Stock Photos Are Killing Your Marketing. Here’s the Data to Prove It

We Tested Real Photos Against Stock Photos. The Results Weren’t Even Close.

We ran a test for a client last year. Same ad. Same copy. Same audience. The only difference was the photo. One version used a stock image. The other used a real photo taken on-site with an iPhone. The real photo got 3x the clicks.

That’s not a fluke. We’ve seen the same pattern across social media posts, Google Business Profile images, and website headers. People scroll past polished stock photos because they’ve seen them a thousand times. They stop for something that looks real. A team photo. A job in progress. A before and after.

This matters even more now because of AI. AI image generators are flooding the internet with content that looks professional but feels generic. Your real photos stand out specifically because they can’t be faked. Google’s algorithm is also starting to factor in image originality, especially for local businesses.

Here’s what we tell every client: grab your phone.

Take a photo of your team, your workspace, or a project you just finished. It doesn’t need to be perfect. It needs to be yours. That’s the photo that performs.

At Eighty6, we offer in-house videography and photography as part of our Look Good services. But even if you’re doing it yourself, the rule is the same. Real beats stock. Every time. And now the algorithms agree.

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