Stock shots versus a real photographer

This is a guest blog by Bryony Thomas, Chief Clear Thinker at Clear Thought Consulting. Bryony works specifically with smaller businesses who need to make the most of their marketing budgets. With this in mind, we asked her to talk through when and why to use stock or bespoke photography in marketing materials.

In any business that wants to turn a profit, every penny counts. And, in small business marketing, cost control is a core skill. So, it’s easy to understand why people often choose stock photography over commissioning a photographer. So, what’s the difference, and when should you use which?

This is a trade off between three key criteria:

1. Impact – does your photography stand out and can you get exactly what you want?

2. Time – how quickly do you need the shot?

3. Money – the total costs of the shot and how much you’re going to use it.

Stock photography has been shot by a photographer and then sold to, or via, a stock library (like Getty Images or iStock). When you want to use an image, you licence it. You can either go for a simple licence that lets you use it, but not exclusively, or for an extended licence which means that there are some restrictions on what other companies can do with it. I’m not a lawyer, and I’m going to steer away from giving legal advice, except to say that you need to really understand the rights of use that you have with the image in question. Most stock photography is bought under a very simple licence that just means you can use it… and so can anyone else who pays the fee. Amongst other differences, this is one of the real biggies. You could create an ad, spend loads of money buying space, or emblazoning it on the side of a bus – only to find another company using the exact same shot. This can cause confusion in the market, and could mean that your customers associate your ads with their company. You can buy an exclusive licence for stock shots, but if you do it often outweighs any savings.

A real life photo shoot commissioned and paid for by you will usually include either an exclusive perpetual usage licence or all-out ownership of the copyright. Which means that you can be sure that it won’t turn up on the stand next to you at your next event – which would certainly be embarrassing.

So, that’s the biggie, now for a few nuances. Not exhaustive by any means, but I’m sure you’ll get the idea.

Stock shots – the good stuff:

· Low upfront costs

· Immediacy – if you need it today, you can have it today

Stock shots – the bad stuff:

· Unlikely to have exclusivity, they turn up everywhere

· Often very staged and on the cheesy side

· Prices for large print format files to step up pretty quickly

· Cropping options are often limited (you can’t ask the model to move to the right to make room for your headline if the photo has already been taken)

· Often difficult to get a stylised ‘brand’ look using stock shots

· They will never be of your actual people

So, when should a marketer commission a proper photographer?

I’m sure that most business-savvy photographers will appreciate that budgets are tight, and for lower profile material a stock shot will often do the trick. But, what they will also tell you, is that there are very many times when looking for the right stock shot will be like the proverbial round hole and square peg. And, if that’s the case it’s time to consider commissioning a shoot. I would seriously consider commissioning a photo shoot for the following activities:

· Press photography: Your key spokespeople, your products and a few around your premises. These are extremely valuable in social media and PR, where a frequent repeat of a profile picture, for example, builds familiarity. It’s also true that in PR, a journalist may choose to major on the comments of the person with the best photo, rather than the most insightful input if they are under pressure from the picture editor.

· Ads, front covers, and main web imagery: If you are spending money of advertising, the savings on stock photography probably aren’t worth it. You really, really, don’t want to be in the same mag as a competitor with the same image (and yes I’ve seen that!) On key handout material, a bespoke shot on the cover, with similarly themed stock-shots internally can spread a budget. Online, think about using bespoke photography on key landing pages, and stock shots to illustrate articles and blogs.

· Events: Having a photographer doing reportage at any event you hold is a great idea. It gives you imagery with which to liven up post-event material (like Blogs, webcasts, etc.) or even use in social media during the event. This adds longevity to your investment, and even more opportunities to make mileage from the efforts you’ve put in.

So, some things to ask yourself to help decide which route is best:

· Do we want to feature recognisable people in this photo?

· Would it be a big problem if the image turned up elsewhere?

· How important (or far-reaching) is the piece that the photo will be used for?

· How distinctive (or not) do you want your brand to be?

· How quickly do I need it?

· How much do I have to spend?

A little investment in a professional photographer can really help to set your business apart, and to bring a real sense of your brand personality to your materials. And, with cropping, re-touching, extended licences and inevitable compromises – the difference in price between the two options is often much less than you would imagine.

Clear Thought Consulting works with small businesses, equipping them with the marketing strategies, suppliers, skills and set-up that they need to become bigger businesses. We do this at the fraction of the cost of recruiting into a full-time position by delivering one-off strategic projects, hands-on training, marketing support, and out-sourced marketing departments. We firmly believe that when you can’t out-spend your competition, you have to out-think them.