Nowadays, there is no escaping the internet; it touches every aspect of our lives, and business is not an exception. According to Google, digital marketing will reach nearly every market segment in 2022.
If you’re reading this, I assume you’re either an entrepreneur with a lean marketing budget or, perhaps, you’re part of a marketing team that’s been tasked with cutting costs while growing revenue. To make matters worse, many marketing budgets have been frozen since the pandemic.
You’re in luck, because I have good news: you can have your cake and eat it too. That is, you can leverage the internet to grow your business while keeping your existing marketing budget.
Below, I’ll compare and contrast two of the biggest platforms in the online market to help you decide which to use – and, perhaps, why.
Fotolia vs Shutterstock
If you’ve used the internet recently, you may have come across Fotolia, the photo-sharing website that was launched in 2010 and now has offices in over 30 countries. You may also have come across Shutterstock, its popular stock image-based platform that was launched in 2012 and has offices in over 40 countries.
So which is better? That depends on what you’re looking for. If you’re a small business owner who is looking for a cheaper way to stock your website or social media with images, go with Fotolia. Alternatively, if you’re a seasoned marketer who wants to keep up with the trends while charging your usual fees, use Shutterstock. It’s also worth noting that these platforms are evolving and developing, so if you’re looking for the best of the best, you may want to keep an eye on both.
Why Fotolia?
Fotolia’s tagline is ‘Share beautiful imagery with the world’. While the site is extremely versatile and offers a variety of features and functionalities, I prefer to think of it as the place to be for photographers and creatives who want to share their work with the world. With over 500 million monthly active users, the site certainly has a large audience.
As a digital marketer or content creator, you will definitely feel at home on Fotolia, as the site is fully equipped with the tools, features, and functionalities you need to create, grow, and engage with a global audience.
You may start by creating a free account with Fotolia, which allows you to upload your work and access basic features. You also get 50 free stock images each month. After completing the sign-up process, you’ll see a dashboard with your account information. From here, you can manage your workflows, preview your images, and engage with your audience.
It’s clear from the get-go that you don’t need a large marketing budget to succeed on Fotolia. You simply need to have a creative eye and a good pitch to get noticed.
What about Shutterstock?
If you’re looking for a more traditional stock photo agency, consider checking out Shutterstock. It’s been around for much longer than Fotolia and, as a result, has way more features and functionality. Naturally, this comes at a cost. While the prices are usually reasonable, the more sophisticated features come at a price. For instance, if you want to run ads on your blog or social media accounts, you’ll have to spend $500 per month plus the cost of the ad itself.
Shutterstock also offers a premium membership with all the bells and whistles, including free storage, ad-free browsing, advanced searches, and private projects. With a premium membership, you can also look for creative collaborators and established businesses that might be interested in your product or service.
Last but not least, we need to mention that both Fotolia and Shutterstock are absolutely massive, which means you’ll definitely want to beef up your machine to handle all that traffic. If you’re using AWS or any other hosting platform, you’ll need to purchase at least a dedicated IP address to have a decent amount of uploads per day. The good news is that both companies offer some amazing discounts if you’re a business owner or digital marketer in need of their products and services.
Choosing the right web host and a reliable VPN is essential for keeping your business confidential. Both Fotolia and Shutterstock are reliable sources for getting the job done, but you should always take security into consideration.