A picture is worth a thousand words — or, in the case of e-commerce, perhaps a thousand dollars.
E-commerce sales have grown exponentially, from $1.3 trillion in 2014 to an expected $8.1 trillion in 2026. How can you ensure your business gets a big slice of that pie? It’s simple — with powerful brand imaging, excellent product pictures, and compelling videos.
High-quality images and videos help build consumer trust when they can’t see or touch the product in person. It also helps customers find exactly what they’re looking for, whether they want only tops with ¾ length sleeves or mugs with the image on both sides, not just one.
Creating an e-commerce store with excellent visual marketing boosts sales and reduces returns — a true win-win for your business. You can also use the visuals across a variety of marketing channels.
Showcase Your Brand
How do you know you’re in a Target? The brand is everywhere. You see the target-shaped logo on signs and price tags, Spot the Dog is probably on at least one display sign, employees wear red vests, and even the self-check registers are bright red.
As someone who runs an e-commerce business, it’s vital to create the same immersive experience when someone is at your online store. The colors you use impact how customers feel: for example, cool colors like blue and green are calming and relaxing, while warm colors like red and orange are stimulating and produce excitement.
As people browse your online store, they should see your logo, brand colors, and complementary colors that generate the emotions that fit with your brand. Also, the e-commerce store should match your branding on other websites, including your home page and social media pages.
The Power of Product Pictures
It’s been said that people “eat with their eyes first,” and the same holds true for shopping online. Having high-quality images of your products from a variety of angles helps customers understand what they’re buying and generates excitement.
One of the keys to successful product pictures is to ensure excellent lighting. A product photography light box can help you showcase each item fully. Also, show pictures of your products in use. That will help customers imagine themselves using the product, which can increase their chances of buying it.
Finally, ensure each image is responsive for different screen sizes and is labeled correctly for search engine optimization (SEO). Know what keywords customers use to search for that product, and include those keywords in file names and alt tags.
It pays — literally — to make a great impression with product images.
Using Video to Boost Sales
There are many ways to use video to improve sales on your e-commerce store. Video is a powerful medium because it mixes visual and audio cues, and videos allow you to give a more real-life impression of your product in action.
A product hero video showcases your product up close and in detail from a variety of angles. This type of video provides more confidence to consumers than pictures, and having both pictures and a video is an unstoppable combination.
It’s also helpful to have a video showing your product in use. For example, you can show someone pouring a steaming cup of tea if you sell mugs or grinding coffee in the grinder you sell. Showing a person using and enjoying the product helps customers believe they’ll use and enjoy it as well, which boosts sales.
A tutorial video can be helpful if your product has a lot of details or has specific use instructions. For example, a pet harness can have a tutorial on how to put it on your pet correctly. Showing customers exactly how to successfully use the product can reduce confusion and boost buyers’ confidence that they can get the benefits the product promises.
Showcasing someone similar to your ideal customer using the product in their daily life is known as a lifestyle video, and it can help store visitors feel they’re the kind of person the product is made for. If you can afford to have an influencer popular with your audience in the video, it will have an even stronger impact.
Finally, a testimonial video can show customers that the product does deliver the benefits promised. You can encourage those who buy the product to send in a short video talking about why they enjoyed it, and then post those testimonials in your store.
Using some or all of these video types can make a significant difference in sales for your e-commerce store!
Don’t Overlook Cybersecurity
As you upload digital images and videos to your e-commerce store, don’t forget to protect the media assets and your store with proper cyber security best practices.
After you’ve been in business for a while, it can be tempting to let down your guard on security and develop a feeling that “it won’t happen to me.” This is known as security fatigue, and it puts your business at a significant risk of being compromised.
If you or your employees are struggling with security fatigue, you might notice unsafe password practices, a sense of frustration about security protocols, a tendency to ignore security updates, and other risky behaviors.
It’s important to remember that a security breach can cost a business millions of dollars, including lost revenues and lower trust levels from customers. Consider automating security as much as possible to reduce human involvement, using password programs so frequent user updates aren’t necessary, and setting up automatic alerts for suspicious activity.
Boost Sales With Excellent Images
Taking advantage of the impact of high-quality product photos and a wide variety of commercial videos can significantly boost sales in your e-commerce store. Of course, you want to use images properly and ensure your store stays secure.
When customers are able to see your products in action, they’ll trust your brand and buy more. If you’re not using pictures and videos, it’s time to start!
⸻ Author Bio ⸻
Sam Bowman enjoys writing about people, tech, business, and how they merge. He enjoys getting to utilize the internet for the community without actually having to leave his house. In his spare time, he likes running, reading, and combining the two in a run to his local bookstore.
