Visual Marketing: Deploy it to Drive E-commerce Business Conversions

Visual is a medium of showcasing any object realistically and mesmerizingly. By nature, we are fond of visuals and so whenever we come across any visual, we develop an extra bit of curiosity for it. This is exactly what works even when we shop products online. And it’s a fact that in online purchases, we can’t have any tactile sensation. We can’t touch our preferred products to judge their quality before making the purchase. Hence, the importance of product visuals automatically mounts. No wonder, there has been a buzz of visual marketing in the e-commerce industry for quite some time. Online businesses are trying to take full advantage of it. Some of them are acing in their efforts while others are failing.

In this write-up, we will put forward concise but effective guidelines concerning visual marketing for e-commerce business. By the end of the write-up, you will know exactly what visual marketing is and how to go about the visual content marketing campaign for your e-commerce business.

What is Visual Content Marketing?

Visual marketing or visual content marketing predominantly refers to the promotional activities carried out by companies taking advantage of multifold visuals. These types of visuals can include still images, videos, infographics, gifs, virtual reality, augmented reality, data visualizations, etc. Currently, due to the emergence of digital marketing campaigns by companies, the importance of visual marketing has redoubled significantly. E-commerce brands are also leaving no stone unturned to come up with visual marketing ideas to set themselves apart from others. Different social media platforms are aiding them as well to circulate their visuals in the form of product photography and other promotional visuals among their targeted audience.

Source: Venngage

Now, we will dilate upon some of the key visual marketing strategies that you can leverage to drive and boost your e-commerce business conversion. So, let’s cut to the chase…..

Leverage Infographics to Grab Attention:

In recent years, infographics have got massive traction among online users. People are showing curiosity to read the information provided in the infographics. This is because this type of content provides a visual representation of data. People are callous to read the same information showing up on text-only documents but when they are incorporated with graphics, it automatically piques the interest of users. Needless to say, this tactic is also working for e-commerce businesses. Many e-commerce companies are generating an abundance of sales by making use of infographics.

As per the Demand Gen Report, 40% of people are likely to respond to visual info than plain text. But the key point to note here is, only making infographics will not appeal to your targeted audience. Rather, you have to design your infographics craftily and creatively to blow their mind. If you are designing infographics for your online business, make sure that the texts, as well as graphics, make sense to your products. They should deliver the right and relevant message to the viewers. If designed properly, infographics can not only spark zeal in the content but also can put up the social shares making your visual marketing efforts pay off.

Shoot Some Killer Videos Featuring Products:

Another powerful visual marketing tactic you can apply is utilizing product videos. This is such a medium through which you can clarify all the doubts and answer all the queries of your potential clients. There are tons of types of videos you can create for your business and bring them in front of your prospects. Videos can come in the form of explainer, how-to, live interview, product launch, product review or demo, behind the scene, and so on.

According to the survey of wyzowl, 93% of marketers who use video say that video is an important part of their marketing campaign. The crucial point to note while leveraging video is that it should serve the purpose. What we mean by that is, if you are using a particular type of video, maybe a 3D product video, it should properly showcase every nook and cranny of the product crisply and realistically. Because the core purpose of a 3D product video is to provide an immersive experience to the viewers.

Let’s take a look at Apple’s iPad Air demo video where the product was showcased so amazingly and comprehensively including the key features that viewers can’t but say “wow”.

https://youtu.be/r_VSll0WLZE

Take a glimpse at another example of video marketing by Nike. It’s a behind the scene video of the company for their product Nike Joyride.

https://youtu.be/yshNZlWezDk

Emphasize User-generated Content:

Marketing your business will never work out unless you gain the trust and reliance of your prospects. One of the visual contents that can assist you to notch up the trust of your targeted audience is user-generated content (UGC). There are different types of user-generated content you can utilize to boost your sales like client reviews, comments, etc. Since we are dealing with visual content in this post, we will throw light on the visual UGC here. If you look at social media, there are umpteen posts shared within minutes by people. Now, if you want to hook people with your visual content, you have to present yourself differently and uniquely. This is where UGC comes into play as this type of content elevates social proof.

Here is an example of user-generated content posted by beauty and skin-care company Glossier on their Instagram page-

Source: Glossier

There are many strategies you can adopt to run your UGC campaign. For example, you can generate a branded hashtag and motivate users to share photos or videos with that hashtag. Your followers or customers can share their photos wearing or using your product on their social media platforms. They can also upload unboxing videos showing the features of the products. All you have to do is simply share and promote these images and videos via your website and social media channels. What it does is authenticate your content and boost the reach.

