Vanishing value with stock photography

Finding the right stock image can be tricky, but finding the right stock image that fits your budget can sometimes feel downright impossible. In this post, Brian of Trigger Digital talks about how expensive traditional image plans can be for image buyers and how stingy they are toward photographers.

Most businesses and marketing agencies that don't have the budget to commission photoshoots for their projects can appreciate the value of finding the "right" photograph in an online stock library. However, this thrill can easily subside – or altogether vanish – if the picture(s) doesn't fit the budget allocated for media or if you don't feel like you're putting your money where your mouth is.

Most businesses and marketing agencies that don't have the budget to commission photoshoots for their projects can appreciate the value of finding the "right" photograph in an online stock library. However, this thrill can easily subside – or altogether vanish – if the picture(s) doesn't fit the budget allocated for media or if you don't feel like you're putting your money where your mouth is.

"Although we prefer our clients to have their own professionally shot images, this isn’t always possible and often doesn’t cover the full range of visuals required to promote their offering," says Brian Walker, Creative Director of Trigger Digital, a digital marketing agency and consultancy based in Auckland. "So we end up needing to source some or all stock photography."

Trigger Digital was the result of a lockdown-induced reflection in 2019, when Brian and his business partner, Tom, realised their passion lay not in the corporate world of digital marketing, but in helping small businesses flourish and achieve success through their online presence.

Brian is the brains behind digital production, which means sourcing imagery is a fundamental part of his role. This has allowed him to experience first-hand the issues with traditional stock libraries, particularly what he describes as "prohibitive costs with paid licensing."

For Trigger and their clients, one of the reasons why neither the conventional subscription nor pay-as-you-go models were suitable for buying stock photos was that the numbers weren't sustainable. Purchasing a subscription pack decreases the price per photo - but also decreases your flexibility of use, in that you’re bound by monthly quotas. Meanwhile, buying photos on demand provides more freedom of usage — but the price for a single image can be out of the question for small-to-medium businesses. And that's for Standard Licenses. If looking to secure an Enhanced License (unlimited web, print and merchandise usage) prices can increase up to ten-fold.

Since Trigger strives to create a positive impact socially and environmentally, their decision to opt-out of old-fashioned models also relates to where their payment goes. Unfortunately, “fair” and “forward-thinking” are hardly synonyms with traditional stock platforms. Not only are their reward programmes stingy (photographers can expect to earn roughly 15% for each photograph purchased, which can be as little as US$0.10 per download), but, as Brian highlights, they lack transparency: "I know that photographers earn commission from their images, but I never knew just how low some agency rates are. I’m sure if purchasers are aware they might think twice about where they source their stock from."

"We really like the FairShare model that rewards photographers for their creative work, and this was one of the primary reasons for joining," says Brian. But perhaps more importantly, they have finally found a way to manage the "prohibitive costs'' Brian mentioned that, whilst still ensuring their clients have authentic, high-quality images representing their brands: "Using the Excio PhotoTokens model we can effectively purchase photos through the platform for $1 per image. When we compare that to other agency pricing models, where images can range anywhere from $5 to $50 each or more, it just made sense for us to start using Excio."

Learn more about Excio's PhotoTokens and how they provide extra flexibility when sourcing high-quality photographs that fit in the pocket.