Photos enhance the content's visual appeal. If not, no reader will stick with it.

Because humans are visual creatures, they won't focus solely on words. Here, Stock photos play a great role. It prevents your content from perishing in the sea of available content.

Wait! We have so much to tell you about Stock photos and their influence on content strategy.

That is why we have divided this content into several sections, such as:

What are Stock photos?
Why are stock photos essential for your content strategy?
Some tips on the use of stock photos for your content strategies.

Let's get started!

What are Stock Photos?

Stock photos are collections of photographs of various genres taken by photographers and made publicly available or licensed for marketing and editorial use. When content marketers cannot curate relevant photographs for their blogs, ad campaigns, or websites, they turn to stock photos as a safe zone.

It is accessible and cost-effective for everyone, especially content creators, marketers, businessmen, and designers. Although the stock photos are copyrighted, indicating that the photographers either own them or sometimes leave ownership rights behind.

Based on this, there are three types of stock photo licensing:

Royalty-free stock photos: This type of stock photo comes with a license where you need to pay a one-time fee and use it as many times as you want. Here, you do not need to renew the licenses.
Right-managed photos: These photos have specific usage restrictions and licenses for temporary use or sale. The pricing is based on a per-user basis and is comparably high.
Microstock photos: These licensing photos sell images for a lower price, ranging from $3 to $10, but some are subscription-based, and others are royalty-free.

What Should Content Marketers Know About Stock Images?

Undoubtedly, Stock images can add visual appeal to your content, enhancing engagement and driving traffic to your website.

But before using it, be sure that you, as a content marketer, never ignore the factors below:

Licensing

Finding stock photo licensing categories should be your top priority. As a content marketer, you should be clear on the type of stock photo licensing that your content will require—whether it is right-managed or royalty-free.

So that they can minimize the risk of copyright infringement and use the images legally, unauthorized usage of stock images costs you penalties and damages your brand's reputation. So don't forget about the licensing.

Usage Restrictions

After learning about the stock photo license, you must proceed with the contract with the stock photo agency or provider, so you must place the usage restriction on the back burner. The purpose of usage restrictions is to ensure that photographers and other image creators receive fair compensation for their incredible work.

Of course, there's nothing wrong! However, if you break the agreement, everything—including your brand's reputation, dependability, and integrity—goes downhill. So value their permitted usages and limitations, which reflect your responsibility and ethical vibes.

Quality

If your website's or blog's image quality suffers, so do your engagement rates. This means that a high-resolution image is required for content marketing.

Your content's visual presentation becomes polished and professional, making it more likely to be shared on social media.

Relevance

It is easy to lose the relevance of your content if you use stock photos excessively, which makes the readers feel cluttered. Choosing stock photos that fit the content's message, tone, and purpose is a must.

The Importance of Stock Photos in Content Strategy

Woah! We are about to get into the meat of the matter—the reason you landed here! You may already realize the importance of stock photos when planning your content strategy.

Let's get down here for more clarification!

Visual engagement and attention

The web world is filled with information, but visuals serve as attention grabbers. When your readers walk through your entire content, they pay attention to the parts that appeal to their eyes.

Stock photos provide a visual break from text fatigue and allow the audience's eyes to rest. This increases reader interest and engagement.

Conveys the message quickly and effectively

Stock images can make content more scannable, encouraging readers to stay on your page longer.

Well-depicted stock photos can elicit strong emotions in viewers so that the message of your content reaches the audience quickly and effectively.

Ensure brand consistency

Brand consistency is tough to hold for a long time, but visuals have the power to do it. The more consistent stock photos for your brand you use in your content, the greater your chances of achieving engagement and traffic.

Stock photos can generate more shares, likes, and comments when they resonate with the audience and elicit positive responses, naturally raising their visibility.

Tell a story effectively

Storytelling is an art, and stock photos help to tell the story effectively. This is because telling a story in words can lose its suspense quickly, whereas visuals can hold it better.

Sometimes we can't express a complex point through words but can beautifully depict it through visuals.

Improve search engine visibility

How do you feel if everything is just words and no visuals? as if you were trapped in a darkroom with nowhere to go! Right?

So stock photos are the way to get out of the darkroom and improve your content's search engine visibility. A well-chosen and eye-catching stock photo can pique the audience's interest and persuade them to read on.

Save time and money

Content marketers do not have time to call photographers, tell them to shoot, and then tell them when they can edit. That takes a lot of time. What could be better than searching for photos on Google's search bar or some useful stock photo websites?

It saves you time to plan your next content strategy and money because you can get photos for free or at a low cost.

Tips for Using Stock Photos Effectively in Your Content Strategy

Here are some tips about using stock photos effectively to improve your content strategy.

Don't forget about your audience

What your audience wants—Prioritize this above all else. If not, your website suffers greatly. Persuading an audience is never simple, but smart visuals can.

Choose the images that reinforce your branding, increase the connection with your audience, and hit on their pain points. For example, nowadays, millennials like vibrancy, transparency, and something humorous. Observe their thoughts and infuse them into your content visuals. This will work!

Aim to use the latest images

Typically, stock photo sites have millions of image collections. As some popular images gain popularity, using them will not be smart for you. It degrades the freshness of your content. Avoid generic or overly staged images that may appear inauthentic or cliché.

For example, look for several high-quality stock photo sites instead of one to check out some uncovered and fresh images.

Make it unique before usage

Keep your thoughts distinct from others if one website uses the same images you want for your content marketing. So how does it make a difference? As you know, multiple users have access to stock photos.

That's why we suggested you put your own stamp on the images by making them unique. Add overlays, texts, filters, or whatever you need for post-processing. It can help these images become more personalized and original.

Optimize the stock photos for SEO

SEO is one of the factors in getting your content ranked. If you optimize the stock photos for SEO, you improve the image visibility in SERPs, which drives organic traffic to your website.

For example, instead of "image789.jpg", include your content keywords in a descriptive file name.

Even if you optimize your appropriate image sizes, that can help increase loading speed. Several SEO image optimization tactics provide value to your audience and primarily work for visually impaired search engine users.

Choose images that complement your content

Images should support the ideas in your content; they should not feel thrown in randomly. It undermines your content's reader-friendliness. Pick pictures that complement your content better and speak directly to your audience.

Your posted images justify the content while also enticing your reader to read on. But make sure you don't overuse the images; otherwise, it will irritate your audience and increase your website's bounce rate.

FAQs

Why are stock photos important in content marketing?

Content marketing requires images immediately. There is no time to call a photographer, give them days to take photos, edit them, and then upload them. It is a time-consuming process. As a result, stock photo sites have millions of photos that are a quick solution for marketers.

Where can I get images for content marketing?

Several sites have extensive marketing image libraries, such as Freepik, iStock, and Getty Images, but you must convert them for your content marketing. Try BeArt-Presets if you need ready-made professional presets and marketing templates for weddings, portraits, and newborns.

Can I use stock photos for my brand?

Of course, Stock photos are generally for commercial and editorial purposes. But make sure you do not violate any laws or usage restrictions.

Are stock photos real photos?

Yeah! Professional photographers from various genres take stock photos and store them on several stock photo sites. So there is no doubt that they are real photos.

Can I edit stock photos?

Yes, but only the standard changes, such as cropping, resizing, flipping, and even retouching, to match the feel of your project. It is appropriate to use Photoshop for editing stock photos.

Do you need permission to use stock photos for your content marketing?

Yes, you need permission even if the images are royalty-free, but only once; otherwise, you can use them as many times as you want. Because stock photos are typically copyrighted, you must sign the agreement to obtain permission.