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Why Soulless Stock Imagery Is Losing You Business

0 Comments 03 May 2012

The attractive sales staff member with the phone headset on, Hollywood teeth, and an eternal smile to show them off. This might well be your sales team member that I’m talking about, but the reality is that it is most likely one of the most used images on the Internet today.

I’m talking, of course, about stock images – the multi-purpose, general use images that can be purchased (some are even free) to use on your marketing material. Wikipedia defines them as images “used to fulfill the needs of creative assignments instead of hiring a photographer”.

This article will focus on why people buy, using imagery to sell your product, and the basic needs of good imagery. It will hopefully get you th

inking about what’s beneath the skin of your website, and might prompt you to hire an online marketing (http://www.zestdigital.co) specialist and professional photographer to audit your website and expose ways of increasing your conversions.

Thanks, in part, to social media the way we do business online has evolved significantly over this time. One of the key influences in our purchasing decisions is social proof. In his book, ‘Influence’, Dr Robert Cialdini states that social proof is most influential under two conditions:

Uncertainty
when people are unsure, they are likely to follow suit with what appears to be “normal”.
Similarity
people are more inclined to follow the lead of others who are similar to themselves.

Since the web is an open forum, seeking information is made easy. It’s a simple search away. This puts the user in a state of mind in line with above. Confirmation, and the approval, of a product or service by others is key to online purchasing decisions. Great imagery and selling the aspirations of a product is arguably more difficult on the web. We have limited sensory feedback when looking at a screen, so the difference between converting and not converting can often come down to the images used.

Great photography has become increasingly more accessible to the small business, and using a professional photographer should be in your marketing plan. In terms of people photos, a study by Jakob Nielsen (http://www.useit.com/alertbox/photo-content.html) revealed that people DO respond more to photos when they are of ‘real’ people, yet interestingly we tend to now ignore cheesier stock imagery.

The image to the left is the classic image that tends to be associated with the following words; cheesy, fake, staged, perfect, unrealistic.

On the other hand, people are more inclined to buy from those who put their face to their product. It adds credibility, builds trust, and signifies that the product owner is proud of what they are selling.

Similarly, in product shots, it’s essential that you deliver as much impact through your images and video as possible. Through the Internet, we are limited in our sense of touch and gauging of quality that we might otherwise use when looking at a physical product in a shop.

A great example I find of this is Charles Tyrwhitt. Just look at this image of a plain white shirt. The accessories show it off in its best light, and the quality of the cotton comes through from the clarity of the image. Even though I haven’t felt the shirt, I know what to expect.

Contrast this to a shirt of equal price at Saville Row London, and you can see a notable difference. Whilst the tie adds some spice, the shirt looks like any other white shirt, and doesn’t sell the quality like CT does. I know where my money would likely be spent.

Both people and product shots require at least the following to maximise conversions for your company, service, or product:

Focus – the image must have the right focus to show off the subject and highlight the stand-out areas. E.g. a close-up of the stitching on a tailored suit, or focus on the accountant who will be dealing with your finances.
Lighting – the subject must use the correct lighting. Dull photos can evoke connotations of being sad, lonely, and of poor quality. An overly lit image can be dazzling, surreal, and difficult to focus on. Getting the right lighting is something a professional photographer can help with.
Accents – Think of the white shirt example. The key to selling a ‘plain’ product like this was the tie, cufflinks, and may well have been the aspirational shot of the business person.

With the web becoming more and more competitive we’re finding that web content that goes that extra mile to deliver really pays off in terms of conversions. If you’re planning on freshening up your company’s web design (http://www.zestdigital.co) ask your photographer to help you create the right images. The investment will pay for itself.

Alex Minchin (http://www.twitter.com/AlexMinchin) is the Managing Director of Zest Digital Ltd, a specialist online marketing and web design firm based in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Zest keep things simple and focus on three key areas of your business; traffic, engagement, and conversions, and are supporters of Studio8 for high-quality photography and web video services.

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