Imagine your client base who haven’t heard much from your company over the last year. Some of them may be wondering what you’re up to, while others might have even forgotten about you.
So what’s a great way to emerge out of the pandemic and let your audience know that you’re open and ready for business? How about some custom stock photos that reminds them of your presence and puts you top of mind! Having an updated set of images is a great way to build anticipation and make people look forward to working with you again. And it’s something that’s still doable as we’re socially distancing amid the pandemic. You’ll immediately stand out from your competitors who are still seemingly lying dormant waiting for the best time to start promoting themselves.
And even better, you can use these photos to tell your story and give an update on how things are going with your business. People connect with familiar faces so when they see that you are taking the time and effort to promote yourselves, it lets them know you’re ready to go full throttle and making a strong push with your services.
No doubt, you’ll make a lasting impression with your customers when they see updated images of your business running smoothly. But what else can custom stock offer? Let’s go over everything you need to know so you can comfortably decide whether now is a great time to invest in these assets.
What is Custom Stock?
So you need a new image for your website but the only ones available are just some generic ones you find in online inventories. The problem with those are that it doesn’t look like it’s from your company, doesn’t represent your mission and values, and seems like an image your competitors might even be using!
Instead of browsing through hundreds of these generic stock photos and purchasing them, you can instead opt for custom stock photos that are original to your business and can be used for any of your marketing needs. With custom stock photography, a professional photographer will take images that can only be used for you and your business.
It’s a perfect way to visually create a brand that fits your mission, aesthetics, and style. And the end result is: the custom photos will perform better because they resonate more with your potential customers.
As long as you have a vision of how you want your brand to be perceived, you can use custom stock to build your brand story visually.
Benefits of Custom Stock
Unique, Original, and High-Quality Photos
The most obvious benefit is that these photos will be exclusive to you so no one else will be able to use them. Moreover, a hired photographer can capture the style, environment, and situations that are specific to your company. So you have the freedom and flexibility to decide the message you want to send and the vision you want. Having high-quality images to represent your brand immediately elevates it because your customers know you have invested in your image. And showing real people in familiar environments/situations are extremely powerful in shifting perceptions about your brand.
Avoids Disconnect with General Stock Images
It seems so much easier to just get images from a stock inventory like Shutterstock or your web hosting platform. But these sometimes seem soulless and vacuous because there’s just no connection to them. It’s like a restaurant that puts images of another restaurant’s food on their menu – when you look at it, something just seems off. But hiring a photographer to get images specific to your company will instantly connect with your audience because they capture its most important aspects and more accurately represents who you are to them.
Impress Your Potential Customers
When they see that the people and environment in your images actually fit your business and brand, they know you’re legitimate. It adds that extra level of professionalism that you have really invested in your business. Also, featuring your own staff can really humanize your brand since people like to connect with other people. When they actually see your staff in mode at your business, it will immediately give off a positive perception. Seeing recognizable faces emits authenticity, and people trust authenticity.
Brand Consistency Across Marketing Channels
Another useful benefit of stock images is that you’ll have a consistent style of images across all of your marketing channels. Your business needs its own royalty-free image library of high-quality custom stock photos that you can use anytime, anywhere. And custom stock is the perfect way to be versatile in choosing what goes on your marketing materials that the world will see.
Builds Internal Employee Efficacy
When you invest in your employees by showing them off and that you’re proud of them, they will appreciate it and feel seen. Having professional images of your staff can also increase their confidence in the company – who wouldn’t feel more trust and loyalty when you’re officially a part of the brand image?
Great For Media and PR
Lastly, when you get some media attention, which photo are you going to use for that hero image? You don’t want them to use a generic stock photo. You want a highly-selected professional photo that gives off the message and perception you want others to see. And it actually turns out that if you have unique high-quality photos of your company and products, you’re more likely to be selected for media outlets like articles, blogs, newspapers, magazines, and even television! Overall, it will increase the public interest in your company.
Uses Of Custom Stock
We talked about some of the uses of custom stock, but they really are endless in terms of personal, editorial, web, and commercial use.
You can build a library of assets for your social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and more. They can go on your landing pages for websites, email campaigns, reassembled into ads, blogs, print materials and so much more that can draw in your audiences.
Final Words
With all of the potential options for custom stock, we’re hoping you feel the urge to get the best out of your photos with a personalized photographer for your company. If you’re ready to talk about what you’re envisioning, contact us to schedule a free consultation!
