WHAT IS A PHOTO SHARING SITE?
•Photo sharing sites let users upload photos and other images for public or private consumption, allowing them to comment, rate and tag the pictures.
History or Photo SharingPhoto
Sharing Site
Alexa GlobalTraffic Rank*
GooglePage
Rank**
Date Started
Description
Flickr 37 9 February 2004
Free upload 300MB of photos per month (Pro account available at $24.94 per year)
Photobucket 143 7 June 2003 Free, Unlimited Photo Storage (pro account available for $2.99/month or $24.95/year)
SmugMug 1,834 7 November 2002
Free trial, then packages from $5/month to $150/year.
Shutterfly 1,106 6 December 1999
Picture storage is free and unlimited.
SnapFish 2,792 7 April 2000 Free photo storage is unlimited, but to maintain your account, you must make one purchase per year.
Webshots 3,065 6 September 1995
Free (pro account available for $19.95/year)
Kodak Gallery
5,822 6 December 2001
You must spend $4.99 per year for 2GB. For accountsover 2GB, the fee is $19.99 per year to maintain your account.
PBase 3,889 6 August 1999 $23 yearly for 1,000MG of photo storage, $43 for 2,000MB, $60 for 3,000MB
Popular Photo Sharing sites, as of Dec 2011
Benefits of Marketing with Online Photos and Other Images
1. Showcase a product
2. Document offers
3. Influence buyer mood
Additional Benefits
• Images can demonstrate a company’s values and beliefs which can persuade potential buyers without showcasing a product.
• Drive web traffic towards a product website.
• Photo market campaigns are low cost and low effort.
Disadvantage(s) of Marketing with Online Photos and Other Images?
Some companies shy away from distributing product images and specifications, fearing that their trade secrets will be
uncovered.
ExampleBeauty of Nyn one of a kind custom earrings and accessories.
Marketing with Photo Sharing Sites• Determine the target market for images; Different photo sharing
sites cater to different clientele.
Demographic examples could include:
• College-age viewers
• Women
• Professional photographers and artists
Additionally…
• Nature of images should be appropriate for the platform used.
• Use of multiple photo sharing sites is a good idea to expand reach to different audiences
Stock Photos• Stock photos are professional and staged
photographs produced by picture agencies or photo libraries. These photos are less likely to be shared on photo sharing sites than more unplanned and spontaneous images.
Photos can also be used to demonstrate knowledge about a business or industry. Direct advertising is banned on many image sharing sites. Therefore, indirect promotion is normally
an effective way to avoid overt “sales talk”.
Tags are a great tool to help distribute online images.
Tags help to organize images and group them by subject. They also help more people find photos in a search. Format of tags may be different across platforms.
Instagram Tags
Flickr Tags
Legal Permissions• Not every photo must be original content. However, when sharing
unoriginal images, it’s important to keep legal issues in mind regarding permissions and attributions.
• Permission is not just limited to commercial image sharing, but to personal image sharing as well. Personal permission is especially needed if the picture could cause harm, embarrassment or hurt feelings later on.
Not the boyfriend…
Commercial Permission Personal Permission
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