1.2 trillion. That’s the estimated number of photos that will be taken by the end of 2017. Photos have taken over the way we communicate and has become the preferred way to understand and search for information. For any business, photos are important to have. They can drive revenue. Most businesses use Social Media and people actually DO buy items on Social Media. So, it is important to understand HOW photos can drive revenue.
In general, photos create engagement. If a customer were scrolling through your page and came upon something they like, you have their attention. Once you grab their attention, most people would share the photo with other people for confirmation or just to show how #instainspirational your photo is. In return, you get more traffic! The more people who follow you and your products make your company more well-known and therefore more trustworthy. When people believe in your products, people will buy them from you. It all begins with that photo.
How can you make sure that your photos are eye-capturing? Here is a step by step process to guide you through how photos can provide you with revenue:
- Create content that is in the moment
- Millennials tend to live in the moment rather than in the past or the future. Cherish the present and provide more day to day photos.
- Mix it Up
- Post a diverse range of photos. Black and white, colored, realistic photos, animated, do it all! This shows that your page suits all types of art and caters to all audiences.
- Shift away from a sales message
- If all you caption is how the product will help you gain revenue, you are missing the whole point. How is your product going to help a customer? Make sure you’re targeting your audience.
- Make sure you have a Call-to-Action
- Your caption is as important as the image. The customer needs to be able know what action to take after they fall in love with a photo. This is the transformation where the image they see will become something they own.
- But also keep your caption simple
- When you start including a lot of information, people lose their attention. Provide the basic information and then in the Call-to-Action link you can include the details.
- Read the comments
- Comments allow you to understand how your customers feel. When you know how they feel, you can also find out what they want. This is the best way to make sure you are keeping up with what consumers want.
- Leverage user-generated content
- When your customers post a photo with your product, make sure you post it too! It shows that you value your customers and they will keep coming back!
The power of visuals isn’t just how it interacts or impacts the customer or shopper. In our recent blog about How Retailers Use Instagram, we talk about the driving force of the social consumer.
Consumers crave the ability to share visuals, their reactions, and their experiences- a platform that describes Instagram. In the furniture industry, people need to SEE the furniture and Instagram does just that.
We announced the newest MicroD partnership that will help retailers take their powerful photos and turn them into revenue-generating machines. With Curalate, specifically, the Like2Buy functionality of the integrated platform, all of your great Instagram product photos can inspire your followers and turn them into customers.
What happens when the photography is so great and inspirational that you customers want to search by the photo? That’s where our other recent Strategic Services partnership comes into play.
This new MicroD solution is the result of working with our new partner, Thinkdeep.ly. Based in Montana, Thinkdeep.ly is an emerging technology platform that provides enterprise visual search solutions. Thinkdeep.ly includes full API integration, widget integration, as well as analytics for interest, engagement, and relevancy. The search functionality is accurate and self improving, but can be tuned and customized to the retailer merchandising priorities. Best of all, the platform is robust and easily integrated via API, allowing for rapid enablement with minimal data maintenance. The visual search catalog is updated automatically as MicroD updates manufacturer catalogs, deployed through our patented OmniVue® platform.
Harness the power of a great photo. Turn your followers convert into customers.