Image banks are one of the most used tools in content marketing since a visual element can make reading a text much more enjoyable. Within the optical element, we include photographs, videos, infographics, maps, illustrations, or other features that make the content more attractive to the user. However, many brands find that they do not have enough material to accompany their content, so they must resort to image or video banks.
We explain what exactly image and video banks are and which ones are the most used and popular.
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Image and video banks are web pages you can buy or download for free, although sometimes, under certain conditions, different visual material, such as photographs, illustrations, or videos. Usually, this material is royalty-free or may be used for non-commercial purposes, which means that it may be posted on blogs, social networks, or other places as long as it is not in the form of an advertisement.
o use the material of an image and video bank correctly, it is important to know the limits and conditions of each one of them, since in some, it can be done freely and free of charge, while in others, it is necessary to pay a fee. To be able to do it. There are also banks that do not allow the partial or total modification of the downloaded material, and there are those that require mentioning the author, among other things.
Although dozens of image banks can be found, not all of them contain material that is good enough to accompany content that is intended to capture the public’s attention. So, among all, these are the best options:
Pixels is one of the most used image banks; since all stock photos and videos can be used completely free of charge, it is not necessary to mention the author or author, and it is allowed to make modifications, which is a great advantage to differentiate itself from other web pages that have also used that same photograph. In addition, it allows downloading in different sizes at high quality.
All the material published on Pixels is perfectly tagged, so it is very easy to find it through its search bar.
Unsplash is another great platform that allows you to download photos for free in high resolution. It is estimated that it has more than 190,000 photographs, which can be used in any personal and commercial project and freely modified without the need to mention the author.
Unlike many other platforms of this type, Unsplash allows you to use photos for commercial purposes. Of course, you cannot request the exclusivity of the use of an image.
On Freepik, you can find more than 10 million graphic elements, many of which are high-quality photographs. On this platform, you can download elements for free, or there is also a paid version that gives access to a greater amount of content.
Users who opt for the free version will only be able to download it ten times a day and must add a link that redirects to the platform and mention the author of the image. Premium or paid users, on the other hand, can make up to 100 daily downloads and will obtain the full license of the material used.
Another bank of photographs, illustrations, videos, and other visual materials is iStock. Although this platform has material with different types of licenses, much of it can be used for advertising, web pages, blogs, or presentations, among others, because they are free of rights.
This website is paid and offers different types of accounts: basic, premium, and premium + video.
Thousands of royalty-free photos and images can be found on Getty Images, although a license must be purchased in order to download and use the file. One of the advantages is that the images can be used for both personal and commercial use, although you should always check that there are no exceptions.
The material that can be found on this platform is of exceptional quality, but its prices are also quite high compared to other image banks. Through this platform, you can even hire a personalized session to create exclusive material.
Adobe also has its own bank of free resources, Adobe Stock. This platform has millions of photographs, vectors, videos, and other materials, all of them of very good quality. In addition, all the files that are downloaded can even be used for commercial purposes.
Not all content is licensed under the same type, so always check before use if it is web-only, print-only, or can be used in any marketing strategy.
Shutterstock is an image bank used around the world that also has downloadable videos and music. This platform is often used by graphic designers, creative directors, video editors, and other professionals.
To download content from this website, you need to register, which is a small inconvenience since all types of accounts are paid. Depending on the type of subscription chosen, you will have access to a type of content with a more flexible license than another, as well as downloads will be limited.
Pixabay is another of the most used and widespread image banks in the world since it has more than a million downloadable elements.
The images can be published, modified, distributed, and even used for commercial purposes without the need to attribute their authorship. However, Pixabay displays different types of material, some of which may be copyrighted. This means that before using an object downloaded from this image bank, you must make sure that its license allows it.
It is not necessary to register to download images, although those users who wish to have them in their original size must do so.
Although many image banks are also video banks, for those brands that want the material to launch video marketing campaigns, these are the best options:
Vimeo is one of the most popular and widely used video platforms in the world. Here you can find the content of all kinds, and unlike YouTube or other similar platforms, Vimeo has a much more professional and artistic image.
Users who want to access Vimeo can do so completely free of charge, although there is also a paid version. In addition, not all Vimeo videos can be reused since the same author decides whether the content is downloadable or not, whether it is public or private, and whether it can be published on a website or not…
Videezy is a very popular video bank, as it has more than 1,000 4K quality videos divided into different categories. Best of all, though, is that you don’t have to pay to download and use them.
One of its main drawbacks is that some of the videos are sponsored. In this case, they cannot be reused.
As a curiosity, Videezy has some functionalities that can be reminiscent of those of a social network since it allows interaction with other users and the authors of the video.
Vidsplay is considered one of the best free video platforms. It offers quality material; it is not necessary to register to view and download it.
The website allows you to use the material freely, both in personal and commercial projects, as well as edit them and make mixes or variations that are considered. Of course, it is necessary to include a link to the website to attribute the audit, even if only a fragment of the video has been used.
Coverr is another one of the best video banks that can be used for content creation.
The videos are completely free to download and freely used in personal and commercial projects. It allows personalized searches, but it also has sections. Of course, as it happens in this type of platform, all the Coverr material, despite being used freely, does not grant an exclusive license.
Although image and video banks are two very good tools for carrying out content creation strategies, we recommend not abusing them and, above all, verifying the rights of the downloaded material. In addition, whenever the platform allows it, we recommend making modifications so that the material is not identical to that of other web pages, something that is usually very common.
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