At the time of building a website, it is important to only select components that will positively impact your brand and support the objectives of the website. It especially holds true when it comes to choosing the right images for the website. It is important to understand and acknowledge the worth of custom photography and its positive impact on the brand. Some people might argue that custom photography is very costly as compared to stock images, but in reality, the initial higher cost is totally worth the investment in the long run. Here are some key reasons why custom photography is preferable over using stock images.
1. Clash of visions
No matter how professional the stock photo, it will always reflect someone else’s vision. The interpretation of the idea, concept, and emotion that you wish to convey will always differ from others. A picture is worth a 1000 words, but those words need to be yours. With custom photography, you have control over what thoughts and emotions your website conveys.
From a marketing perspective, that provides a great advantage. It is important to connect with prospective buyers on an emotional level. Whether it is a personal purchase decision or one for business, emotions and feelings always have an impact on decisions. Emotions drive people to take decisions, and that’s why you need to convey your emotions and vision through your pictures. If you use stock photos, your vision may be misinterpreted, and you may never strike where you wish to.
2. It weakens your brand’s authenticity
An authentic brand is one that presents itself with honesty and transparency. When visitors interact with your brand, through your website, they must feel as if they are interacting with a human. Authentic brands are relatable, trustworthy, and thus successful. According to a study, 83 percent of consumers surveyed said that trust drives their loyalty to a brand.
Using stock photography is easy, but putting up actual photos of your business or employees will strengthen your connection with your visitors. Opting for meaningless stock photos showcase a very gloomy and dicy brand image. It runs you into a risk of losing out on customers. Instead of stock images, make choices for your visual content that will cultivate a deeper relationship with your clients and customers. Professional, well-lit photos of your real employees doing their real jobs will carry more value and build more trust than yet another stock photo.
3. Short-term cost vs long-term cost
It’s an obvious fact that hiring a professional photographer will incur larger initial costs than using stock photos. Plus, there are additional expenses involved like hiring professionals, arranging the equipment, or outsourcing the entire project to shoot. But, stock images also come with additional costs other than the licensing fee, which by the way are also very high.
The recurring loyalty charges can be quite high depending on the quality of the image and how often you want to use it. Additionally, there’s also the time costs – it’s a tiresome job to look through hundreds and thousands of photos to find the “perfect photos” for your website.
When you use custom photography, you create your personal library of images that you own. These images can be used in the future without any cost being involved. With stock photography, there are often limitations on how you can use the image and for how long.
4. Similar photos can create confusion
Imagine the same lady posing as a customer support executive on hundreds of websites, under the contact us or support section. Even if not on hundreds of websites, there’s always a possibility that your competitor and you like the same stock photo. Or you both choose the same stock art to create your logos. The customers may get confused and that’s not good for your customers.
The confusion can make people refer to a competitor’s brand to their friends and families. This can blindly divert your business. Losing customers is bad news. But, it’s especially painful to lose customers to such an easily avoided misstep. That’s not all, what if your competitor does something unethical and his or her reputation takes a hit, your reputation might be impacted as well.
That’s why it’s a good practice to use customized photos for artwork. A unique logo and authentic photos of your products, services, and employees help you stand out from the competition.
5. Copyright issues
We have saved the most dangerous con for the last. Lawsuits are tricky and can get you in some serious trouble. And, they are costly too. So, if your goal is to save money by using stock art, be aware of the possible legal dangers. Stock art can end up costing way more than real images, once you fall into a legal trap.
You can’t trademark most images that include stock art. Attempting to do so could get you in trouble. And, stock art licenses include more potential pitfalls than just trademark issues. You open yourself up to litigation if you violate the specific terms of use for the stock art you purchase. Worse than that, copyright law is no-fault.
Read More About Web Designing With Type On Image
Therefore, instead of stock art, hire a professional photographer to take original pictures for your business. And, hire professional graphic designers to create a logo and visual assets for your brand. If that sounds way too much for you, hire a professional company to do everything for you. Have a word with our experts and learn more.
