Not trying to be dramatic but…

Stock photos. They are the bane of my existence… I see the same Asian woman around town almost daily… on banners at the gym, driving home past the dentist’s office, and at the local supermarket while I’m checking out.

As I’m sitting there, I think – “Didn’t somebody notice these before they used the EXACT same model, let alone the EXACT same image to use?”

The sad truth is with most content produced by business owners is that they don’t put much planning into what they are creating and they generally go for the quickest, easiest, option.  I get it… I’m a business owner…So stock photos it is!

If you can’t tell, this is a satirical rant blog – so hopefully no harm, no foul.

I’m the owner here at Forge Marketing, so this is strictly my opinion (don’t want anyone else at Forge to catch flack.)

So without further ado, here are Kyle’s 3 reasons he hates stock photography.

1. Overused.

Designed content is pretty difficult to create. I know. I’ve been a digital marketer for 5 years and during that time, I’ve had to create 1,000’s of pieces of content. So, where do we turn?  To the seemingly unending halls of content provided by adobe stock, shutterstock, and free stock photo sites like pixabay.

You’re searching and searching…sorting through useless or random images until you find it. The one. The image that is going to make your business “POP!” You throw down $9.99 (or nothing) and it’s off to print, upload, and use. And then over the next few weeks, you see it, you’re awesome image… used by your competitor. It throws you back to that horrible day in 7th grade when you and your older sister wore the same shirt to school.

The thing is – most stock images that are GOOD are at majorly overused. They usually recommend their top performing stock photos on their website which means of the thousands, if not millions of people who visit these sites, all see the same images when they type in keywords.

So, odds are if you are using this guy in a photo… he’s being used pretty much everywhere.

Your business is unique. You want to tell people about it… and you should! You sell this amazing product or service that is helping change the way people do things. So when you go out and throw down a stock photo it really does not do justice for your brand.

Own a crazy cool Yuzu Beverage company that just came to America from Japan? (that’s one of our clients…) Don’t post a stock picture of friends sitting around drinking soda thinking it works and tells your brand story. People want to see YOUR product and YOUR service.

If you’re ever looking at a company and all of their content looks pretty generic, well that’s because it’s stock photos. Our attention as consumers is drawn to real, interesting, visuals and stock photos rarely stick out. (And if they do, odds are you’re dealing with section 1… go re-read it you rebel.

3. Expensive

Okay, okay… there are a bunch of free stock photography sites… like pixabay, pexels, istockphoto, etc…

BUT!

The type of photography they provide is usually what is considered “B” footage images. Things you would generally use as a background and then have other elements designed over it.

Most stock photos that have a subject in the image, such as a good shot of a person will be paid stock photography. And many of them are REALLY overpriced. And legally speaking, you generally have to buy a license that only gives you limited use of that image. Buying an unlimited use license for a high-end commercial stock photo can cost hundreds, if not thousands. 👇

IN CLOSING… 

You’re probably thinking – well, it’s expensive to hire a graphic designer, and if it’s expensive to buy stock… what do I do?

Here’s my answer: If you have a smartphone, odds are you have a high quality camera, right there. Spend a little time, and put together a “shot list” of subjects or items you need pictures of. Here’s a tip: Use real people! Round up friends and family to represent your brand, it sure looks a lot more interesting than the same woman you’ve seen around town in every ad.

And that’s it. Hope you laughed, maybe cried – and here’s a link to another hilarious blog on terrible stock photos by BuzzFeed: https://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/unexplainable-stock-photos