Visuals play a crucial role in how businesses communicate their message, engage audiences, and build their brand identity.
Two common types of visuals used in marketing are stock photos and custom-made people images. Each type has its own unique benefits, drawbacks, and use cases.
This article will explore what stock photos of a person are, how they differ from custom-made pictures, and how to decide which option best suits your business needs. Keep on reading!
Article Contents
What Exactly Are Stock Images Of People?
Stock photos of people are pre-shot images that showcase individuals in various scenarios, moods, and activities.
To use them for your commercial projects, you can source HD, royalty-free stock images from Depositphotos or another platform of your choice.
In any case, you can be sure that such visuals will be of high quality, created by professional photographers and models, and available for legal usage under specific licensing conditions.
Stock pictures are commonly used in:
- Advertising: banners, posters, or digital ads;
- Web designs: as visuals for websites or blogs;
- Social media posts: Instagram and LinkedIn;
- Presentations: to illustrate slides.
What’s The Difference Between Stock Photos Of People And Custom-made Photos?
There are several key differences.
Creation
Stock photos are created by photographers for general commercial or editorial use. That’s why they usually appeal to a broad audience and cover a wide range of themes like business, family, travel, or emotions.
The models and settings are usually versatile and universally applicable. At the same time, stock visuals are non-exclusive, which means one and the same picture can be purchased and used by multiple businesses.
This can cause potentially inconvenient situations with your competitors using the same visuals.
Custom-made photos, on the other hand, are created specifically for a brand or business.
They are tailored to the company’s unique needs, such as showcasing its products, services, or team. They also usually align with the brand identity.
Cost
Stock visuals are generally more affordable. Their average revenue per download is around $0.40 these days.
What’s more, many stock photo platforms offer flexible pricing models like subscriptions or pay-per-download, and some platforms (such as Unsplash) even offer free images.
Custom-made pictures are generally more expensive as you need to hire a photographer, models, equipment, and locations and invest in post-production editing.
The final cost can vary a lot depending on the complexity and scale of the photoshoot.
Time
Stock photographs of people are instantly available after you download them. That’s why they are one of the best options for tight deadlines.
At the same time, custom-made photos require more time for planning, scheduling, shooting, and editing. They involve significant collaboration and preparation.
Customization
Despite their many benefits, stock pictures offer limited customization. Sure, you can pick a visual that is the closest to your brand’s identity, but you need to choose from pre-existing options.
Although minor edits like cropping or color adjustments can be made, the overall image still cannot be modified significantly.
Custom-made visuals, on the other hand, are fully customizable. You can control every detail: the setting, models, wardrobe, props, and lighting. This will help to align the photo perfectly with your brand’s vision.
Pros And Cons Of Using Custom-made And Stock Photos Of People For Your Business
What to choose for your business: stock visuals or professional photos of people?
There is no one-size-fits-all answer, as it all depends on your resources and needs. However, there are still suggestions that can help you make the right choice.
Stock visuals
Stock photos of people are a good option for businesses with limited budgets or tight deadlines that need a diverse collection of visuals that cover various themes, demographics, and scenarios.
At the same time, they are non-exclusive, which can lead to potential overlap with competitors. They might not align with your brand identity or message perfectly, and they are hardly customizable.
Custom-made visuals
Custom-made pictures are tailored to reflect your company’s unique identity, values, and story.
No other brand will be able to use them, and you can direct their creation, ensuring precise alignment with your branding and business needs.
This, however, comes at a price, as such visuals are more costly and require more time to produce.
Combination of both
This can also be an option. For instance, a startup or a small brand can start using stock visuals and later replace them with professional ones as its budget and demands increase.
Medium or large brands can also mostly use custom-made visuals in branding and social media but eventually pick stock photos of a person as an option, for instance, for certain marketing materials that don’t have to be polished or when the deadlines are tight.
To Sum Up
Choosing between stock photos and custom-made people images depends on your business’s needs, budget, and timeline.
Stock photos offer a quick, affordable solution with a wide variety of themes but lack exclusivity and customization.
Custom-made pictures of someone can be more expensive and take longer to make. However, they are more original and better aligned with your brand identity.
Many businesses prefer a combination of both approaches to save costs when needed and create high-quality custom-made photos for more important campaigns.
