Working with destination marketing organisations, creative businesses, retailers and cultural institutions, the importance of brilliant visual content has become one of the first things we consider when working with a client. We carry out a digital asset review to see what kind of content they currently have and look for any gaps and consider what they may need in the future.
A good image bank is a starting point for any marketing campaign and is then of course used across all channels. Ideally, an image bank is commissioned using an industry specific photographer or videographer so there is a natural visual aesthetic and of course brand alignment.
In this post, we share some of the free content pools and resources we tend to use or have been lucky enough to commission recently. Thankfully there are plenty of great resources available these days for small businesses to use, and lots of great free ones too. It’s important to check the license available, even on some of the free content pools as they may require a credit to the photographer or the commissioning agency.
Destination Marketing Content Pools
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Ireland’s Content Pool by Failte Ireland
This visual repository by Failte Ireland features video, photography, and other brand assets that businesses and media can use to promote Ireland. This content pool actually inspired Bua to develop image banks for our own destination marketing clients that we get to work with; we also feel it’s important to add content to the Failte Ireland Content Pool as it represents the entire country and is available to international media and publications. See www.irelandscontentpool.com
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Sligo Tourism Image Bank
This is a great example of how a destination marketing organisation can use brilliant visual content to improve marketing reach. We commissioned this image bank in 2019 while working with the tourism agency. The media bank has since been used by international media, Irish travel, and local businesses. Earlier this year, we added to the image bank using some stunning new photography of the now infamous Streedagh Beach, the backdrop to the hugely successful Normal People, by Sligo lensman Conor Doherty.
See sligotourism.shootproof.com
Streedagh Beach with Benbulben in the background by Conor Doherty
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GoStrandhill Image
This one is special to Bua as it’s our hometown. We commissioned this visual image bank in 2018 when we worked with the local Strandhill Tourism Development Agency and GoSTrandhill.com to develop a new collection of images to represent the stunning landscape, the historical and heritage assets, the people and the business offering locally. This also includes the addition of the new EDEN AWard image bank focused on the Wellness and Sustainability offering in Strandhill. gostrandhill.shootproof.com
Maritime Archeologist Auriel Robinson of Seatrails.ie brings a tour around Strandhill
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Western Development Commission Image Bank
This newly launched image bank from our friends in the WDC features a collection of professional photographs showcasing businesses based along the western counties in Ireland. It has just been launched and will see additional counties added in the New Year. westerndevelopment.ie/image-bank/
Lough Gill Brewery in Sligo – Western Development Commission
Other Stock Photography Resources
There are also some great stock photography sites that offer some brilliant alternatives to the usual stock photography sites.
- Unsplash: Beautiful, free images and photos that you can download and use for any project. unsplash.com
- Pexels: Another great free bank of creative images from a network of creators around the globe pexels.com
- Death to Stock: This one is a bit different, a little more abstract and left-of-field but we do like browsing through it, even for inspiration. These guys were fed up with the usual stock photography and wanted to make the internet beautiful. See Deathtothestockphoto.com
Images featured in this post:
- Surf Shot of Strandhill by Peter Martin
- Streedagh Beach by Conor Doherty
- Seatrails tour by Andrew Kilfeather
- Lough Gill Brewery by the Western Development Commission