As a marketer, it is critical to find eye-catching and high-quality images to advertise your business. Fortunately, in this digital age, we now have numerous best online stock photo sites that allow us to select from a wide variety of visual resources. This helps a marketer to further enhance their marketing campaigns while maintaining the budget.
In this post, we will explore the 9 best stock photo sites which marketers can use as a source for finding attractive visuals and, as a result, create visually appealing campaigns. We will be looking into each stock photo site in detail and discussing their plus and negative points so you can make an informed decision for your brands.
So here goes our list of the 9 best stock photo sites for marketers:
1. Stock Photos
Stockphotos.com offers a wide range of images exclusively for advertising. Besides high-quality photographs, the website also comprises vector images, illustrations, vehicle templates, fonts, and icons to fulfill every visual need. Moreover, the website is linked to many digital tools such as Upscaler and Canva to ensure you get the desired effect on the selected graphics.
Pros
- Brings together all your marketing needs related to visuals under one website.
- They have over 8 million images to choose from.
- They also provide fonts that allow you to designate a style, particularly for your campaign.
Cons
- Their stock images come with a price tag, meaning you cannot avail their content for free.
2. Shutterstock
Shutterstock is a global company in the field of technology. This site provides a creative platform boasting high-quality tools, services, and assets. Shutterstock users can license not just images but also videos and music for their marketing materials. Plus, the resources are editable, so you can ensure the content is tailored exclusively to your brand’s needs.
Pros
- Various plans are available for individuals, teams, and enterprise customers.
- You get an option to choose from 200,000 visual resources.
- They also have a small collection of images that are free to download.
- A 30-day free trial is available.
Cons
- Expensive for personal use.
- The search filters can be improved.
3. Unsplash
Unsplash is an online community that features free stock photos. It is a cost-effective solution for marketers as they can get free visuals for their campaigns and advertisements. The users can choose from over 3 million high-quality pictures to use in personal and commercial projects. Their categories are also broad, enabling the users to select for every topic possible.
Pros
- Despite being free, their images are of high resolution.
- A wide variety of images in their database.
- Images for every niche are available, so you are bound to find something for your brand.
Cons
- Since they are free, your images might come across other brand campaigns losing their uniqueness.
- Reviews have shown a bad user experience.
4. Getty Images
Getty Images is a wonderful stock photo agency for large businesses and enterprises. The visual library has been in the market for more than 2 decades and today, it is one of the most reputable resources in the industry. Although the company has gone through various downfalls from time to time, it is still well known for providing extensive editorial photo collections.
Pros
- Their image quality is top-notch.
- They have very broad licensing terms.
- API integration.
Cons
- Their services come with an expensive price tag.
- There is no option for a free trial.
5. Pexels
Founded in 2014, Pexels library comprises 3.2 million free stock photos and videos. It is owned by Canva, a popular graphic design platform. You can browse through their large selection of images related to various niches and find the one that suits your brand – thanks to the user-friendly search filters.
Pros
- The global network of photographers and videographers means that you will find pictures from a wide number of cultures.
- Suitable for those brands which are just starting out and on a tight budget.
Cons
- Being a free repository means your selected images from Pexels will not be exclusively used for your campaigns.
- Often images on Pexels have been modified to achieve an aesthetic style. This makes it challenging for users to add their own edits.
6. Depositphotos
Depositphotos offers a wide range of stock photos, video clips, and vector illustrations. Marketers working on different brands can find images of various niches. No matter what field you belong to, there is a high possibility of finding the right image for your campaign on this website. The platform also offers a reverse image search. This helps users identify the websites where the same image is already being used, eliminating the chance of duplication.
Pros
- Unlimited daily downloads.
- Excellent customer support.
- They have a collection of free images as well.
Cons
- The availability of custom packs is limited to large companies.
- Lacks on-demand option.
7. Canva Pro
Canva is a graphic designing platform that allows you to create flyers, posters, newsletters, and many other materials for your marketing campaigns. It is also equipped with a vast library of stock photos you can use while designing your content. The features combined with Canva’s drag-and-drop tool make it very convenient for users to build the design of their choice.
Pros
- After selecting the image, you can create content for your marketing campaigns right from their platform.
- The format of the pictures can be changed before downloading.
- Ideal for novice users.
Cons
- Their pricing model is higher compared to other stock photo sites.
8. Dreamstime
Dreamstime has been in the industry for almost 15 years. Since they were one of the early players in the microstock business, they have won themselves a great reputation and are considered among the top contributors of the industry.
Pros
- They offer a library of over 85 million royalty-free stock images.
- You can customize a monthly or annual plan according to your specific download needs.
Cons
- The price per download is not clear, making it difficult for users to estimate the cost of images that they need to download.
- Images available under trial are watermarked.
9. 123RF
The last suggestion we bring you is 123RF. It may not be the best recommendation, but since they also provide similar services to the stock image sites discussed above we thought to add it to the list. And nevertheless, 123RF has helped individuals and brands portray their stories effectively.
Pros
- The subscription plans offer unlimited downloads.
- Stock images cost very cheap.
Cons
- Their customer support is not very responsive.
- The website has a doubtful policy.
Conclusion
So as you see, there is a plethora of stock image sites that are available for marketers. What is important here to consider is your budget, the types of visuals you require, your niche, and what sort of visuals attract your customers. Ultimately the stock image site that you find best will align successfully with your goals and digital marketing campaign.
