Your Marketing Has an Expiration Date!

Your Marketing Has an Expiration Date!

As a graphic designer, I spend a lot of time searching through stock photo sites looking for the perfect image to capture what I’m trying to express for my client. I’ll come right out and say it: Stock photo houses drive me crazy. That’s why I immediately identified with this social media ad for Peet’s Coffee. In trying to capture the epitome of staleness, the company turned to, guess what…stock photography! Turns out I’m not alone. 

The problem? Sameness, the endless rotation of the same professional models in the same tired setups. It’s a real challenge to find photos that aren’t thoroughly overused. The folks at Peet’s, referring to their competitor’s products, chose the word “stale.” That word also serves as a perfect descriptor for the imagery that most stock photo houses offer.

It doesn’t really matter if it’s coffee, bread, stock photography or your latest marketing efforts, stale appeals to no one and is always to be avoided. That’s why marketing should never be a one-and-done activity. Capturing and retaining the interest of your present and future target customers requires keeping things fresh and refreshed on a regular basis. 

A good way to start is to revisit the profile of your ideal client. Have things changed and evolved? Has your company’s focus shifted away from your original target? Another area to explore is social media. The social landscape changes and shifts so quickly, it may be time to reorient your marketing activities in that space. What trends are fading or emerging in your particular arena? Be sure to keep abreast of buzzing trends and leverage them to your advantage. 

These are just a few ideas on how you and your business might avoid the dreaded stock-photo-sameness curse. When people come searching for you and your services, be sure to steer clear of the stale stuff and give them something fresh to bite into.