I’ve been talking about styled stock photos a lot in recent months, and I’ll bet (almost) anything some of you are wondering how the heck you could use them in your business.
Am I right or am I right?!
To be honest, there are probably a hundred different ways you could use them. But today, I’m going to share the top 10 BEST ways to use styled stock photos in your business!! (I also scoured the internet for some of the very best examples of styled stock photo use to help boost your imagination and inspiration!!)
You guys. Prepare to be wowed!! 😍
This is the third and final installment of the Do Business Beautifully and More Productively with Styled Stock Photography blog series…
(Unless y’all would like to see some tutorials?! 🤗 Let me know!!)
If you’ve been with us from the get-go, keep scrolling to get to the goods!! But if you’re just joining us, make sure you pop over and check out The Best Styled Stock Photography Shops for Female Entrepreneurs and Why You Need to Be Using Styled Stock Photography before you dig into today’s post.
[bctt tweet=”There are probably a hundred different ways you could use styled stock photos in your business, but here are the 10 best!!” username=”productivityzne”]
THE BEST WAYS TO USE STYLED STOCK PHOTOS IN YOUR BUSINESS
We already know that using styled stock photos in your business helps you achieve a professional look and saves you so. much. time. But did you also know your audience is 80% more likely to read content if it is paired with eye-catching visuals?! (I got that statistic from the Bloguettes Instagram account, but unfortunately can’t remember exactly which post.)
If you happen to be looking for more reasons to up your business’s visual game, check out this post from Elle & Company: 5 Surprising Stats About Your Business’s Visuals.
Now, let’s get into the top 10 BEST ways to use styled stock photos in your business aka what you came here for aka the good stuff!! 😉
P.S. My very best tip for choosing styled stock photos that fit your brand is included at the very end!!
1 | WEBSITE
There are so many ways you could use styled stock photos on your website including but not limited to welcome mats, opt-in boxes, pop-ups, landing pages, as the hero image on your homepage, banner images on other pages, sidebar buttons, and to help pretty up your site’s navigation.
Here’s an example of hero images on SC Stockshop’s website:
Related Post: How I Built My Website in a Weekend
2 | BLOG
My FAVORITE way to use styled stock photos is on my blog!! Use them in your title graphics, as feature images, and as photos to break up the text of your post. FYI: Styled stock photos make Pinterest-worthy graphics a snap!! 🤩
Here are a few of the title graphics/Pinterest-worthy graphics from my own blog:
3 | NEWSLETTER
Use stock photos as your newsletter header and/or to break up the text of your broadcast. But make sure you use photos throughout your broadcasts sparingly as they can be misconstrued as spam!!
Here’s an example of my own newsletter header:
4 | OPT-INS + FREEBIES + CONTENT UPGRADES
Use stock photos to visually represent your opt-ins, freebies, and content upgrades so they’re even more eye-catching. Add screenshots of your worksheets to desktops so they look like sheets of paper spread out on a desk or add images to screens to share about the downloads on your blog or social media.
I love how Megan Martin Creative and Love & Spreadsheets marketed their latest freebies and opt-ins on social media:
5 | SOCIAL MEDIA
You can use stock photos on social media in SO MANY ways including headers, banners, buttons, posts, graphics, and quotes. In fact, you could create 30+ different Instagram images from just ONE stock image. (Click that link if you don’t believe me! #magical)
P.S. Social Squares was MADE for social media!! The Stock Box Subscription gets you 30 curated images each month to use over and over again. Scheduling social media has never been easier!! (Check out my Instagram feed for how I use Social Squares consistently!!)
Here’s a gorgeous example of a Facebook header from Megan Martin Creative:
And a couple of quote graphic examples from me and Kat Schmoyer:
6 | ANNOUNCEMENTS + LAUNCHES + EVENTS
You can use styled stock photos to share business announcements of all kinds and details about product launches, sales, or even events!!
See how Kat Schmoyer did an incredible job using styled stock to announce the re-launch of her digital product shop:
7 | SHOW OFF PRODUCTS + ANNOUNCE/TALK ABOUT SERVICES
Use stock images to show off both physical and digital products like mugs, e-books, workbooks, templates, planners, printables, online courses, artwork, and more. You can also talk about the incredible services you offer as a coach, virtual assistant, social media manager, or online business/project manager. Don’t forget to pretty up your client testimonials!! 👍🏻
Check out how Megan Martin Creative shared her ready-made client experience templates and client testimonials for Black Friday last year:
8 | LANDING + SALES PAGES
Fill the prime real estate of your landing and sales pages with stock photos to make them even more scrollable and your products or services more purchasable!!
Check out these landing and sales page templates from Bluchic to see that prime real estate I’m talking about!! (Below is the landing page I designed for The Ultimate Productivity Toolkit using stock photos and one of the landing page templates from Bluchic.)
9 | PRINT + DIGITAL COLLATERAL
Use stock photos to pretty up your print and digital collateral including contracts, timelines, media kits, pricing guides, email signatures, business cards, coupons, gift cards, welcome packets, presentation slides, handouts, and more. (Check out this rather robust list of collateral item ideas from Elle & Company.)
10 | VISUAL BRAND REFRESH
Styled stock photography is an easy and cost-effective way of giving your brand a (visual) refresh rather than a full-on rebrand!!
P.S. One of ’s Brand Builder Sets would be a very savvy investment if you were looking to do something like this!! 🎉
Look at what Emily Moore Boutique Photo Editing did with her website. A few new stock photos gave it a completely fresh look that is stunning on so many levels!!
[bctt tweet=”Not sure how to use styled stock photos in your business? Check out these inspiring ideas!!” username=”productivityzne”]
BONUS | MY BEST TIP FOR CHOOSING STYLED STOCK PHOTOS THAT FIT YOUR BRAND
My very best tip is to screenshot the styled stock photo you’re looking to purchase and superimpose it on your site to see how it would look. (I do this before every single stock photo purchase to make sure it matches my brand/layout.) If it looks great, go back and purchase the image!! If it doesn’t, keep trying until you find the right fit.
Friends. I hope this blog series was helpful! And I hope you’ll soon have a little folder that lives on your desktop labeled styled stock photos to help you do business beautifully and more productively. I refer to mine as my own personal folder of magic tricks!! 😉
Don’t forget to let me know if you’d like to see some styled stock tutorials!!
Alexandra,
This is AMAZING and we are so grateful for you and humbled that you choose SC Stockshop styled stock images for you brand!!! You are killing it and I am sure that so many others are going to be inspired by this post!
With Love,
Shay and the SC Team!
I couldn’t have done it without your gorgeous images!! ☺️ Thank you for all you do to help female entrepreneurs do business beautifully and more productively!!