Shutterstock Images Available FREE To Facebook Advertisers

Posted on 8/23/2013 by Jim Pickerell | Printable Version | Comments (2)

Shutterstock has done a deal with Facebook that will give businesses that advertise on Facebook FREE access to the Shutterstock library that now totals more than 28 million images. Each time a Facebook advertiser licenses a Shutterstock image the Shutterstock artist will earn a royalty – presumably the $0.25 to $0.40 subscription rate.

“As the digital world becomes increasingly visual, businesses need images to stand out and reach new audiences. Not every business has a team of designers to help communicate their message, and so the Shutterstock integration allows Facebook advertisers of all sizes to search and choose from millions of high-quality images at the point of ad creation," according to David Fraga, VP of Corporate Development at Shutterstock.

Facebook generated more than $1.6 billion in advertising revenue in the last year and has more than a million active advertisers according to Mark Zuckerberg. The number of advertisers has more than doubled in the past year.



Facebook touts the partnership, as a helpful tool for small businesses that may not have the resources for sourcing quality images. Advertisers will be given access to the Shutterstock image collection next week.

Facebook is also releasing a new image uploader that allows page admins to create multiple ads simultaneously and to use multiple images. Facebook says this will let advertisers test different images and strategies to increase ad performance. "Right now ads on average make up 5 percent, or one in 20 stories in the news feed," according to Zuckerberg.



Facebook’s ad products are delivering “impressive ROI” for marketers in all four of the site’s key segments – brand, direct response, local businesses and developersm -- according to Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO. In addition, direct-response marketers are taking advantage of the social media giant’s high click-through rates and competitive click-to-calls to grow their business.

For more information check here.

Good news???




While this growth in Internet advertising will certainly result in significant increased use of Shutterstock images, image creators need to keep one thing in mind. A small one-time advertising use in a relatively small circulation magazine might cost $1,400 according to Getty Images’ price list. At $0.40 per ad use an image would have to be used in 3,500 online ads to generate the same amount of revenue. At $0.25 per use it would have to be used in 5,600 ads. It seems unlikely that the volume of use will ever be great enough to justify the cost of creating the image. But, as long as it doesn’t cost anything to create images then everything is fine.


Copyright © 2013 Jim Pickerell. The above article may not be copied, reproduced, excerpted or distributed in any manner without written permission from the author. All requests should be submitted to Selling Stock at 10319 Westlake Drive, Suite 162, Bethesda, MD 20817, phone 301-461-7627, e-mail: wvz@fpcubgbf.pbz

Jim Pickerell is founder of www.selling-stock.com, an online newsletter that publishes daily. He is also available for personal telephone consultations on pricing and other matters related to stock photography. He occasionally acts as an expert witness on matters related to stock photography. For his current curriculum vitae go to: http://www.jimpickerell.com/Curriculum-Vitae.aspx.  

Comments

  • Alfonso Gutierrez Posted Aug 24, 2013
    >>But, as long as it doesn’t cost anything to create images then everything is fine.<<

    Doesn´t cost anything to create images? I wonder if cameras and creative talent is given away for free in flea markets.

  • Christina Vaughan Posted Aug 26, 2013


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