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If a picture is worth a thousand words, is what you are saying worthwhile and well done? 

By September 1, 2021September 29th, 2021General, Insight
Custom Photography

If a picture is worth a thousand words, is what you are saying worthwhile and well done? 

Today, we throw our hat into the conversation about the value of professional photography versus stock images, and the positioning of our cap is clear. 

When creating or updating your website, it’s essential that you outfit your platform with bold, brilliant, and beautiful photos. Not only does the imagery on your website need to be attractive, but it must also be poignant. When choosing or creating visuals, their value is derived from how effective they are at reiterating the messaging your statements make.

More than just a pretty face, authentic photos can flex serious marketing muscles

Marketing is, in large part, about mustering up meaningful emotions. It’s about the best ways to persuade potential customers to convert into loyal, long-term evangelists of your brand. Photography is one of the fastest and most effective ways to drum up emotive excitement and catalyze conversions. This makes sense as people respond best to things that enter their brains through their peepers. As visual beings, we are able to interpret images faster and derive more meaning from them than words alone.

Stock photos are not all they’re chalked up to be: It takes genuine, original photography to set your marketing apart

We can understand the temptation to stock up on stock photos. Oftentimes, they are easily and cheaply accessible. Whether you have an ongoing membership with a stock imagery service or toe the line of potential plagiarism by snagging your photos from Google, stock images tend to be available at the click of a mouse, instead of that of a camera.

The investment of funds and the perceived time required of professional photography may compromise their desirability for some marketers. However, if you are serious about creating one-of-a-kind, highly conversional marketing materials, you need to fortify your brand narratives with great photos.

This is especially true as, despite all the filters, we truly live in the age of authenticity. People want to get to know brands like they would a personality, and that requires getting real with via human narratives and photography with a heartbeat.

More life, more clicks, more awesome: photography is a powerful marketing tool

 In addition to making your online platforms snazzier with snappy photos, real-life photography actually generates measurably better results than their stock alternatives:

  • Boost your click-throughs: when people see pictures they like, they are more likely to click to learn more and purchase
  • Empower consumers to feel like they more fully understand what is being offered: We assume what you are offering is unique, so how can you possibly use stock images to sufficiently show what products you are providing or experiences you are creating?
  • Make more positive impressions on viewers sooner – and that last longer: images trigger emotions and up to 65% of consumers will remember those emotions up to three days after encountering the right image
  • Rank better: search engines hate copycats, so stock images sink while original images soar (especially when marked up with strategic ALT text)
  • Create more opportunities for sharing: People are 40 times more likely to share an image than text alone

People are in a rush, and they are highly distracted. To make meaningful impressions, you need high-quality images that make big statements in short amounts of time. Reach out to our professional photography team today and learn how we can take care of all your photo needs and help you implement them strategically across your website, social platforms, and traditional marketing materials.

Put down the stock photos and pick up professional custom photography with CR Creative.