Picture Perfect Marketing: Using Photography to Enhance Your Product Presentation
How many times have your photo shoots gone into rush mode because a deadline was fast approaching? That’s a mistake, because the outcome may be pictures that don’t really properly enhance your product. Here are some tips to get shots that will put your marketing in focus.
1. User Imagery: Think of someone using the product, and go through the steps of what that experience is like. If a simple shot of the product doesn’t really show the item’s benefits, you may need to hire a hand model to put it ‘into action’ in front of the lens. In some cases you may decide to show a few steps of it in motion, but be sure to show the final, desired outcome as the largest in the series of pictures.
2. Props: Surrounding your product with too many props often will confuse the reader. There’s a time to prop, and a time to keep it simple. Make sure that there is just enough in the shot to tell the story, but not so much that your product is no longer the hero. It’s not unusual to see model shots become about the model instead of about the product. A model using a product should be looking at the product, or there should be other aspects –such as the way the photo is cropped — that give your product a strong center position in the shot. If you’re shooting food, don’t let the props turn it into “hard” goods—it should be look appetizing, and the serving dishes and linens should truly be just the backdrop. If it’s candy or a product made using fresh ingredients, putting a few choice fresh “props” in place with great care can remind the reader of the delicious outcome of their purchase.
3. Scale: Have you ever purchased something you thought was tabletop-sized, and it turned out to be as big as Ohio? Scale is often not shown well in photographs, much to the frustration of the potential customer. Writing the measurements in your body copy is useful only to a point—many customers truly buy off the picture. Probably the biggest hurdle is in shooting a product in a ‘set,’ which can cost a lot.
What if you only have the budget for a nice painted cloth background? Once I had to shoot an air filter on a tight budget. We used my faithful Westie as a ‘prop,’ since everyone has a pretty good idea of how big a West Highland white terrier is. Without that sense of scale, it could have been anything from brick-sized to desk-sized. And for the air filter, we got double the benefit since people who buy such filters are often trying to clear the air of pet dander. (Not that my doggie had any of that, of course!)
4. Be truthful, but tell a great story: You can’t just open up a product that’s been packed for traveling and have it look its best. Cosmetics opened up and left as-is for a shot don’t look nearly as luxurious as those you’ve enhanced with the turn of a small spoon or a brush. Drapes must be ironed and steamed off the window, and then carefully manipulated by expert hands after they’re hung up to look their best. An employee having his or her photo taken for a spread on customer service shouldn’t be photographed without a makeup stylist and hair stylist working their magic. Our audience has become much more visually sophisticated than they were a decade or two ago. Every person they see on TV has perfect, white teeth, like little Chiclets! They see perfectly styled items all the time on TV and in the movies, and that’s what their eyes have gotten used to.
Thinking like a salesman when it comes to showing your products will make a huge difference in customer perception, not only of your product, but of your company as a resource for buying that product. The time and thought invested in your shots will set you apart from your competitors.
Look your best and they’ll want to get to know you better.
Carol Worthington-Levy is creative partner at San Rafael, CA-based catalog consultancy Lenser.
