Today, shopping begins with a click and ends with payment being made through digital channels. The Internet is the new shopping mall. As per the report from Statista, ‘the number of digital buyers is expected to reach over 2 billion in 2020.’ Source
The massive number of buyers, on the one hand, presents a lucrative opportunity for eCommerce businesses to generate more business and increase their revenue. On the other hand, it has made the online marketplace competitive than ever. As more and more businesses are entering the online space, sellers are finding it hard to convince digital shoppers to buy their products.
Online sellers use a range of digital strategies and marketing tricks to influence buyers’ decisions. But, no matter how much they try, the ultimate choice is with the buyer. The only thing the sellers can work on is ‘how they are presenting their products to the seller.’
Today, many resources are being used to make the product more presentable and appealing to the buyer. However, there is one resource that has a significant impact on buying behavior: product photography.
Whenever people see a breathtaking picture, they immediately assume that a high tech camera must have been used or the editing on the picture is done by a professional. Indeed, there is no denying the fact that gear and editing tools are essential for a good photograph. However, they aren’t the only elements that make a picture ‘breathtaking’ or ‘impactful.’
This has a lot to do with the creative skills of the photographer. Photography is a process, which, if done right, can be very beneficial for an online business. Below, we explore five reasons to show why eCommerce businesses need to pursue creative photography.
1. A personal touch:
An image must carry an emotional appeal that every individual can relate to. Creative product photography depicts the personality of a company and renders an individuality to the product to make it stand out from the lot. Stock photos fail to provide the uniqueness that an eCommerce business requires to convert leads.
2. Replicating the in-person experience:
Buyers can smell, touch, taste, or even hear the product they want to purchase in a brick and mortar store. But how do you create the same experience when it comes to an online store? The simple answer is creative product images.
In online purchasing, buyers have to rely almost entirely on the product visuals to make a decision. Images are the closest that a buyer can get to an in-store experience. For instance, if you run an online leather jacket store, close-up images of the product with zoom-ins from multiple angles can compensate for the buyer’s inability to touch the actual product.
Tips for recreating the real-life shopping experience online:
- Offer 360-degree views: 360-degree product images give the customer the additional confidence required to purchase online. A survey found that 91 percent of online shoppers want a 360-degree view of products before they buy them.
- Enable zooming: Many customers care a lot about the details of a product. Use high-quality images that the users can zoom in to view all the details they need to see to make a purchase.
- Include close-up images from different angles: The more of your product a consumer can see, the more you will gain their confidence. Adding close up of your product will give a buyer complete idea in terms of the appearance of the product.
- Added Tip: Nowadays people are also posting short videos when they list their products, these short videos are taken from many different angles and sometimes a drone is being used to give a quick walkthrough of the product. You can check out this article on Alaska Photography about some nice tips on aerial photography.
3. Get it shared on social media platforms:
Dominating the social media platforms is crucial to winning the eCommerce game. Getting your photography right is only half the battle. The other half is to spread it among online shoppers. It will contribute towards building a loyal community that finds your brand aspirational.
Since creative photos beg to be shared, you will get the opportunity to expand your reach, boost brand awareness, and maximizes your sales in the process. It will considerably complement your marketing efforts without any additional expenses on your part.
Share your product on visual platforms like Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, and Facebook, and generate some buzz through community-created content.
Also Read: Beach Photography Tips from Agi Davis and Sandy Feet Australia
Tips to dominate social media:
- Create a visual content calendar: Determine how you will distribute your visual content across various channels. Create a plan regarding ‘what to share’ and ‘where to share’ beforehand. Choose a select few of your best images and share them on social media.
- Use a social media scheduler: Once you have a content calendar, use social media management tools to schedule posts, and analyze your performance across different social platforms. Using a social media scheduler will make sure that you are consistent with your promotions, and all the effort you put into creating the best content is rewarded.
4. Getting a competitive edge:
Demonstrating your creative skills is imperative in eCommerce photography because your competitors are also using the same tools and programs to present their product.
Therefore, you will need to put on your creative hat to make yourself stand out from the competition.
It will require you to present your product in a way that illustrates your unique perspective and vision to the consumers. Here is a great resource on larrysaavedra about perspective in photography. It will not only increase your authority as an eCommerce business in the niche but also enhance the perceived value of your products.
Also Read: Newborn & Family Doorstep Photographs, Tooting, South West London
5. Let the pictures tell a story:
“An image is worth more than a thousand words when it comes to attracting the attention of a client”, a quote from photographer Nicholas Tinelli who has been working on Brand Image for individuals and companies for years.
Also Check Out: Preparing your Boudoir or Glamour photo shoot.
Capture photos that tell a story. Your SEO efforts can only drive traffic to your store, but to convert the traffic into customers, you will have to let your creative juices flow. Use product photos that can speak the story for you without you having to guide how a product works.
If you are a fashion brand, your pictures should enable the buyer to imagine themselves in the apparel. So, make sure you have some images ready that can convince them to purchase the product right off the bat.
Final thoughts:
Every day, we are bombarded with many images on social media. We forget most of them but remember only a few. Those few images trigger something inside us that makes us remember them.
The importance of good photography for online businesses is much emphasized, and rightly so! They do carry immense appeal. Therefore, e-commerce businesses need to create photos that have an impact. Only then will they be able to attract buyers.
