The e-commerce industry has seen record growth every year since 2020. With brand popularity exploding across social media platforms, the competition for consumer attention has never been fiercer. But with the right aesthetics and content strategy, marketing your products can be easy.
Most of the social media platforms in use today lean heavily in favor of visual content. Even Twitter, a text-based content platform, shows that pictures and videos get the highest levels of engagement.
Consumers love visual content because it immediately draws them in and connects them to the product in question. Brands need to create high resolution, brand-adjacent product photography campaigns that meet the expectations of consumers and generate more online sales. Today, we’ll learn how.
7 Tips For Showcasing Your Products On Social Media
Product photography is all about utilizing light, color, composition, and style to capture the attention of consumers and encourage them to want to buy the product.
Making something look as desirable as possible is the ultimate goal here, and when executed well, can result in significantly improved sales, conversions, customer loyalty, and more website traffic.
So, how do you make your products look their best? Browse through these seven tips.
1. Invest in high-quality camera equipment
Great product photography starts with the tools you use. Quality camera equipment is essential for producing clean, professional, high-resolution images that catch consumers’ attention mid-scroll and get them interested in what’s on offer.
Some of the basic pieces of camera equipment you need for a product shoot include a camera, tripod, lens, computer, flash gun, light stand, reflector, and backdrop. However, this list can be adjusted depending on the budget and scale of your business.
2. Work closely with content creators and social media managers
Content creators are creative professionals who develop digital material for brands to upload on their social media accounts. Social media managers strategize and coordinate content plans and campaigns in order to increase a brand’s engagement.
Product photographers should work closely alongside the people who fill these two roles to gain a better idea of the overarching aesthetic, style, and objective of the product images.
3. Use natural light
Natural light is widely considered the best and most flattering light to take photographs in. It’s clearer, brighter, and creates a tangible sense of reality that consumers tend to prefer for lifestyle products.
However, it’s not always possible to work with this unpredictable element. Many product photographers stick to studio (artificial) light in order to have more control over the shoot timing and setting. But aiming for the organic look and feel of natural light will help your products appear more attractive.
4. Edit on professional software
The editing phase of product photography is just as important as the shooting phase. It’s at this point that you’ll make all your final decisions and refine the image to make it as Insta-worthy as possible.
But great photography editing requires professional software. And fortunately, these programs are more accessible than ever before. You can find both paid and free photo editing programs online that contain all the digital tools you need to tweak your product photographs to perfection.
5. Experiment with different angles
Variety is the spice of life. Consumers are exposed to a vast array of content types every day, so your product photography needs to find ways of standing out amongst the crowd. One of the ways to do that is to play around with different angles and vantage points, such as:
- Eye-level angle – products shot at a familiar eye-view level
- Overhead shots – an aerial angle from above
- High angle – viewing a product from above eye-level
- Low angle – viewing a product from below eye-level
You don’t have to actively use all of these angles to create good variety in your product shots. But experimenting with a few and seeing which ones you like is a great way to mix things up.
6. Gain inspiration by researching similar brands
Mood boards are a great way to gather inspiration and carve a creative path for the direction of your product shoots. Your research can be as simple as creating a board on Pinterest or conducting in-depth market research to understand more about consumer trends.
But either way, the more visual references and examples of other successful brands you discover, the easier it will be to capture your brand’s products in a way that meets industry standards and advances your unique style and aesthetic.
7. Use the rule of thirds
Compositionally, you can almost never go wrong with the rule of thirds. This handy template for creating great photography formats has been used for hundreds of years to help artists frame subjects in a consistently visually appealing way.
The rule of thirds involves splitting your image into a 3×3 grid and positioning the focal point of your subject on one of the intersecting points. This creates a pleasing, balanced composition that works for just about everything. Most cameras have a built-in rule of thirds grid option for easy overlaying.
There are also other compositional and set-up guidelines that help you to produce similarly compelling and engaging visuals for consumers to enjoy. Experiment with a few of them to see what works best.
Why Is Good Product Photography So Important For Your Business?
Great product photography can be the determining factor in whether a customer buys your product or not. The more attractive and desirable it looks, the more likely people are to want to buy, share, and recommend it to their friends or family.
With the right product photography strategy at your side, your business can not only expand its audience but also improve brand awareness and meet consumers’ expectations of quality and design.
That’s A Wrap
Product photography plays a fundamental role in the advertising and promotion of brands across the world. By capturing your goods in a way that appeals to consumers and motivates them to make a purchase, your brand can achieve new levels of growth and success.