If there’s one thing that can make or break a conversion, it’s your visual content.
Imagine that you are shopping for an outfit to wear to a holiday work party. You come across a great looking outfit that’s in your price range. Unfortunately, the photos are limited. The model isn’t anything close to your body shape and none of the images are user-generated. Without helpful visual content, you don’t feel comfortable moving forward with the purchase.
Potential transactions are terminated all the time due to inadequate visual content. The logic is simple. With so many places to shop, both online and in stores, people need to feel good about what they’re buying. If there’s any hesitation, customers won’t make the purchase. Even if you have a great return policy, people don’t want to waste their time.
Knowing that visual content is significant to your conversion strategy, what are some of the steps you can take to improve it?
Below are a few of our favorite ways to include visual content into your conversion strategy.
Create a Product Video
Product videos work. Consider that 73% of visitors who watch a product video are more likely to purchase the product. Online shoppers say that product videos explain the features and benefits better and avoid unnecessary expectations when the product arrives. Not to mention, it’s just plain fun to watch other people enjoy the product you’re about to buy!
Aside from being helpful, product videos build a positive image of your brand. Shopping online is convenient and fun, but it is limiting. Customers can’t walk up to the shelf and touch your item, examine it in the light ,or practice using it. Therefore, it’s up to you to bring these elements to life. By doing this in a product presentation, you show customers that you’re not trying to hide anything. This leads to greater satisfaction and improved credibility.
Here are a few tips for creating product videos that your customers will love.
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Be genuine and accurate
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Place the videos on your product pages
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Cover information that your customers want to know about
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Show real people using your product
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Explain how the product will enhance your customer’s life
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Include a compelling call to action at the end
Add Video to Your Landing Page
Including a simple video on your landing page can boost conversions by as much as 80%. There are a few reasons for this. First, videos encourage people to stay on your page longer. This means more time for them to get to know your brand and your products.
Second, videos facilitate trust and credibility. They have a way of being more genuine and authentic than images or text. Lastly, most people prefer to watch your message rather than read it. It’s faster, easier, and more entertaining this way.
Improving your landing pages with video does require more than a quick upload. You will have to decide whether you want the video to autoplay or if the user should click it. Autoplay can increase conversions, but it can also hurt them by being interruptive. Also, experiment with short and long versions to see what your audience likes best. Don’t forget your CTA! It can be incorporated at the end of the video or added throughout.
Use Images to Create a Visual Hierarchy
Every website has a hierarchy. The content at the top of the hierarchy is considered the most important and what your users should focus on first. Not only does a hierarchy guide your visitors through the funnel, but it also prevents them from being distracted by the wrong information.
When creating your hierarchy, consider the following:
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Users prefer images over text
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Pictures with people draw more attention
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Larger elements get more attention
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Colorful elements are noticed first
Surely, there are parts of your website that you want visitors to focus on more, so use visual content to guide them to these areas. Let’s say that you have a new product hitting the shelves and you want to drive attention to it. You could feature an image or video on your homepage that is larger and bolder than the rest of the elements. When visitors come to your page, they would notice this first.
Use Images to Evoke Emotion
When visitors arrive on your site, you want them to feel certain emotions, such as happy, interested, or energized. Fortunately, you can effectively generate these feelings in your visitors by using the appropriate visuals.
If you sell products to help people relax, you could feature individuals with their eyes closed, fully rested, and content. On the flip side, if your company sells energy drinks, you would want your images to be bright, bold, and loud. Think about Red Bull’s high flying videos and the type of energy they evoke.
Before adding visual content to your site, know how you want your customers to feel and why those emotions may lead to a conversion. It’s most effective to feature real people in your content because the brain responds better to faces. This can be translated over to other parts of your website, too, such as when featuring team members or images of your workplace. The more people trust your brand, the better your conversion rates will be.
Share How to Get the Most from Your Product
Consumers want to get the most from their purchase. In many cases, however, they don’t realize all the things their new product can do! It can take time to read through a manual, and other ways to use the product may be user-generated. To ensure that customers are getting the most value from your product, create a video or slideshare presentation that highlights all of the creative uses for your item.
Another benefit to creating a video or slideshare is that you can recommend other products that might be useful to your audience. For example, if your brand sells cameras, you could suggest add-ons that will make shooting photographs faster. You could also cross-sell products such as camera bags, tripods, or lenses.
Online shoppers want visual content to help them make informed decisions. Before asking a customer to shell out money for one of your products, ask yourself if you’ve included enough visuals to help them with their purchase. By filling in these gaps, you can give customers what they want, boost credibility, and improve conversions.
