Ever notice how often brands consistently limit the images they use to young, white, straight, able-bodied, cisgender people?
There is a frustrating lack of diversity in marketing.
The gist: Diverse imagery in marketing means using photos and illustrations that reflect the full range of people in your community, across race, age, ability, body size, gender identity, and family structure. Audit your current images for sameness and stereotypes, then refresh them using inclusive stock photo libraries so more people feel seen in your brand.
While the trend is shifting slightly, it’s a change that is way overdue, and there is still progress to be made.
There is a whole world of difference in the people around us, and if you want to be truly inclusive in your marketing, it’s time to start thinking about the diversity of your existing audience, and who you want to be in your audience – and ensure that same diversity is reflected in the images you use to promote your business.
What Does Diversity in Marketing Imagery Mean?
Diversity doesn’t end with gender, race, or ethnicity. It also honors a variety of abilities, cultures, ages, sexual orientations, and statuses.
Stereotypes can misrepresent and oversimplify groups by suggesting common standards.
These stereotypes imply certain people do certain things in given situations.
For example, images used in marketing commonly stereotype women as always cleaning, romance as heterosexual, and families as monochromatic (all one race), etc. This can lead to racism, ageism, sexism, and leave out many other underrepresented groups.
All too often, many diverse populations are simply left out. Many brands have gravitated toward young, white, straight, able-bodied cisgender men for decades.
This has left out the vast majority of people across the world – women, people of color, various cultures, disabled people, and gender non-conforming people to name a few – the list goes on!
In fact, in a 2019 study of film-based advertising by the Geena Davis Institute, the number of male models outnumbered the number of female models two-to-one. That’s twice as many men-to-women characters in ads – and men were given twice the screen time & speaking roles, and were depicted as funny and/or leaders, whereas women were largely oversexualized.
People with disabilities only represented 2.2% of the characters in ads, while 19% of the population has a disability…and the number of LGTQIA+ people in advertising was even fewer.
Dismal statistics, at best.
Why Does Diverse Imagery Matter?
For far too long, images have depicted a specific look in the models used, often leading the reader to believe they should want to be like that image. That is not reality and shouldn’t be the way people learn to view themselves.
Unfortunately, that same 2019 study I mentioned above also found that only 7.2% of characters had large body types, whereas 39% of the general population are larger in actuality – and large people are stereotyped in advertising, often depicted as lazy, or shown eating/drinking more often than smaller bodied people.
Body positivity is important and as a “plus size” woman I love seeing ads that feature larger models. Take Torrid, for example. This business caters to plus-size fashion and does so very well by highlighting a variety of bigger-bodied women of different shapes and sizes.
I’ve also seen some pretty great ads on social, where a gender-diverse person is promoting menstrual products. There were so many amazing, beautiful comments. People were finally feeling seen for the first time. So much praise was given to the company.
Catering to a more diverse population in your brand imaging is not only the right thing to do as a human, but it is also a powerful way to grow your brand.
By making more people feel seen in the images you use, you will, by default, connect with a wider audience.
How to Audit Your Marketing Images for Diversity
A quick image audit shows you who your marketing currently welcomes and who might be missing. Here’s how to start:
- Gather your current images. Pull together the photos and graphics from your website, social media, emails, ads, and sales pages.
- Notice who appears. Look at race, age, ability, body size, gender expression, and family structure, keeping in mind that many identities aren’t visible. Jot down who shows up often and who rarely appears.
- Look at the roles people play. Notice who’s leading, who’s helping, who’s celebrating, and who’s doing chores. Patterns can reveal stereotypes, like women always cleaning or larger-bodied people only shown eating.
- Compare to your community. Think about the people you serve today and the people you hope to welcome. Your Inclusive Ideal Client Avatar is a helpful guide here.
- Make a list of gaps. Write down specific images you’d love to add, like an older business owner leading a meeting or a wheelchair user celebrating a win.
- Refresh gradually. Swap in new images as you create content, starting with high-visibility pages like your homepage and About page. Add thoughtful alt text as you go.
- Revisit regularly. Check your images again every few months so your marketing keeps growing alongside your community.
Ready to fill those gaps? These stock photo libraries are a great place to start.
Where Can You Find Diverse Stock Photos?
- https://genderphotos.vice.com/ – The Gender Spectrum Collection is a free LGBTQ+ stock photo library
- https://www.wocintechchat.com/blog/wocintechphotos – stock photos of women of color in tech
- https://nappy.co/ – Beautiful photos of Black and Brown people, for free.
Or, if you have the budget to access paid stock photo sites, try one of these on for size:
- https://tonl.co/ – culturally diverse stock photos representing the true world we live in.
- https://www.diversityphotos.com/ – visual content that authentically represents our global community.
- https://createherstock.com/ – Authentic stock images featuring melanated women.
- https://www.blackillustrations.com/ – Beautiful illustrations of Black people for your next digital project
- https://Depositphotos.com – This is a more general stock footage site where you can search by age, ethnicity, and/or gender.
- https://affecttheverb.com/disabledandhere/ – A disability-led stock image and interview series celebrating disabled Black, Indigenous, people of color.
In the end, being inclusive is kind and also good for business.
You care about people – show that your brand and business care too. Show that you are willing to go the extra mile to find images and create diverse content.
Let’s Keep This Conversation Going
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FAQs
People look for themselves in the images brands share. When your photos reflect a wide range of people, more of your audience feels seen and welcome, and your brand connects with a broader community. Diverse imagery also helps break down stereotypes that have long shaped advertising.
Free options include Nappy, the #WOCinTech Chat collection, and the Disabled And Here collection, along with searches on general sites like Unsplash or Pexels. Paid libraries often let you filter by age, ethnicity, and other details to find exactly what you need.
Look at the roles people play in your images along with who appears. Notice who’s leading, who’s cleaning, or who’s eating, and mix those roles up. Showing disabled people and larger-bodied people in everyday, confident moments goes a long way.
Gather the images from your website, social media, and emails, and notice who appears and in what roles. Compare that to the community you serve and the people you’d like to welcome. Any gaps become your list of images to add. Learn how to create an Inclusive Ideal Client Avatar.
Diverse stock photos are a wonderful start when they reflect a genuine commitment to inclusion. Pairing them with real actions, like featuring actual clients and team members (with permission) and amplifying diverse voices, keeps your imagery authentic. Learn how to amplify diverse voices with care.
Describe what’s happening in the image without assuming anyone’s gender or identity. Mention details like race or disability only when they matter to the image’s meaning. This keeps descriptions accurate, respectful, and helpful for screen reader users. Learn how to write helpful alt text.
