Stock footage sites offer a wealth of high-quality, unlimited videos for a wide range of niche markets. This saves both time and money. Professional videographers use them to increase their business.
We’ve listed the most popular stock footage websites that professionals use. Let’s go diving together!
What is stock footage?
Stock footage, also known as B-roll or stock video, is a collection of pre-filmed videos or video clips that can be used for a video production or purchased. Professional videographers can shoot heartfelt stories or high-impact ads. They can also create a simple documentary.
In brief,
- Advertising, content marketing, digital platforms and other industries can all benefit from this amazing medium of communication.
- This combines audio and visual elements such as stock photography, vectors and illustrations.
- You can use stock videos that you find or purchase online.
- There are many types of B-rolls, including sports clips, nature videos, slow motion, aerial videos and more.
In the next section we will look at some of the key reasons that professionals use stock videos for their businesses.
Stock Footage: It’s a Good Idea
Let’s first examine the social media scenario on websites for personal and business use, documentaries, films of large scale, or commercial productions. What do you notice? Video is everywhere and can define a culture in a very short period of time.
- Story-driven footage: Stories that are strong and purposeful grab the attention of consumers quickly. Stock footage can add life to commercials and marketing.
- Cost-friendly You do not need to travel around to film videos to demonstrate your video marketing objectives. Millions of royalty-free images, videos, illustrations, and more are available on stock footage sites.
- License Stock Videos provides licenses that are royalty-free and rights managed.
- Consistency and high quality: All videos provide you with perfect visuals and high-res images that match your imagination easily.
Do you want to know the best and most demanded sites for video stock footage? The next section lists the best free and paid video sites.
Where can I find stock footage?
Here are the top 10 best sites for stock footage, according to our experts:
#1. Photutorial
Best for:Creators who are looking for generic but thoughtful free stock video, subscriptions, music license sites, as well as more site guidel …” “Advice, real reviews, and purchasing guides for stock footage platforms and other media platforms”
Photutorial’s creative and efficient expert suggestions reduce stress and save time. The site’s mission is to showcase the best creative platforms, tools, and service guidelines to add value to your company. They share their experience, take into account user reviews, and work with experts to achieve this.
Photutorial will share their research methodology, reasoning, and process so you can select the right one for your brand. Grab the latest business-oriented editing software, graphic designing services, stock video, and image website lists from Photutorial.
What will you get?
- Consult authentic and effective tools and services that will add value to your company.
- Share real-world experience with industry leaders, top graphic designers, video professionals, and creatives.
- Stock photography, music libraries, design platforms, etc. can help you focus on your own art.
- Review the reviews before you place your listings.
#2. Pexels
Best for Wide selection of royalty-free, high-quality stock videos.
Pexels, a free site that allows professional creators to share high-resolution videos and images, is the best and most popular. You can find a huge library of HD and even 4K stock video. Pixel also provides a free license for all videos and photos, which can be used without attribution.
You can add your own unique touch and edit the videos whenever you like. Don’t forget to check out their “trending daily free stock video” for more.
What will you get?
- Creative Commons Zero is the license for free stock video footage.
- The collection is vast and covers all niches.
- The majority of B-rolls last less than one minute
- You can also provide a few high-quality GoPro clips.
- Offer different types of videos, such as “mockup,” time-lapse footage, drone footage, and more
- Download and use 600+ featured stock images for free.
#3. Pixabay
Best for: Anyone looking for free stock video for commercial, non-commercial or digital purposes.
Pixabay, according to our experts, is one of the best stock video sites. It has over 4.2 millions high-quality videos, images, and music. All are licensed under a simplified licence. You don’t have to worry about copyright when using free stock videos because they are all under CCO.
What will you get?
- A large selection of MP4 videos are available for free.
- Download the clips in your preferred resolution for both commercial and non-commercial purposes.
- Offer different libraries i.e. motion, graphics and HD footage.
- Choose from the categories of nature, events, business and more.
#4. Shutterstock
Best suited for:Businesses with a large budget, digitals and flims.
Looking for a platform that offers premium content, intuitive tools, AI innovation and real-life videos? Shutterstock offers over 11,000,000 HD and 4K stock videos that are royalty-free. It has an enormous footage collection with around 85K clips and adds new ones every week.
What will you get?
- A large collection of royalty-free images and footage.
- You can choose from a variety of categories, such as wildlife, art and cities.
Note: To get access to 28 millions authentic and high-res videos, you can select any of the plans, including Packs ($139), Subscribe ($49), or Enterprise ($149).
#5. iStock
High-quality stock footage at affordable prices for all types businesses.
Are you looking for high-quality stock videos and photos at a reasonable price to help with your filmmaking, photography, digital or other projects? With iStock you can explore millions of niche videos, including business, technology, and fashion. This site is loved by video editors, bloggers and filmmakers.
What will you get if you ?
- Affordable HD and 4K video clips, unique hand-clicked photographs
- Search filters and AI-powered searches can be used to select keywords, quality, aspect ratio, or other criteria.
- Plans that are flexible and affordable, such as Basic ($29/month), premium ($70/month), or Premium + Video ($99/month).
- Try it for a month at no cost
Are you curious to learn how to use stock footage for your next advertising campaign, video marketing or other projects? The next section will reveal the secrets behind famous advertising companies and brands!
What are the best tips for using stock video footage?
Want to use stock videos in a more creative way to promote your business? Check out these tips and tricks from our videographers.
- Do not hesitate to change to another. You can choose another action that has the same meaning if you are unable to find the perfect match.
- You can edit videos if you feel that some need to be adjusted. Recheck licenses, or use them from a collection.
- Avoid common visual metaphors or images associated with stock. Use music to create more connections. Videos with sound create a dynamic and cohesive feel.
You may be interested in exploring other creative methods to gain the confidence you need to invest in video marketing. Now, check out these tips!
B-roll
You may have seen B-roll on TV. B-rolls can be secondary video clips that are used to supplement the main videos, like aerial views or apartment building shots, in order to provide a better understanding of the location.
It gives you a lot of space to add visuals, because it joins together two clips. You can also use it to make a documentary. You don’t have to bring a crew or equipment to every location as a filmmaker.
Commercials and Ads
You know that commercials and advertising use cinematic stock video, motion pictures and product demonstrations to tell a story. Commercial ads can convey a message using a variety of techniques, including a somber tone, a pop-culture moment, or an upbeat mood.
Video Backgrounds
UX and graphic design professionals sometimes choose video backgrounds to create the right mood and view. Forbes reports that movements grab 400% more attention than a hero blocked on any website or a large catalogue of stock videos. The video backgrounds can help create a mood. Focus on the core details of your product or marketing.
Short-form Videos for Social Media
Social media is used by brands to promote their products and services in order to increase leads and revenues. Social media videos are a great way to showcase your creative sales pitch. Stock videos can be used to create short, attention-grabbing videos for Instagram, TikTok or YouTube.
Final Verdict
What is stock footage, and how can you benefit from it? You should have enough information about professional sites and stock footage to select the perfect video marketing solution. What are you waiting on? Now it’s your chance to create a great video and get more traffic.