Are you happy with your image agency?
What features or services do image buyers like and want from photographers or stock agencies? What gets them coming back to your portfolio or the agency that reps your images?
Today, Cutcaster is releasing the comments that some images buyers told us during last year’s survey. We took 10 of the most popular comments and arranged them below in a random order to show you what features or services they like an agency to offer. The question was actually a two-part question and was “What do you like most/least about the stock photo sites that you work with?” Later this week, we will share the things they didn’t like about their current stock image agency. The survey was completed by 344 image users who had used Cutcaster or were working on the stock image business and were mostly from the US or Canada.
Top 10 things image buyers said they liked which their stock agency provided.
1. Current and wide selection of images from international sources at reasonable prices.
2. Special picture collection pricing for royalty free or rights managed photos.
3. Stock agency websites that can show an entire photo purchase history with a simple click to avoid duplicate image purchases.
4. With current rates that image researchers get, we need to work FAST. The most important features for a stock site are direct downloading and embedded metadata. If you do not offer these two things, you are a 2nd tier vendor.
5. Picture pop-up windows to review images instead of having to use “back” button.
6. Advanced features like search filters when we need to give restrictions.
7. Love seeing Creative Inspiration.
8. Great sales help when a user encounters a problem. (From Cutcaster: Most image buyers didn’t say they needed a specific sales representative to help them use an agency)
9. High resolution comp images with metadata embedded.
10. Agencies with multicultural, disabilities, youth, and well executed food shots most cited image needs.
Overall, most image buyers stressed that they needed the highest quality images, fast / accurate search results and lower pricing which is understandable in the current economic environment.
If you are an image buyer, what features would you like to see a stock agency adopt to make your life easier?
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