Eye-catching visuals are an essential part of any successful content marketing strategy. Images, videos, and illustrations can engage your audience, communicate complex ideas quickly, and boost the shareability of your content. But the cost of stock images and videos can add up quickly if you’re not careful. That’s why knowing where to find high-quality visuals that won’t break the bank is essential.
Luckily, many free websites offer beautiful images, videos, and illustrations for anyone looking to create compelling visual content on a budget. In this blog post, we share ten (mostly) free sites we use, so you can start creating great visuals on a budget. Since most of these images are royalty-free, editing them before use is still required, and reselling is strictly prohibited.
1. Unsplash
Unsplash is one of the most well-known sites for free stock photos. Their library includes over 3 million free high-resolution images brought to you by photographers around the world. Getty Images recently acquired Unsplash and now offers the Unsplash+ subscription for added images.
2. Pexels
Pexels is another popular site for stock photos and videos. They have a wide selection of beautiful visuals that you can use for commercial purposes without attribution. Their search engine makes it easy to find precisely what you’re looking for.
3. Pixabay
Pixabay offers over 2.7 million high-quality stock images, videos, and music that are perfect for small businesses. There’s something for every business there!
4. Stockvault
Stockvault collects and archives high-resolution photographs that photographers, designers, and students can share and use for personal and non-commercial design projects. They add new images every day.
5. Freeimages
Freeimages has an impressive library of photos, vectors, clipart, icons & PSD files. Their site is super easy to use, and there are always fresh new visuals to explore.
6. Morguefile
Morguefile is an excellent resource if you need something more abstract or creative in your visuals. The site offers over 400,000 free stock photos for commercial use.
7. Kaboompics
Kaboompics is an excellent source if you need something more modern or stylish in your visuals. They have an ever-growing collection of beautiful stock photos that will fit in with any aesthetic! Behind every image, you’ll find an entire photoshoot, so you can choose what works best for you.
8. Canva
Canva isn’t just a photo editing tool; it also offers thousands of stunning templates and illustrations perfect for business owners who want something eye-catching but don’t have time (or money) to hire a designer. We recommend giving their Pro plan a try for added features and visuals. It also o has a free 30-day trial!
9. UnDraw
UnDraw provides open-source illustrations, aka SVG images, that you can use completely free and without attribution. You can change the color of the illustrations to fit your brand. They also offer the Undraw+ subscription with blog covers, an email code generator, and many more.
10. Vecteezy
Vecteezy offers professional quality free vector art, stock photos, and videos. They also have designated sites for videos like Videezy and Photoshop brushes & PSDs on Brusheezy.
So Can I Create All Visuals On My Own Now?
Creating visuals for your marketing campaigns can be relatively easy, depending on the type of visual you are making. For example, creating banners, social media images, or display ads is often a straightforward process that can be completed using design tools and templates (like Canva). However, suppose you are creating more custom visuals, such as infographics or videos. In that case, it is often better to work with a professional designer to ensure that your visuals are visually appealing and effectively convey your message. There are other ways to create content and save money, though!
6 Tips To Save On Content Creation For Social Media
It’s no secret that creating visuals or social media can be expensive. But it doesn’t have to be. There are a few ways you can save money while still churning out high-quality designs, photos, and videos.
1. Using free stock photos and videos is obviously at the top of this list!
2. Create your own graphics and templates using tools like Canva, Adobe Spark, VistaCreate, or Snappa.
3. Shoot your videos and photos yourself or repurpose existing content into new social media posts.
4. Collaborate with other businesses or bloggers to create joint content pieces
5. Use user-generated-content.
6. Use AI image generation tools like Midjourney, DALL·E 2 or Jasper Art.
Let’s Wrap It Up!
Finding beautiful visuals doesn’t have to be expensive or time-consuming — not when so many websites offer free images, videos, and illustrations! With these ten sites on your side, creating captivating visual content will be easier than ever before! So take the plunge and start creating!
