How important is the picture of your product, you asked.
Let’s say you are given a choice to only use either text or a photo to sell your product, which one do you think have a higher chance to convince a prospective customer?
Unless you are selling software, the choice is pretty obvious. The old adage a picture speaks a thousand words is very true in this case, and it can in fact be a deciding factor.
The product photos should achieve the following objectives:
- It gives customers a clear visual of what they are buying. So, if you have something complex, provide multiple angles. Label them if you have to.
- It shows that you are a serious seller, especially if the quality of the photography is good. By good, I mean it’s well-lit, high resolution (anything above 600 pixels in width and height wise) and most importantly, does not have watermark that does not belong to you.
- It removes doubts when it comes to product similarity disputes. Again, a good point for buyer confidence.
- Triggering impulse buying. This might sound a bit manipulative, but it’s true that visual is much more effective in triggering the emotion than just pure text alone.
It’s true that not everyone is proficient in graphic editing softwares, but a taking up a quick course in Photoshop will give you an edge over your competitors. There’s simply no excuse for not learning a skill that is critical to your business. Yes, if you have the resources, hire someone but if you are bootstrapping like most of the online entrepreneurs out there, you need this skill to get to the next phase of the game.
Investment in good photography equipment will definitely pay off in the long run. If you don’t have the time to shoot your own photos, outsource them. If you need product photographers’ contact, let me know. The going rate is about RM30 per photo.
With higher speed bandwidth, it’s also a very good idea to have how-to videos of your product to increase conversion rate.