Why B2B Visual Storytelling Requires Real People, Not Stock
Most B2B technology brands are showing the wrong thing. They fill their websites and campaigns with server racks, cable runs, and stock images of people who have never worked there. The result is content that looks like every competitor and connects with no one. Eric Yip, founder and photographer at EYXL Photo, has spent his career fixing that problem for B2B clients across Australia. In a recent Tech Exec Insights conversation, he made the case that authentic visual storytelling is not a nice-to-have — it is the mechanism through which brands build trust, attract talent, and close deals. Watch the full conversation before reading further.
[LINK: Eric Yip LinkedIn profile] | [LINK: EYXL Photo website]
EYXL Photo is a commercial photography and visual content studio based in Perth, Western Australia. The studio works with B2B organisations to develop custom image libraries that reflect actual people, culture, and operations — not generic stock. EYXL Photo’s clients range from technology companies to financial services firms, and the studio’s work spans brand photography, team imagery, partnership documentation, and executive headshots.
B2B Buying Is More Emotional Than Most Brands Admit
Eric opened the conversation with a point that challenges how most technology companies think about their marketing. He argues that B2B is increasingly converging with B2C — that the layers of procurement process and committee decision-making are not insulating buyers from emotional responses. They are still people, and people buy on emotion first.
“You need that connection. You’re starting to deal without a filter. And when that happens you have to show your best side.”
This is not a soft observation. Research cited in the conversation points to emotion driving upwards of 90% of buyer decision-making in B2B contexts. Buyers are not running spreadsheet comparisons in isolation. They are forming trust judgements based on what they see, and most brand imagery is not helping them form the right ones.
People-Focused Imagery Does More Than Marketing
When Eric works with a B2B client, he pushes them to move beyond product shots and infrastructure photography. He wants to capture the people inside the business — how teams collaborate, how they interact with customers, what the culture actually looks like in practice.
The downstream effects go beyond the sales funnel. Employees who participate in a genuine photography session come out of it more connected to the brand they are representing. As Eric put it, producing real images brings the marketplace closer to your operations, your staff, your culture — and it does so for both external audiences and internal ones.
He gave a specific example: a financing company that commissioned him to photograph a gym owner whose business expansion was funded by that company. The shoot was not about the lender’s products or processes. It was about the outcome — the equipment purchased, the business built, the people behind it. That kind of documentation creates content that stock libraries cannot replicate.
The Risk of AI Headshots and Volume-Driven Visual Content
Eric does not dismiss AI tools. He uses them in his own workflow and acknowledges the efficiency they bring. His concern is about where AI and stock imagery are introduced in the production process, and what gets lost when they replace authentic creation rather than support it.
He used AI headshots as a precise example. An AI-generated headshot from uploaded selfies takes two minutes and produces a technically acceptable result. A real headshot session takes twenty minutes and produces something else entirely: a person who has been asked how they see themselves, what they want others to see, and who has had a photographer work to bring that out. The image is different. So is the connection the employee has to it.
“You can’t take something fake and make it real.”
The same logic applies at scale. When businesses shoot large volumes of content without a clear brief tied to brand messaging, they generate images that go in different directions. Eric’s approach is to start with the key messaging framework and build the shot list from there. Every image produced has a purpose it was designed to serve.
What a Strong Visual Brief Actually Covers
When a CMO brings Eric in, the first thing he establishes is brand identity and persona. Not the aesthetic — the messaging. What does this brand stand for? What are the key points it needs to communicate? Who is it talking to?
From that foundation, he builds a shot list: compositions, locations, personalities. Every item on the list connects back to a message. When the deliverables are complete, each image earns its place because it was built to carry a specific piece of the brand story.
He also makes the case for photography, videography, and audio working together as one cohesive library rather than separate outputs. A still image for LinkedIn, a video clip for YouTube, a podcast excerpt — all should draw from the same authentic source material, reinforcing each other rather than pulling the brand in different directions.
What This Means for B2B Technology Marketing
The problem Eric describes — brands defaulting to generic imagery because it is easier and faster — is the same problem Filament works on from a strategy and content angle. Building a content programme that actually connects with a B2B technology audience requires the same discipline Eric applies to visual work: start with the message, involve the right people, and produce assets that reflect what the business actually is. Speed without that foundation produces volume, not impact.
Start With a Strategy Conversation
If your visual and content strategy is producing assets that look like everyone else’s, that is worth examining before you produce more of them. Jeremy Balius works with B2B technology organisations to build content programmes that reflect genuine expertise and connect with the right audiences. Book a no-obligation strategy conversation to talk through where your current approach is working and where it is not.
