Product photography so important if you’re a product-based business. Customers will be drawn to your images before they read your product description. So you need to be sure that your products look great and stand out from the crowd. But is it possible to get affordable product photography? Here we explain why great product photography on a budget is totally achievable for your brand.
Product photography for online shopping sites
Online shopping is on the rise, especially right now, so if you’re selling products on e-commerce sites such as eBay, Amazon, Not On The High Street, Etsy, and other sites, you need great product photography. All of these sites have product photography specifications for a reason. They all know that great photography sells products!
93% of consumers consider images essential in purchasing decisions
Just look at Amazon. Sellers really do separate themselves from their competition by investing in high-resolution, professional photographs that are professionally lit with a clean white background. Successful high-volume sellers on Amazon, and other sites, understand that using professional photographs and strong supporting images typically results in higher sales conversions and better click-through rates.
Affordable Product Photography
90% of information transmitted to our brain is visual. Basically, pictures make more of an impact than words. So website visitors are first engaged by visuals, not the actual words or product descriptions. Therefore, photographs are a key part of a consumer’s decision-making process because a strong image will invite customers to take a closer look. And amazingly 93% of consumers consider images essential in purchasing decisions. So that’s why great product photography is so important!
The key to making the most of that first impression is to present polished, professional images that stand out from the competition
The power of a great image is undeniable, and if you’re not including exceptional product photography images on your website, then you could be losing out on sales. Using high-resolution photographs that show your product and help tell your product story is the most effective way of making a great first impression on potential buyers. And you need to make a strong first impression when you consider that, on average, users stay on a website for less than 15 seconds. And it takes about 50 milliseconds (that’s 0.05 seconds) for users to form opinions about your website. Great images increase the chances of people hanging around or clicking on your product to find out more.
Great quality product photography is so important because it might be the difference between making a sale and losing a lot of customers
Does the quality of your image match the quality of your products?
There are some great products out there. But if you have a great product but poor quality images, people will make a judgment. The quality of a product photo reflects your brand image, creating the first impression. When customers view products on your websites and platforms, they take a view on quality and value. Professional product photography shows transparency and builds trust. You want to create images that engage with your ideal customer, that convert into sales, and that creates loyalty.
Affordable product photography
The key to great product photography is to keep it simple. Amazon’s requirement is that the product for sale should dominate the shot (taking up at least 85% of the space available) and should be on a pure white background so that the product is clear. Graphics, illustrations, and text are not allowed, and for good reason. You want your product to be the hero.
Keep in mind that you don’t need a large budget to create polished and professional product photos. When businesses get in touch with us to enquire about professional product photography they are often unsure of what kind of product photography they need. Let us explain and it is as well as the things you need to consider.
What is Product Photography?
Product photography is about showcasing your products in an attractive way to capture the attention of potential buyers to purchase specific products.
Product photography is an essential part of both online and offline marketing and is used in catalogues, brochures, magazine adverts, advertorials, editorial, social media, and company websites, specifically when selling products direct to consumers.
Product photography needs to be on brand and project quality and value. The quality of the image, the product itself, the colours and the balance of the image should be consistent with your brand and should be focussed on your target customer. Who is this product for? Make sure that you’re speaking specifically to them.
This recent shoot we did for start-up Pommel has done a great job at harnessing the power of great photography. With a very small budget, the brief was to create simple product shots (against a white background) for the product page of their new website, plus they showcase their new range of horse grooming products in a fun way. They wanted to be disruptive, stand out from the crowd, show off their British heritage, and have images that were polished but super brand-charged.
Increasingly, people are looking for remote product photography and Pommel used our Product Photography by Post service. They dropped the products to do, gave us an outline of the brief and we worked up some ideas in advance before going ahead with the shoot.
Different types of product photography
White background, product-only images
These should include your featured product and they are often shot from a variety of different angles. Although they are very simple, these images are often the most impactful and shot well, they will show your product in its best light. These images show your product clearly so that the customer can get a strong idea at a glance and they are best suited for your product pages, as well on e-commerce sites.
Cut-out product photography
These are what you’ll need if you’re sending your images to the press as they often require images that are cut out so that they can be easily placed on the page. They are also great if you’re looking to create graphics that will include your images or want to create composite images of your cut out products.
Lifestyle product photography or styled product photography
These are more styled images – either showing the product in use or using props to tell more of a story about your product. These images are great for marketing literature, social media, website banners, and advertising.
We are happy to work with you on these kinds of images, either sourcing complimentary products and props for the shoot or working with props provided by you. This type of shoot generally requires more time, not just during the photo-shoot, but in the pre-shoot preparing and we’ll often ask for screengrabs or example images that you like (and don’t like) and together we can create a clear brief.
