TRANSITIONING INTO A "DIGITAL FIRST" MENTALITY
It’s no secret that 2020 has proven itself to be a historic year. The COVID-19 Pandemic has created unrest and disrupted several industries along the way. While companies like Zoom, Amazon, Charmin and Lysol are thriving, it’s a different story for other major industries at large, as well as lot of small business owners. Companies today are putting a lot more effort into their digital brand identities and relying heavily on web based platforms and social media networks in order to serve the needs of their customers and keep their business moving forward. Whether you’re new to selling your products online or you’ve already created a digital footprint in the world of e-commerce, I wanted to provide some helpful tips for improving your visual marketing strategy and increasing your potential for e-commerce sales during the pandemic.
GETTING YOUR PRODUCTS ONLINE
If your company is not already a well established brand selling consumer products on a mass scale directly through retailers like Target or Walmart, then first and foremost you’re going need a platform in which to sell your products. Fortunately and unfortunately, there are a LOT of options to choose from these days. If you’re a small business or perhaps you're launching a completely new brand, you may want to go the route of selling your products through established and well trusted e-commerce websites like Amazon or Ebay. This is a great way to start because people already use and trust the Amazon brand. In fact, in a 2020 article from Variety, "Amazon announced that it now has more than 150 million paid Prime members worldwide.” Those figures came from their fourth quarter 2019 results. And that’s not even including people with standard non-prime accounts. However, it’s important to keep in mind that simply being on the platform doesn’t guarantee success as there are many factors to consider such as your product images, pricing, reviews and rankings to name just a few.
If you’re already an established brand or you're a company that simply wants more control of your customer's buying journey, you may want to consider checking out platforms like Big Commerce, Squarespace or WIX to fulfill orders. Each of these platforms provide options for online payment gateways as well as metrics that can help you make more informed marketing decisions based on real data. And of course, you can always build something completely custom by hiring an experienced web designer or web design agency.
PRODUCT PHOTOGRAPHY PLAYS A CRUCIAL ROLE IN SELLING YOUR PRODUCTS ONLINE
You might be asking yourself, “does product photography really impact my e-commerce performance?" Of course it does! I can’t stress enough the importance that product photography plays in the world of e-commerce. According to a Forbes article, when asked what makes for a great shopping experience online, more than 87% of people said that clear product images are the most important part of a great online shopping experience for them. This makes total sense right? You shop with your eyes first. Once that image has your visual attention, you're more likely to look further into the product details, reviews and pricing. It just makes sense. Think about the last time you visited a doctors office or had an appointment somewhere. While waiting, you probably picked up a magazine and started flipping through the pages. What made you stop on a specific page? The image!
Even if your immediate need is simply to have your products shot on a clean white background, more goes into producing an e-commerce product image than you might think. If your products have chrome, glass, or other reflective surfaces, you need to know how to properly light them to bring out the shape, form and texture of those surfaces. In order to help guide the look and aesthetic of your imagery, It’s also important to keep your branding in the forefront of your mind. Cosmetic brands like Clinique have a very distinct and consistent look to their e-commerce imagery, especially when it comes to their trademark metal caps. They’re all lit in a pleasing and consistent manner.
Did you know that in order to achieve a pure white background on your product shots, your RGB values need to be at a value of 255? If you’re photographing your own products and don’t know what I’m talking about, that’s a good indicator that you may not be getting the consistent results that a good e-commerce image requires. That’s why having knowledge of lighting and industry standard post production software like Photoshop is so important. If this isn’t something you’re comfortable taking on yourself, it’s definitely worth considering hiring someone with these skills.
HAVE A VISUAL MARKETING STRATEGY
Having a visual marketing strategy in place is extremely important in developing an authentic brand experience that builds credibility and trust. If you’re going to sell your products online, it goes without saying, you'll need beautifully well lit shots on clean white backgrounds in order to clearly show your product. However, there’s more to it than that. It’s also important to pre-visualize your ongoing photography needs.
