Stock video vs. filming

Are you considering using stock footage instead of filming?

Stock video footage is pre-filmed video that can be purchased and used in a range of videos or films under licensing agreements. If used correctly, stock footage can be a beneficial tool to introducing video as part of a business’s marketing strategy.

Using stock footage can be a great for saving time and reducing costs of video production. That is, if looking for locations, setting up and filming is a challenge to your deadline or budget.  Therefore, having access to ready-made footage from all over the world at your fingertips can be an advantage.

Stock video is also useful if you have already filmed the bulk of the content for your video and you’re just looking for a few clips to bridge gaps to tell a better story. There is such a wide range of stock video footage available, and the selection of scenes is massive, making it relatively easy to find suitable clips that will help the flow of your story.

Stock, or library video has disadvantages that can be harmful to brands.

Firstly, the footage is available globally which means that it’s not unique and may not represent your brand authentically, and authenticity is paramount to building trust with your market.

Secondly, it’s cliché and can easily be identified as ‘fake’ which may come across as insincere. Take this example, when a professional video production company films your staff and colleagues performing business tasks, there will be tight controls in place to ensure that your processes, operational procedures, health and safety rules and regulations are shown exactly as you have implemented them. More subtly, but very importantly, your company culture and ‘tone-of-voice’ will carry through this footage to create an emotional connection with your viewers which drives authentic communication.

Using stock or library footage you will get models enacting a version of tasks they envisage businesses to be performing. Often, this footage is misleading or useless because important details that are specific to your business are missing.

We are also finding that library video is becoming expensive. A lot of the stock video sites require a subscription fee for single and multi-use licenses additionally, you need a clear understanding of the licensing and copyright agreements to avoid any expensive legal and copywrite breaches.

There are, in our opinion greater benefits to filming your own content, even more so when working with a professional video production company to originate footage specific to your business, your culture and that of your market.

At Zoomfilms, we research your brand and your target market to ensure brand authenticity at every level of production. Your business’s values and your target market should lay the foundation and establish how you want your videos to be received; ensuring that every message you broadcast to your target market is consistent.

If you have an idea of what you want your video to look like, filming with a professional video production company, means you have complete control of how each shot will look and every nuance of your brand, culture and values will be enhanced throughout the filming and editing of your videos.

Overall filming or having your own content filmed tells a much better story as is much more personal additionally you won’t be limited to the choice of shot from other videographers who have no clue of your brand.

Camera in hand or film crew on set you can get that perfect shot in the exact way you envisioned it.

1. Bianca Pellizzari. ‘The Pros and Cons of Using Stock Video Footage’, October 4th, 2019, accessed, November 30th, 2021, https://mixkit.co/blog/the-pros-and-cons-of-using-stock-video-footage/
2. Patrick Johnson, ‘Using stock video footage in marketing videos in 2020: Top 3 pros and cons’, December 1st, 2019, accessed, Novmber 30th, 2021, https://www.impactplus.com/blog/using-stock-footage-marketing-videos-pros-cons