If you were asked what are the primary senses of a human, what comes to mind? That’s right, the main 4 are smell, taste, hearing, and, of course, sight.
We use our sense of smell to sense if we like or dislike something or orient ourselves with our surroundings. We taste, to know if something gets our taste buds all excited and wanting more, and we hear for many reasons including but not limited to communication, orientation, and most importantly always listening to sounds or music that speak to us.
Now about probably the most important one: sight. 
When we see something or someone that we like, everything else seems to fall in line and the other 3 senses all of the sudden want to join in on the fun.
So, why exactly is there a stock photo, poor quality photos, or no photos at all of the products that you are trying to sell on your ecommerce site? Isn’t it your goal to maximize your profits and sell on a consistent basis? Ecommerce is here now, it is the biggest market on the planet, and it’s not stopping in its growth.
Remember those 4 little senses we mentioned? Well, only 1 of them is being used by your potential clients while searching for products that appeal to them, things they want, need, and just have to have. Sight… If you cannot invite a customer in with pictures of your products, entice them, and convert them into buyers on pure visual stimulation of the product they were already looking at buying with or without you, then you have a real problem.
This is why product photography is by far one of the most essential investments a seller can make into their business.
Invite them to feel through the screen
What does that mean? Unless you have a physical location that your customers can go to to feel, smell and hear what you are selling, their screens are the only storefront that you own, and it’s your job to make sure that when they use the sense of sight you make them forget how much they “need” to feel, smell and hear before pulling out their credit cards.
If your pictures tell a story, grab them by their feelings and the desire to buy based on how you made them feel with your images of your inventory, then you are already on your way to online sales success.
Paint them a picture using words
A good product description is crucial because remember that’s how your competition is selling the same inventory as you are except someone is running circles around you. They have painted the picture the consumer wants to see, and that picture is a good ratio of detailed and numerous pictures, and descriptions.
Product descriptions are the answers to the questions that they want to ask; whether it’d be statistics, features, or an elaborate explanation of the item, which will only bring them closer to buying from you specifically because you helped them imagine how it could cater to their desire to own or consume the product. Descriptions however are just words on paper without their unique fusion with the product they are describing.
That is why having the most detailed and multi-angled pictures is so important. Every item you sell needs to show the parts that people would be most interested in seeing if they were inside an actual store. What can I plug into it? How many does it hold? How would it look inside my place? Just to list a few thoughts that true buyers have when looking at your product pictures, so you better have some detailed, up-close, and high-quality pictures for them to feast their eyes on.
Treat your product like a supermodel
Have you ever been behind the camera during a supermodel photoshoot? If you have then you already know that it’s not a simple snap with your fancy new iPhone, and the shoot is over. Also, no supermodel shoot ever consists of just 1 photo and everyone is satisfied. You take lots, many, numerous pictures until you find the one that makes you, yourself want to buy that item. One of the most important things to remember during photography is lighting… that is literally the spotlight that brings your hero product to life on its stage. High-quality camera equipment, backdrops, the right background to accent your inventory. Yes, we know that unless one of the other hats that you wear in addition to being an ecommerce business owner is a photographer then you won’t have pretty much any of that stuff, but you know who does? A professional photographer.
If you are serious about your business and your future in the ecommerce space, you should definitely invest in the services of professionals that can make your products come to life on the screens of your buyers, potential buyers, and just anyone visiting your page.
Become consistent and recognizable
Creating your own brand, style, and consistency in the market is extremely important. Find a way to make your customers know whose ads they are looking at based on the style, background, quality of your product presentation. Just like when you see a picture of someone in front of the Eiffel tower, you immediately say to yourself: “They are in Paris, France”; the tower is its own recognizable brand in this scenario.
Your pictures should be recognizable and traceable back to you and your store based on quality, consistency, and specific details that make them say “I know who’s selling this! I like that guy, he sells quality stuff, I should buy from him again!” Find your style, whether it is the way that you angle your items, or that you always show a beautiful front side of the item in your thumbnail picture to invite people onto your page. Set yourself apart from the rest and become recognizable.
For example if you were selling a car, you wouldn’t put a picture of one of the tires as your gallery thumbnail right?You would want to take pictures at angles and from positions that show off the body style, the color, and the sexy curves of that vehicle, those are the pictures that need to be what your audience sees. Yes, we all want to see the vehicles tires at some point, but not as the first image that they see when browsing.
Market yourself and why YOUR product
In order to survive and succeed in the ultra-competitive world of commerce, you have to be creative and ambitious. Social media is your friend in this case, and you are not limited to only 1 selling platform. There are now more ecommerce platforms than we care to try and count these days, and for you, that should be the golden ticket to success!
Remember, you now have a brand, your quality pictures scream who they belong to, your descriptions help people taste, smell, see and feel the item they bought from you, days before the item is delivered. So, post, advertise, show off and skyrocket your business anywhere and everywhere that people frequent, make yourself known, be the solution that they recall when they need something that you happen to sell. Interacting with your customers, your fans, even the “tire kickers” is super important to build trust in “why YOU and why YOUR products”.
Everything is possible, but it will take time, dedication, and the right investments and personal efforts to make yourself an ecommerce superstar. For now, start with focusing on your pictures being unique and yours, and giving the most detailed and enticing descriptions of your products, become recognizable, become a brand.
We’ll leave you here today with a bonus; if you are ready to take the next step in your ecommerce journey and have the most vibrant and recognizable presentation of your products in the market and begin building your personal brand, then we know just the professional you should get in contact with.
Elena Cone is among some of the best multi-national photographers out there, with a vast portfolio of but not limited to: fashion, weddings, creative portraits, magazine photography and the experience of over 18 years in the space of photography make Elena exactly the solution you need to spice up your ecommerce and online sales business needs.
All photos in this article are produced by Elena. The unique, flexible, and creative approach that Elena will take in order to fulfill all of your photography needs will only leave you in awe!
Visit her site, check out the incredible work that she’s done, and book your photo session at https://www.econephoto.com
Elena Cone is a traditionally trained film photographer with 18 years of experience in fashion, editorial, wedding, portrait and product.
Elena was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia in a very artistic family where all children had a talent to draw and attended art schools.
When she moved to America, she started taking photography classes and ended up getting a scholarship as one of the most talented students in her class. Elena had several exhibits with printed work and later on became one of a few full-time female photographers specializing in creative portraits and editorial photography.
During all these years, she worked as a staff photographer for Eclipse magazine, Alkami Technology, photographed multiple election campaigns for Murphy Nasica, shot for Pepsi, Dallas Modern Luxury, did portraits for the Craw family.
Elena was the only guest photographer on famous My Fair Wedding with David Tutera on WETV in 2010. She photographed more than 500 weddings for international and American couples. Elena travels the world on multiple editorial assignments.
Creativity and unique approach to every assignment made her work recognized and appreciated by her loyal clients.
