If you want long-term success in the online space, your business needs to stop using stock photography. Uploading 100 million new photographs per day from real people, along with user-generated content is making it harder and harder for businesses to stand out online. So what's the alternative? Create social-specific content.
Why Stock Photography Will Sink Your Brand.
1. The quality of stock photos is often poor. This is because they are typically taken by amateurs or professionals who are not experienced in taking pictures for commercial use. As a result, your brand will suffer if you use stock photography instead of hiring a professional photographer to take high-quality pictures specifically for your brand. 2. Stock photos are often overused and can be found on many different websites and in many different marketing materials. As a result, using stock photography can make your brand look unoriginal and unimaginative. 3. Many people are able to recognize when a photo is a stock photo, which can again damage the perception of your brand. In some cases, people may even think that you are trying to deceive them by using a generic photo instead of showing them an actual picture of your product or service.
4. Build trust- In today’s digital world, it is important for businesses to build trust with their audience. One way to do this is by posting authentic and original content that gives people a taste of what your business is all about. Doing so can help create a connection with your potential customers and encourage them to learn more about your business.
Social-specific content should accomplish a few things;
evoke emotion | drive interaction | promote sharing | grab your attention
For example; the image on the left is an effective image asset. It evokes emotion; it immerses you in its scene, and it tells a story without examining the caption. The image on the right simply looks dull in comparison to its counterpart.
In today’s digital environment, you have less than 1 second to grab someone else attention. This means you need to be standing out and interesting beyond other people’s posts. According to a recent study by Sprout Social, Instagram receives over 4.2 billion likes per day! You don’t want your photos to blend into their feed. Your images must interest others long enough for them or it garners a pause in their scrolling, so they will check out the image fully.
Creating a strong brand is difficult. It's nothing that happens overnight. With creative content becoming ever more crucial for businesses to not only survive – but to thrive in the deafening noise of seven billion people wanting to be heard, that is where we come in. We combine strategy, data, and creativity to increase your conversions, and build brand love at every user interaction.