Whether you’re planning a digital marketing or advertising campaign around your product(s), or you’re looking to create engaging imagery for your social media channels, you’ll want to put some thought into the creative direction and art direction of the imagery. This is the foundation of your visual marketing plan. The creative direction should be informed by the message you’re trying to put in front of your target demographic. Your messaging should not only speak to your ideal demographic, it should simultaneously drive home your company’s mission statement, core values and visual brand identity.
You’ll need to consider the hero shots or key art that you’ll use, as it will serve as the face of your campaign. You’ll also want to think about your secondary images that will help support and continue the theme of the imagery. This is an ideal role for your internal marketing team. However, if you have a small marketing team, or you just want some fresh new ideas, it’s also worth considering hiring some outside help. Most companies choose to hire a digital marketing firm or advertising agency for these services. However, more and more, the traditional agency model is changing. It’s not uncommon these days that commercial photographers are conceptualizing ideas and art directing their own shoots; in other words playing the role of art director and creative director at a traditional agency. These types of services often come in the form of a creative consulting fee on the front end of a project and is a separate fee and service from the photo shoot itself. The advantage of working this way is that you’d now have the technical abilities and creative abilities of conceptualizing and art directing all in one place.
CREATE AN EMOTIONAL CONNECTION THROUGH IMAGERY
Make an emotional connection with your audience whenever possible. This is important under normal circumstances, but during a pandemic, it becomes even more important. In times of struggle and uncertainty, people want to feel comforted. Your goal should be to visualize your products in a heroic way and evoke emotion. Whether that’s creating photography that shows your product in use, your product in an environment or your product on a small studio set. Using these types of images can create visual opportunities for people to engage with your brand in a genuine and meaningful way.
CONSIDER INTEGRATING EMERGING VISUAL TECHNOLOGIES
Don’t underestimate the power of an immersive online shopping experience. Though state mandated closings, quarantines and limited store hours may prohibit customers from physically shopping in stores, the use of immersive technologies can help bridge the gap between physical stores and e-commerce. You may want to consider adding 360s of your products to your e-commerce site as well as implementing Augmented Reality technologies. According to research from Cappasity, "The purchase probability is at its highest when a person spends around 50 seconds on the item page.” These types of interactive technologies increase page time and therefore the probability of a purchase.
ADD MOTION TO YOUR VISUAL MARKETING STRATEGY WITH GIFS, CINEMAGRAPHS & PRODUCT VIDEOS
In addition to still images, consider adding some level of motion into your brand's visual marketing strategy. You may want to consider integrating animated gifs and cinemagraphs into your visual repertoire. These are especially great for social media! Create 30 second sizzle reels that show your product in motion along with some uplifting music and motion graphics. This type of video content is great for both advertising and social media engagement. Additionally, creating how-to product videos can help provide customers with a clearer vision of how your products actually work which in turn creates a closer connection to your brand. Last but not least, it’s not a bad idea to consider reaching out to social media influencers who review products in your industry.
LEVERAGE ORGANIC SEARCH AS PART OF YOUR MARKETING MISSION
Marketing and Advertising is a long term strategy. Let’s face it, you can spend an unlimited amount of money on advertising and you may see an immediate return, or you may not. There’s no guarantee. That being said, in addition to paid advertising, it’s really important to work on leveraging your organic search as well. This means that you’re creating content around your products that are relevant to the needs of your clients and you’re posting this content to your website on a consistent basis. From there, you’re using your social media channels to share this content and engage the community you build around the products your company creates. Doing this helps drive organic traffic to your products over time.
Should you focus your energy on organic search, digital marketing or paid advertising? The answer is; all of these! As the old saying goes, "Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket." Ultimately the more your product is seen online, the better chance you have of making a connection, building credibility, selling your products and creating ambassadors for your brand.
CONCLUSION
While having a visual marketing strategy with great photography and video can certainly increase the sales of your products, it’s important to remember that, first and foremost, you have to have a solid product that solves a problem, makes life easier and enriches lives. Your branding and visual identity are also crucial in separating your products from those of your competitors. Your brand and company mission will always inform the types of images that are created around your products. If you’re confident that your brand already has these qualities, start implementing the strategies outlined in this article and you’re well on your way to creating opportunities for your business during the pandemic.
