As a Sydney photographer specialising photography for companies, I’ve noticed that a problem many of my clients face is never having enough images for their social media pages whether they’re posting on Instagram, Facebook, and/or Pinterest… to name just a few of the image-heavy social media channels!
Here’s what you can do to boost your image library and keep your content looking fresh…
Use Stock Photos
You can buy professional looking stock photos and graphics pretty cheap if you’re just using them for online purposes. Just do a search on Google and you’ll find a bunch of stock image websites that charge just a couple bucks per image. There are also some free stock photo sites around as well if your budget is at zero.
A few sites you can check out include:
- Shutterstock
- BigStock Photos
- CanStock Photo
- Pixabay
- Unsplash
Just remember that stock photos are not unique to you and your brand. Hundreds of other people can be using the same image as you and it’s always possible that your competitor could choose the exact same image for their next post or promotion creating confusion around brand loyalty.
Repost Instagram Images
This can be a win-win when done right as you get fresh new images whilst the photographer who took the image also gets some recognition but you have to make sure the images align perfectly with your brand.
A Picture Paints a Thousand Words
Whether you repost other peoples Instagram images onto your own Instagram feed or you repost to Facebook, make sure you have permission from the person who posted it first because, whilst most people are fine with it and welcome the exposure when there’s a link back to their account, some people can get upset about it and you could find yourself in legal trouble if you don’t have permission – Better to err on the side of caution and get that approval in writing when business is concerned.
Take Your Own Photos
Practically all of us walk around with our phone in our hand so why not take the opportunity when you’re out and about to take some photos for your social media feed. If you see something that captures your brand, your product, or your service, grab an image and post that.
Just be careful to make sure that the quality of the image matches your brand and the sort of message that you want to convey because if you’re a high quality brand, you don’t want to put snapshots or cheesy low quality images on any of your social media feeds.
Hire a Pro Photographer
If you’re serious about representing your brand perfectly, then hiring a professional photographer in Sydney is the best way to get some unique imagery that’s focused entirely on your brand, your style, and the type of customers you want to attract.
I go regularly to some of my clients and we capture a whole bunch of images to really build out their image library. This might cover images for their social media channels for three or six months at a time.
“Never Run Out of On-Brand Content by Having Your Own Custom Image Library “
Having a library of images really makes it so much easier for marketers to be able to keep their feeds fresh, and keep posting content that keeps their visitors engaged and interested without having to worry about if a competitor will use the exact same photo in their next marketing campaign.
Here’s what not to do…
DON’T STEAL IMAGES FROM THE INTERNET
I’m not sure if some business owners simply don’t know that what they’re doing is wrong or if they’re just lazy but a lot of people do steal images by doing the all-too-easy ‘right click’ and ‘save as’. Please, please don’t do it – As well as it being morally wrong, you may find yourself with a nasty letter from a lawyer wanting to take you to court for copyright infringement.
“The Only Thing Worth Stealing Is a Kiss From a Sleeping Child” – Joe Houldsworth
Make sure that the photos you download and use are royalty-free images and that you have permission to use them, never take images directly from Google image results or wherever else you find a pretty picture.
Final Thoughts
How big is your image library and how unique is it to your brand? It’s all about perception, take a fresh look at your social media profiles and think about how your images compare with your business branding – Does it all match or are you just confusing your customer?