Welcome to Digital Alex, where you'll get Actionable Advice for Better Internet Marketing. If you're new, explore my archives and subscribe to my RSS feed.
I’m back! After a crazy 6 weeks at work (6 new clients!), I finally have some time to get back into writing. In case you missed it, I was blogging elsewhere about blog conversion and the importance of search queries.
Last time I wrote, I mentioned 4 ways to profit from the buying cycle. Let’s get right into the meat and potatoes of closing the sale on your ecommerce site: pictures.
If you want to sell online, then you have to close the tangibility gap–the inability of a customer to touch, feel and assess your product. Great copy goes a long way, but you’ll need compelling pictures to fill in the gaps. Here are 16 ways to sell more with better pictures:
1. Provide Zoom In – The #1 issue with pictures (in my opinion) is that they’re too small. It can be hard to distinguish features and detail. This is doubly true if you sell clothes and people want to inspect patterns, stitching and other nuances.
2. Offer Multiple Angles – Front, back, sides, top, bottom. Make it easy for people to see your products from every side. It also helps reduce return rates, because there are no unexpected surprises.
3. Scan and Review Details – Think of scanning as an advanced zoom. It lets you get very close to the product and pull the zoom up and down to review the product as if you were holding it. The finer the detail, and the bigger the price, the more people will want to examine closely.
4. Packaging – If your product features an especially interesting package, as is often the case for jewelry or any well designed product, consider showing the packaging as well. It sells the whole purchase experience.
5. Product in Use – Demonstrate how the product works in picture. Help people visualize themselves using it.
6. Product in Settings (usage ideas, aspirational settings) – Furniture retailers have this one down perfectly. I love Room and Board for all of their design ideas. They understand the aesthetic of their
7. 3-D Rotation – Sometimes static pictures don’t tell the hole story of a product, especially detailed ones like collectibles.
8. Paired with Other Products (cross-sell/up-sell) – Show the ideal pairing – a great wine with a wine glass, the perfect shirt with a pair of pants, or a Vespa in a great Italian city.
9. Show it in the Quantity it’s Sold – If you sell a multi-pack, show the full quantity you get with the purchase. This can help with perceived value.
10. Demonstrate Scale – It can be hard to gauge size online. Compare your object to commonly understood objects to relate scale. Quarters or other small change work for small objects. Soda cans are easy for medium sized objects. You can also just photograph it next to a ruler.
11. Explain Complex Components (ex: DVD hookups) – Some products, like DVD players or computers, have very specific compatibility. The problem is that not every customer understands technical documentation. Show the actual hookup, and possibly the thing they plug in, to help people find the product that matches their need.
12. Show Ease of Use – This overlaps with #5 a bit. If people can’t feel and play with the product, you can replicate the experience to some degree by showing the simplicity of use.
13. Compare Favorably to Other Products (ex: size of TVs) – If you have a range of products, stack them up side by side. If your product compares favorably to others, show them and highlight the differences.
14. Show a Specific Feature (such as design or seam) - Some features are a real point of differentiation, such as the iPod’s scroll wheel. Highlight the distinguishing details with extra photos.
15. Demonstrate Assembly – If your product has to be assembled, you might want to show the steps. A word of warning here, don’t do this if assembly is complicated.
16. Compare Products Within or Among Product Families/Categories – Comparison shopping is just as visual as it is about specs and copy. It works just as well in laptops as it does in clothing.
If you’ve got some good examples of persuasive photos, leave a link in the comments section.
