This blog post has been authored by Stand Out Online Member Katie Harp, Katie Harp Creative
Using styled stock photos is a great way to brand your business and showcase your business’s personality, without having to go through the hassle of taking your own stock photos or hiring a professional photographer every time you need a new photo.
By using styled stock photos, you can add a more professional and branded look to your content while saving yourself time and money. If you’re wondering how exactly you should be using stock photos, then here are 10+ ways to use stock photos in your online business to spark some ideas!
10 Ways to Use Styled Stock Photos in Your Business
1. On your website
Besides the actual design, colors, and fonts used on your website, styled stock photos can be an effective way to add visual appeal and enhance your website. If you find stock photos in your brand colors, they can add to your website’s design as a header or background image.
2. In your blog posts
Stock photos are a quick and easy way to break up long blog posts into more readable and interesting sections. You can also use photos to illustrate the topic you’re covering in the blog post. Rather than having a giant wall of text, try breaking up your post with a few photos or graphics.
3. In your ebooks or lead magnets
Some stock photos will allow you to use them within ebooks and lead magnets or even as book covers. This lets you design beautiful and eye-catching ebooks or free opt-in offers for your audience to grow your email list.
4. On landing pages
Give your audience something interesting to look at while they’re reading your landing page! As a background or a header, beautiful images can help you get more people signing up for your offers.
5. On sales pages
Similar to landing pages and blog posts, stock photos can also be used on sales pages to break up sections of text, add visual appeal, and make the page easier to read. Many people skim through long pages, so photos can give a visual representation of what your offer is all about.
6. On Pinterest pins
You can incorporate styled photos into your Pinterest pins to create designs with a consistent visual style. I’d recommend using photos either in the background of your pin with a text overlay or at the top or bottom with some text added for the title of the blog post or other content that you’re linking to from the pin.
7. For Facebook posts
Stop the scroll with your Facebook posts by including an eye-catching stock photo. Facebook images are usually horizontal or square, and you can try out plain photos or photos with text added.
8. In Instagram posts
Instagram posts are usually square or slightly vertical, so you can easily crop stock photos into the perfect dimensions to use on Instagram. Either use them on their own for an aesthetically-pleasing feed or add some interesting text or quotes as an overlay.
9. Or many other social media purposes…
In addition to the sites above, you can use stock photos on any other social media sites that you can think of, including Twitter, Youtube, Tiktok, Linkedin, or other related uses like Instagram stories, Instagram reels, and Facebook group headers.
10. Last, try adding stock photos to your emails
Finally, stock photos are a fun way to add interest to your emails. You can use them as a header at the top of the email or within the body of the email to break up sections of text, similar to a blog post.
I hope this has helped you brainstorm new ways to use styled stock photos in your business!
There are so many possibilities, and they can help save you a ton of time while also elevating the look and feel of your brand. If you need stock photos for your business, we offer free styled stock photos on Katie Harp Creative.
Katie Harp is the lady boss behind Katie Harp Creative and the creator of a stock photo and template membership. She helps bloggers and online entrepreneurs with their awesome blogs and businesses, particularly with marketing, design, and social media. She works with creative entrepreneurs like life and business coaches, lifestyle bloggers, designers, brand strategists, consultants, and more.