A Picture (Even Stock) is Worth a Thousand Words
Stock photos are crucial when you’re lacking professional photography for a brand. We’ve all heard that “a picture is worth a thousand photos,” but not every brand has time to get quality photos ready in time for things like a website launch. Images are digested easier than text by viewers and substantially impact how your brand is perceived. Yes, even stock photos can help create some positive opinions about your company.
In recent years, many stock photo sites require a membership or a high price to use their products because they understand how valuable images can be. Don’t fret! We’re here to provide you with some FREE high-quality solutions to your picture problems.
How to Pick Stock Photos for Your Brand
Before we get started, we wanted to provide some tips we give our team when selecting stock photos for our clients.
- Photography Style – It is essential to select something that matches your brand’s future photos. Typically, you can notice when things look too perfect and appear completely fake or stages, which are options you will want to avoid.
- Representation/Relatability – Make sure your stock images properly represent your audience, and search for photos with individuals who look and act like your customer. Most people can sniff out real from stock, especially when the demographic doesn’t match, so take your time selecting the right ones.
- Photo Surrounding – Be sure to review every inch of the photo for anything that might not align with your brand. Some images may include items in different languages, which could be misleading.
Agency-Approved Free Stock Photo Websites
Here are four of our favorite free stock photo websites:
Pexels provides royalty-free images and videos. The creators themselves upload their catalog and have a wide range of styles to select. We like that there isn’t a cliche “cheesiness” to their images; they feel more original, which is vital in selecting stock photos.
Flickr Commons has a partnership with The Library of Congress. Because of this, their photos are in the public domain and therefore are FREE to use! The site has an excellent filtration system where you can curate based on age, orientation, color palette, etc.
The Pic Pac has sets of different photos that you “can do whatever you want with.” All the images are in the same “film” style and look very high-end. There is an option to pay, but it is not required.
Dealjumbo has a wide variety of freebies, from design and product mock-ups to fonts and photography. The photography portion of the site has an emphasis on texture and landscapes. Similar to The Pic Pac, the photos come in sets rather than individually.
At Strat Labs, we help brands regularly discover their personality, voice, image, and much more. We hope this has helped provide your team with more accessible and FREE resources to get your brand content looking as professional and modern as possible. We would love to connect with you if your brand needs a digital media expert to help better express your brand’s image.