Winning in ecommerce is about maximizing the details. In a sea of competitors, the details are what tilt the field of play for or against your brand’s favor.
When launching your brand’s ecommerce presence, big factors like inventory levels, promotional strategy and developing a digital presence with retailers are all at the forefront. But once those big boxes are checked, there’s still one critical factor that can move the needle in a big way: top-tier product imagery.
Great product imagery helps your products stand out and make connections with customers. In a previous post, we detailed an ecommerce imagery best practice guide that touches on every aspect of product imagery. The second piece to building out your brand’s image assortment is developing an image strategy.
Think of your image strategy as your game plan. It is mapping out how your brand will ensure you have images that meet customer expectations and maximize online sale opportunities. These five considerations will help you determine what’s right for your brand.
Great Lifestyle Imagery Has a Profound Impact
Without dynamic lifestyle imagery, the odds of your brand and products standing out are few and far between. Great lifestyle imagery does require an initial investment, but it’s a necessary one in the modern e-commerce landscape.
Customers expect to see lifestyle imagery that feels aspirational. In the age of social media, consumers have access to celebrity-level styling at the touch of a button. Aspirational imagery helps consumers envision how great a product might look in their home. Shooting products in dreamy settings helps customers feel inspired, pin/save ideas and try to mimic that level of styling in their own space.
When you pair silhouette images from multiple angles with aspirational lifestyle imagery, customers know exactly what to expect. It makes your products incredibly shoppable, resulting in reduced return rates and increased customer satisfaction.
3D Imagery Can Scale Your Image Catalog Quickly
Scaling product imagery for an entire catalog of products can be challenging, but tapping into 3D imagery makes this more manageable. It is a more cost-effective way to showcase your products in a wide variety of settings – all with the click of a mouse.
While 3D imagery also tends to require an investment upfront, like purchasing the proper photo editing software and hiring an employee or contractor to do that work, you’ll still likely save money compared to a full-scale operation that involves renting an expensive space, hiring a photography team and physically shooting every product in your catalog in a different setting.
You can do just as much with 3D imagery as you can with traditional photography, and can often support greater creativity in a more scalable manner.
User-Generated Imagery Can Help Establish Trust Among Customers
While it shouldn’t be your only source of imagery, user-generated content (UGC) can be valuable to showcase on a product page.
According to BazaarVoice, UGC establishes trust among customers, increases engagement and increases conversions. Displaying product reviews and customer testimonial images can positively influence potential customers.
Outside the product page, UGC can be used to strengthen your marketing and social media strategy. You can partner with influencers to bring attention to your products and improve your brand identity foothold. Or, use a branded hashtag to encourage customers to share or tag you in photos of your product in their homes.
Weigh Your Options When Choosing Between an Internal vs. External Photography Team
There are inherent benefits and drawbacks of both an internal and external photography team. Below are things to weigh out before deciding.
Using an internal photography team might be more expensive in the long-term because it means hiring at least one full-time employee. That said, an internal team allows for greater messaging control and could make sense if you have an expansive catalog or have frequent new releases that require photoshoots. An internal team could also help with placing 3D images on multiple digital backdrops.
An external photography team will let you pick and choose when to have a skilled photographer on hand, which limits cost. But depending on the size of your catalog and their availability, photoshoots could require months of advanced planning. With an outside team, your brand also wouldn’t have the ability to quickly take shots at a moment’s notice.
The More Images, The Better
A well-rounded product imagery strategy means plenty of image options for every product. It takes time, money and effort, but a thorough image catalog will take your brand a long way. Each product should be shot on a white background at as many angles as possible. Lifestyle photography and UGC should also be present whenever possible.
When shooting a single product in multiple colorways or finishes, it’s tempting to shoot one product and provide color swatches for the rest. Don’t do this. Images – not color swatches – allow customers to envision products in their home and feel a proper connection.
Whether your sales have started to stagnate, or your brand just wants to make incremental gains, solidifying your product imagery approach is an important step to take in your brand’s overall ecommerce strategy. Doing so will build brand credibility, help your brand get noticed and ultimately increase sales.
