Stock vs Original: Social Photo Content

Stock images… We all use them, especially for social photos. While nothing beats originality and authenticity, sometimes you just need great visuals to go with that social media post, blog, or newsletter; so for those instances where you need some free stock imagery.

Extra List of Best Stock Imagery Platforms

That’s why we’ve put together a list of what we consider an extra of the best social photo platforms out there right now, especially if you’re on a budget.

• Pexels
  Owned by Canva, Pexels has over 3.2 million photos and videos that you can use for your content. We like it because while its library may not be as massive as, say Shutterstock, as far as free stock imagery and video goes there is plenty to choose from.
• Vecteezy
  This platform has a ton of photos, vectors, and videos you can get for social content. We like their filters so you can search images by colour, age, subject, etc., and it has loads of stuff to pimp up your social photo game! Vecteezy also offers a pro-account option per month for unlimited access to millions of free stock imagery and video.
• Burst
  If you’ve got a Shopify store, then you are probably familiar with Burst, their free stock photo platform. Their image library includes thousands of high-resolution royalty-free stock imagery, without the need for attribution. We also like their ‘Business Idea’ pages – which are curated collections and case studies for new businesses and entrepreneurs.
• Unsplash
  As one of the most popular platforms, Unsplash has about 3 million curated photos from almost 300,000 photographers that you can use as your social photos. Lastly, a little bonus, especially for foodies and hospo businesses – yes, you can now have your free cake and post it too!
• Foodiesfeed
  This site is all things food when it comes to free stock imagery. You’ll find close to 2000 free high-resolution images you can use for your social photos. From burgers to bacon and eggs, prawns to pizza, if you can eat it, you can find it on Foodiesfeed!

Stock Imagery vs Original Imagery

We get it! When you’re under the pump or on a budget, stock imagery seems like a godsend when it comes to churning out your social media content, but it may not be the right or best strategy for your brand’s persona.

According to Referralrock.com, on a scale of 1-10: 

• The effectiveness for driving a purchase when using stock images is at 5.47, while original pics are at 8.98. 
• The effectiveness for communicating what a brand stands for when using stock images vs original images is 5.76, while original photos are almost double at 9.33.

The Negatives of Stock Imagery

While stock imagery has its advantages, it also has some major disadvantages: It can make you blend in and become indistinguishable from your competitors.

Consumers have gotten pretty good at discerning a stock image from an original one. Google also doesn’t love them when it comes to ranking your site since they don’t add or build anything for your brand’s personality.

So next time you go to search for that stock image for your content, stop and think if it’s the very best representation for your business.