The Right Way to Use Stock Photography for Social Media

Stock photography can be a godsend for creative business owners and social media mavens alike. It’s no secret that awesome websites like pexels.com and unsplash.com can ease the burden of social media management and content creation. But of course, with great power comes great responsibility and stock photography is not your panacea to fix a content draught.

Have I convinced you yet? Read below to learn the right way to use stock photography for social media.

Keep it less than 25% Yup, you read that right. Stock photography should take up 1/4 of your blog and a max 1/5 of your Instagram theme. Ideally, it’d be a loooot less than that. These are resources for you to use in a pinch, but they should not be your main source of content. You’re missing out on building authentic connections and credibility when you’re constantly posting impersonal material on your channels. Why would people follow you if you aren’t posting original content?
[bctt tweet=”You’re missing out on building authentic connections and credibility when you’re constantly posting impersonal material on your channels.” username=”sarahjuliia”]
Stick with Your Brand If you’re a flooring business with a strong customer relations emphasis in your social media strategy, a stock photo of a desk is not going to go over well. If you’re a food blogger or nutritionist, your channels are not going to want to makeup and flower flat-lay. In addition to brand tone, this also includes all visual elements of your brand! Don’t post pictures whose main accent color is not part of your visual theme.
Personalize It If you feel like you have to post more than one stock photo in a row, personalize it in some way. Add your logo, a cute quote, or something of the like. Posting the exact same content as other people isn’t going to help boost your business.
[bctt tweet=”Posting the exact same content as other people isn’t going to help boost your business.” username=”sarahjuliia”]
Make Sure It’s Licensed Correctly! This is a big no-no. Make extra sure that every photo has the correct license for your usage. This generally means looking for the words open source, public domain, or Creative Commons. Not only will using photos that you don’t have permission to use run you into legal trouble, it also takes away from another persons efforts and ability to do business.