Deploy Data Visualizations:

The primary goal of marketing is to scale up sales no matter whether it’s an e-commerce business or any other type of business. And this is something that can happen only if your reach increases. Making use of data visualizations in your visual marketing campaign can do the trick for you. How? Pretty simple! Data visualizations come in the form of graphs, maps, charts, etc. All these forms of content are visually appealing. Whenever people view graphical representations showing an upturn of particular products’ sales or popularity of certain types of products, they instinctively urge for social shares. Many people also link these types of visual content on their websites as references to their claims.

In order to fathom how data visualization looks, you can have a look at the example below. It’s taken from Backlinko showing the competitiveness of different types of keywords-

Source: Backlinko

On top of that, many companies and bloggers take advantage of this type of graphical representation to substantiate their points. What we mean by that is, if an e-commerce company claims that they have achieved the maximum sale in a fiscal year, it’s merely a statement. It can be true and at the same time, it can be false as well. But if they can provide any graphical representation from any authentic source to support their claim, it will automatically carry weight. Finally, what happens is, the content reach goes up thereby, making the marketing campaign successful.

Utilize the Benefits of Virtual or Augmented Reality:

Another visual technology that can spice up your online business promotion is virtual or augmented reality. This is a futuristic technology that many e-commerce business owners are deploying nowadays to provide their customers a realistic experience. Needless to say, there are some products like furniture, electronics, home décor, etc. people aspire to visualize how they will look at their homes. Whether they will exactly fit into their designated spaces. These are the factors they reflect on before making a purchase of this type of product from an online store.

There are many e-commerce service providers that are making use of augmented reality in their visual marketing campaigns. Let’s have a look at one of the examples of AR from Amazon underneath-

Source: Amazon

Virtual or augmented reality can resolve their pain points. This technology can provide the users a real-world feel of their shopping. Before picking up a piece of furniture, electronics, kitchenware, or home décor, they can place the item where they wish at their home. This will let them view the product along with the surrounding environment which will help them to make a better purchasing decision. They can even adjust the features, colors, and sizes of their selected products as per their preference. And to avail of this advantage, what they need? Just a smart device! IKEA Place app is one of the best examples of augmented reality in e-commerce via which buyers can view their products virtually in their home space.

No Way to Ignore GIFs:

Another electric, as well as a trendy mode of visual marketing, is GIF that can do wonders for your e-commerce business. People naturally tend to show an extra bit of zeal for anything they find unique, catchy, and creative. And the phenomenal facet of this form of dynamic image is, it can not only add life to your marketing campaign but also amp up your business conversion. You can utilize GIFs for promotional teasers, banners, product displays, and so on.

Here is an example of a gif we have added below. Just imagine how would it appear if it was just a still image? Pretty dull, right? But when it was converted into a moving image with a bit of appeal, it got life. And it will automatically grab the attention of the audience persuading them to take action.

According to the data of Litmus in 2020, 51.28% of marketers said that they are using animated GIFs at least sometimes in their marketing e-mails. This showcases that e-commerce businesses in their e-mail marketing campaigns can take full advantage of this format of the image. Another cracking way to leverage GIFs for your online business is in social media marketing no matter whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest. Social media is a place of buzz and GIFs can spark that buzz making audience passionate about your content and boosting the engagement. No wonder, GIFs also up the chances of product sale as buyers get moving views of the products which ease their purchase decision making. Dell is a perfect example that ran GIF-centric visual marketing campaign and lifted their revenue by 109%.

Summing Up

Visual marketing is the go-to marketing strategy for e-commerce businesses in this competitive age. The more creative and unique you can be with your visual marketing campaign, the higher is your chances of success. Set yourself apart from others making use of immersive and interactive visuals. Another key point you have to note before developing your visual marketing plan is your target audience. If you are selling home décor for example, you may think to avail of augmented reality. But if you are just selling cosmetics, you don’t need AR to promote your items.

So, unleash your potential, think wisely and intellectually about which visual marketing strategies will work for your e-commerce business. Put an all-out effort to drive visitors to your site from all the available options. Bear in mind that site traffic will lead to prospects and prospects will convert to leads. Additionally, don’t hold back to experiment with campaigns. You never know what you are reflecting now can be a million-dollar idea. It can get you megabucks if executed properly!!!

That’s it. We have covered the importance of visuals in marketing in this write-up for e-commerce business. Hopefully, you have benefited immensely from it. In our next post, we will show up with something more thrilling and smashing. Till then, enjoy quality time!!!