial consultation with us today, or request a quote, by calling us at (520) 622-3731 or contacting us online.
