Is a stock image ok to use on your social media account?

First and foremost, anything is ok if you decide that it is; at least where your social media journey is concerned. Here, on social media, you get to make the rules!

A social media journey’s beauty, in fact, is all about your curating it. You’re the boss.

There’s one glaring positive about using stock photos, and it’s the time-saving aspect and the ease.

Since most of us – healthcare professionals with busy careers – don’t have much time or know-how to create images that are original, this is a simple go-to.

BUT..

social media is about connection. Pure and simple.

And your brand, in particular, is about YOU. What you should try to do is make the sharing personal.

That doesn’t mean that you have to share bits you’re uncomfortable with.

So if you don’t want to share any photos of the family, then don’t.

And if you don’t want to share any of YOU in the photo, either, then don’t do that either.

Maybe instead you can focus on YOUR office.

Or YOUR tools.

Point is, what you share doesn’t have to fit in a box. You can think outside the box and DEFINE IT.

But adding a little piece of you – and your life – is key!

Because where it comes to strategy and implementation, YOUR brand gets shaped around who YOU are.

We all want to follow you! So go ahead and quote your favorite celebrity or entrepreneur, or all-time favorite icon in history – I personally love Einstein quotes, for example, and feel inspired by them all the time – but I want to know who YOU are and what YOU say. Because I want to be convinced that you dispense great advice, too!

It could be as simple as the background of the image.

Or a few thoughts on the quote your historical figure says.

It can also be embedded in the photo, or simply laid out underneath.

But just don’t forget to a little piece of you in every post.