Shopping through brick-and-mortar stores allows consumers to closely see, touch, smell, and even taste products to have a good understanding of its quality and use.
However, with online shopping, consumers rely mostly on what they see to make a purchasing decision. This is where product photography becomes one of the most vital aspects of ecommerce stores.
What is product photography?
Product photography is a type of commercial photography that aims to present a product in an appealing and accurate representation.
Great product photography considers high image resolution, sharp camera focus, helpful camera angles, proper lighting, and professional photo editing among others to produce high-quality product images that attract and inform consumers.
Why is product photography important to ecommerce marketing?
To further drive sales to your marketing efforts, here’s why product photography is a necessary part of ecommerce marketing especially for small businesses.
1. It compensates for a sensory experience of the product
Since online consumers can’t ‘feel’ the product, the product photos fill that gap by providing detailed and accurate images of the item.
Great product photography helps consumers understand the product and guides them in making a purchase.
Additionally, when paired with good product copy, it can help enhance that overall experience for consumers.
Here’s an example of a product image that showcases the item while making it appealing to consumers.
Screenshot from Bliss
Image Source: Bliss
By presenting the moisturizer’s packaging, and showing a close up of the moisturizer’s consistency, the product photos give an idea of what the product will look and feel like when the consumer buys it.
Additionally, its clean and minimal aesthetic gives a high-quality feel to the product enhancing its appeal and legitimacy.
A detailed and well-taken product photo can convince consumers to buy the product as the photos show what to expect if they buy the product.
Moreover, providing detailed and correct images of your products will help prevent customer returns and complaints due to inaccurate product representation.
2. Attracts viewers and potential customers
The more appealing your items look, the more likely it is for your consumers to buy them.
Since 75% of consumers rely on images to shop online, your product images should not only provide information, but it should also entice your consumers to purchase the item.
To produce quality photos, always keep these in mind:
- Keep image resolution in mind
Ensure you’re shooting in the highest possible resolution to allow consumers to zoom in and see details of the products. - Consider the right angles
Shooting in the best possible camera angles showcases the product in an appealing and unique way. - Provide even lighting
Good lighting will showcase the product’s true colors and will provide a professional-looking finish to your photos. - Maximize your camera’s focus
Play around with your camera’s focus to provide depth and sharpness to your photos.
- Choose a good background
Use a plain white background or a contrasting background to highlight the item in your photos. - Always edit photos
Clean backgrounds, improve color or brightness and add effects such as professional Lightroom presets.
Presenting a polished and professional-looking product image catches the eyes of consumers and shows them that your products are high quality and authentic just by looking at the quality of your products.
3. Establishes your brand and authority
Keep in mind that how you present your products should also be in line with your brand. It helps consumers associate the products to your ecommerce store and helps them remember you.
Similarly, your product images should help build your ecommerce brand and establish your authority and value to your consumers.
So, if you want to be perceived as a reliable and high-quality retailer, you should make an effort to produce quality photos of your products.
Additionally, providing high-quality product images will help you compete with other stores that sell the same products.
Better product images and descriptions can make your version of the product more appealing, resulting in increased sales and brand patronage.
Combining your brand with great product photography enables you to set yourself apart from other online retailers.
4. Boosts your SEO
Improving your organic search will help consumers find your products online. Aside from having good photos, optimizing your product images will widen your online reach helping drive more sales.
Here are a few ways to optimize your product images for SEO:
- Name your image files
Avoid uploading image files such as “image001.jpg” since Google can’t read images. Instead, describe the photo clearly. For example, you can put “red-and-white-sneakers.jpg”, or simply put its product name.
However, avoid using long filenames and don’t add too many keywords as these can negatively impact your ranking.
- Put alt text on your images
Alt text is used to describe the image to search engines so that they can read and understand them. Otherwise, your product photos may not show up on search engines.
It’s best practice to put at least one keyword on an alt text and use only relevant photos for your content to avoid getting penalized by search engines.
- Use the right image size and type
Most ecommerce stores use the JPEG format for photos because it renders high-resolution photos for a smaller size.
Having a smaller file size allows your web pages to load faster. Slower loading times can also negatively affect your SEO ranking.
Most importantly, you wouldn’t want your consumers waiting on your product images to load as that can make them leave your ecommerce store without purchasing anything.
To maximize your product images, make sure to optimize it for SEO.
5. Use in other ecommerce marketing efforts
Aside from your online store, your product images can also help in your email marketing, social media, and online ad campaigns.
Using your product images across your marketing platforms allows you to expand your reach and create consistent content and branding in your campaigns.
Moreover, good visual content is 40% more likely to be shared online boosting your traffic and brand awareness organically.
Additionally, reusing your photos can also save on marketing costs as you can create different campaigns for different platforms using your high-quality photos.
Product photography is not only an effective way to attract consumers and make sales, but it is also a cost-efficient way to produce various ecommerce marketing campaigns.
Leverage product photography for your ecommerce campaigns
Overall, product photography can guide a consumer starting from brand awareness until making a purchase.
With proper product marketing and the use of marketing attribution software to measure metrics, expect your ecommerce marketing to drive growth and sales to your online store.