5 More Ways to Use Styled Stock Photos on Instagram
“I know I need to create content on Instagram, however my photos aren’t the best of quality!”
Yep, you may be feeling like everyone has these gorgeous feeds and yours is just…meh! That’s why using styled stock photos in your feed is a great way to create a gorgeous feed for your brand. However your feelings on stock photos may be: sometimes it’s hard to figure out how to exactly mesh it in well for your business .
So in this weeks blog post we are diving in to give you 5 creative ways to use styled stock photos on your instagram. While also helping you increase engagement once you get their attention!
The best part of incorporating stock photos into your social media is the cost and time that’s eliminated! For instance, you have an idea about sharing a story about going to an apple orchid and it aligns with something your ideal audience would love to hear about. You want to share it but you don’t have any photos of that past trip. You would hate to have to drive back up there, take the photo, pray it turns out good, drive all the way back edit the image and then finally post it. Just one image….
By utilizing styled stock photos in a way that benefits your brand you’ll be able to post consistently, increase engagement and create a gorgeous feed at the same time!
5 Ways to Use Styled Stock Photos on Instagram
1.Use Stock Photos in Your Feed as Fillers
It’s important to think of stock photos as fillers in your feed. Look at styled stock photos as the appetizer to the full course meal!
A good rule of thumb is for every 1 stock photo use a piece of custom content that you’ve made.
This could be anything from quotes, to promotional graphics, and even images of you and your personal life like your family, your pets, travel, your favorite hobbies, etc.
Inside of the membership I also have quotes and graphic templates to help you with this. However, don’t forget to insert yourself every once and a while. By showing others the person behind the business you are growing a connection with them.
2. Find Relatable Lifestyle Images
Keep away from cheesy overly perfect images. You seen the ones where the girl is overly excited to eat salad for no reason…yeah I’ve never smiled at a salad before…unless it had a pizza beside it!
A good rule of thumb is to find images that have a lifestyle feel like things that you would do on a daily basis. For instance I’ve asked my members what type of hobbies they like, Then I work that into different collections to make the images more relatable to them.
Find images with a human touch, hobbies that you do on a regular basis or what your ideal audience would be related to. By staying relatable to your audience you are able to build a tribe of like minded people that get you.
3. Find the Right Models
Speaking of human touch add in images of models that look like you every so often.
A good rule of thumb is to find models that have the similar skin color, hair type, and body type as you. However, if you are a brand that believes in inclusive photos don’t worry about adding in models with different skin tones as you. Focus on highlighting different women/men that are in your ideal audience.
Here at She Bold Stock I strive for inclusive photos. You’ll see mostly black women in our photos as this is the area that tends to be overlooked. One reason why I created this stock photo membership for myself as well. However, I’m working hard to add more skin colors, hair textures, and body types into the membership as I learn more about the members inside my membership!
4. Stick to your Brands Aesthetic
In order to create a consistent theme with your custom content and styled stock photos you need to think about your brands aesthetic.
A good rule of thumb is to find images that are aesthetically your vibe. Such as bright and airy images like I create. You’ll also be able to find images that are dark, moody, and cinematic in other stock photo sites if that’s your style. Find a styled stock photo membership that fits your style the most and stick with them. Consistency is the key!
5. Customize your Styled Stock Photos
There are many ways to customize stock photos to your brand for Instagram here a few common ways!
Find minimally edited photos: By doing this you will be able to use a filter that fits your brand’s aesthetic. Use that filter on your stock photos as well as your personal photos. Stick to one filter for all of your images for consistency. I like to use an app that allows me to see my feed as whole before making decisions on my next post.
Crop the Image: With high quality stock images you are able to zoom in and crop to particular areas of a photo. It’s remarkable how well an image can change and be made your own with this simple trick.
Use graphic overlays or text: Utilize your brand identity elements like colors and your font to brand the image to your own business. I love using Canva for this method!
Change the color of images: I change the color of images all of the time. If there is a piece of the image that don’t align with my brand colors…I change it. I use picsart the phone app to do this but you can also do this in photoshop…I’m not a photoshop girl lol, so I stick to what’s easiest accessible for me!
Add your own screenshots, videos, quotes to stock photo mockups: I love creating mock ups for this very reason. It’s a great way to promote in a subtle way. With mockups with blank screen, frames, or negative space you can showcase a blog post, product, or video in a creative fun way!
**If you want more ways check out my How to Customize Style Stock Photo Article!
So what do you do now that you have all of these tips?
Your next step:
Learn how to create real conversation on Instagram when using Stock Photos
Increasing engagement is more important than anything now days. With beautifully crafted stock photos you are able to stop the scroll and capture their attention. So now what…how do you keep their attention. You literally have 15 seconds to capture their attention and keep so here’s what to do.
Hook them in quick! At the very beginning of your caption create a headline that will give them intrigue to learn more and spark their curiosity.
Once you get them hooked reel them in! Give them some type of value whether its a story, a tip, problem, or an idea that your brand stands for.
Then create an action step for your audience! This is your CTA, Call to Action, this is the step you want them to take next. Let them know what to do next by asking a question, point them to a blog post, freebie, check out your latest video on IGTV, take a poll, tag a friend, or leave an emoji. The possibilities are endless.
In Conclusion
How to use Stock Photos on Instagram
Use them as fillers
Find lifestyle relatable images
Find the right models that will fit you or your ideal audience
Stick to your brand’s aesthetic
Customize them to your brand’s identity
Reel them in with a hook, value, and call to action!
So there you go, 5 ways to utilize stock photos like a pro and create engagement with them! After reading these tips what did you take a way from it? Are you ready to utilize stock photos in a fresh new way for your social media?!
Resources To Create Pinterest Graphics
Resources help make creating easier! Remember you don’t have to do this alone. Outsource and find the right tools to make things easier on you.
Here are the tool that I use to create my graphics!
Canva: It’s the most easy and simple online editor that I’ve ever worked with. Mind you, I’ve been doing this blogging game since 2012! Going with Canva Pro I’m able to have all of my brand identity elements with me to create faster.
She Bold Stock Photo Membership: High quality unique images is important to me. Inside the Membership we have over 3,000 unique images to choose from. Plus having social media templates like pinterest graphics that are designed to capture views is what makes this membership worth investing in.