Five Reasons Custom Corporate Photography Beats Stock
Why do humans appreciate custom anything, really? Because it’s real. Introducing custom corporate photography. On a website, email campaign series, social media page or newsletter, images that capture a business captivate an audience. It’s that simple.
Mention the words “stock photo” to an advertising agency, and any right-minded creative will cringe at the concept. Stock houses do profit from photos, of course. The real question is, do businesses.
One marketing company laments, “When it comes to establishing a business, the strength of your brand matters if you’re hoping to stand out from the competition. To the consumer, your clients, and the public at large, your brand represents the good, and occasionally bad, aspects of your business. This means that everything about your brand, from your logo to business name to the design of your website, should both support and communicate your business’ unique identity.” This includes the visuals that represent the brand. Read on to learn the five reasons why.
1: Authenticity
Imagine the Apple iPhone with stock photos to sell its highly branded name. After all, seeing is believing. At least when it comes to corporate marketing. Stock photography used to represent one business, for example, can also be used for all other businesses with a bank account. It’s generic, it’s purchased, and the cookie-cutter vibe it gives off is no substitute for the high-task editing, lighting, and angling a custom corporate photography shoot delivers. With stock photos, the shots are purchased at a set price and used repetitively by multiple businesses. Not just one. Businesses resonate with other businesses on a visceral, raw and almost emotional level at the heart of it when making purchase decisions. Then, they justify with logic and make buy-in decisions based on those responses, according to the sales process. After all, who can argue neuroscience?
2: Unique
With sales psychology research pointing to the real estate just below the brain, it’s important to pin down exactly how to capitalize on emotion. It all boils down to one truth. Corporations are selling to real human beings, whether B2B or B2C marketing. While stock photos can be purchased, the vibe they bring reads: generic. Cookie-cutter businesses rarely make it in a constantly moving and changing industry. What survives are businesses that rely on carefully crafted content uniquely tailored to the core values of the business, and only that business.
As a marketing prostate, “No matter how professional the stock photo, it will always be someone else’s vision and someone else’s interpretation of the idea, concept, emotion, etc. that you are trying to convey.”
3: Specificity
Getting specific about what a business can and can’t offer is a selling point. Misinformation, like a photo of products or services a business doesn’t offer, can be as misleading as the frustration of bringing home a microwave meal, only to learn the image doesn’t match the goods. Potential customers want to know exactly what they’re getting. They’d also love to know what’s in it for them. Photos that represent a business and its industry, plus subcategory, will help win fans. They also work to hit a specific demographic by targeting its ideal customer.
4: Storytelling
All humans love a good story. Professional photography tells the story of a business by showcasing its product, atmosphere, services, great staff and unique history, present achievements and future vision. Photos capture the values of a business and what it ultimately serves: real people. Five communications executives from Forbes agree, “Stay rooted in your true brand purpose and why your company started in the first place. It probably wasn’t to make shareholders rich, but to help real people. Keep that as your focus.”
5: Special
When a business has a brilliant idea for a campaign, they likely won’t find a stock photo site supporting that campaign. It would be impossible for basic photographers who license photos to set the scene with the appropriate props, backdrop, subject, lighting, tone and personality each business maintains.
In sum: all businesses, both large and small, should treat their marketing and branding like they would outfitting a unique individual: with authenticity and original style, broadcasting specific tastes and interests and telling a one-of-a-kind story to shine amidst the rest. Every business and buyer wants one thing at the end of the day: to feel special. Special breeds success. Got that?
Another point, as the Harvard Business Review reads, “Rather than viewing organizational processes as ways of extracting more economic value, great companies create frameworks that use societal value and human values as decision-making criteria,” like real images of the business instead of stock photography.
So what separates great businesses from mediocre ones? Mystery solved. Custom corporate photography is one first big step to success.
Comment below and let us know how important you think it is to use custom corporate photography?
