In this guest article, PickFu's Janet Rausa Fuller explains how to take great Amazon product photos. Because no matter how good your listing content is, buyers still want to examine the item with their own eyes.
Product photos can make or break a sale. It's that simple.
A good photo relays practical and necessary information, such as the size, material, and color of your product. A great photo does that and more, cultivating an emotional connection — desire, to put it simply — that will inspire your customers to click.
How do you create great Amazon product photos? Here are six tips.
You wouldn’t launch a product without having done your market research first. Similarly, you should familiarize yourself with Amazon’s image requirements before deciding on product shots.
The requirements are stringent and specific from both a technical and design standpoint. Among them:
These specifications apply to all Amazon photos. Specific product categories also have their own photo guidelines. In addition, Amazon has requirements for main images, which include using a pure white background and showing the full product in the frame with no overlay text or inset graphics. The main image should be, in Amazon’s words, “professionally lit and photographed or scanned, with realistic color and smooth edges.”
If your budget allows for the services of a professional photographer — even better, one who specializes in eCommerce or Amazon itself — consider yourself lucky. You want to show your product in the best light (literally).
That said, it’s entirely possible to create DIY professional-quality photos. If you’re serious about selling, invest in an entry-level DSLR camera. Find refurbished ones for sale online; many popular brands devote a section of their websites to refurbished cameras for beginners on up, starting from around $300.
A simple light kit sells for about $100. Depending on the breadth of your product offerings, it’s another investment worth making in the name of better product photos.
Lighting adds sharpness to photos. It also creates interest, and interesting photos strike an emotional chord that turns browsers into buyers.
If you’re going the DIY route, use a light kit or two desk lamps or work lights placed to the left and right of your product. White drawing paper on a roll, the kind sold at art stores and online, and white mat boards make for a smooth surface and background.
Experiment with lighting and angles, again being mindful of Amazon’s image requirements. No matter what, never light a product head-on.
One trick from the pros: shoot at or below the surface you’re shooting on and angle the camera up. This creates a striking “hero shot.”
Amazon allows up to six images on a product page. Use them all, organized accordingly, to tell the story of your product.
Even if you’re shooting a single item that doesn’t have multiple parts, you can use alternative images to zoom in on physical details or show how the product compares in size to other objects.
Show your product in action. Stage photos with and without the packaging. Play around with arrangements of the product and its components. Different layouts will have different effects on what customers see and how they feel about your product.
Think of photos as mini ads that highlight the key features and benefits of your product.
By overlaying text and graphics on your product photos, you call attention to important information that potential customers might otherwise skim past in the description and bullet points, if they even read those at all.
Whether it’s a certification seal, materials used, or a short list of your product’s main benefits, an extra bit of graphics and text can set your photos and listing apart from the pack.
You have all the elements for creating eye-catching photos. Now it’s time to choose the best shots. One of the most effective ways to do this is by testing images with a target audience.
Split testing, or A/B testing, compares one version of your product listing with another. There are two types of split testing tools: those that test live inside the Amazon marketplace and those that test privately, outside of Amazon.
Live split testing automates the rotation of photos in your listing. For example, if you’re testing two options for the main image, you would run your listing with the first image for a set time, then rotate in the second option for the same amount of time. You’ll get data on how your listing performs with actual customers.
There are downsides to testing within Amazon. It can take days or even weeks for data to come back. You also risk losing sales if your listing falls flat with the imagery that you’re testing.
The other option is to split test outside of Amazon using a polling platform such as PickFu. This method helps you figure out, quickly and without risk, which images resonate with your target market before you go live.
PickFu’s platform lets you test up to eight images with an audience that reflects your target market. Target by age, ethnicity, income, education level, and more, or narrow the panel to only Amazon Prime members.
Test product photos on their own or in the context of your Amazon listing. You’ll receive written feedback within hours (and often in as little as 15 minutes) that shows which images respondents preferred and why.
Using these insights, you can take your Amazon product photos from good to great — and turn potential buyers into paying customers.
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