On Amazon your product is only as really good as its images. The truth is, when it comes to conversion, we see average products with effective imagery outperform products with more impressive specs with under-optimised SI images. But don’t take my word for it, let’s look at some insights from Amazon.
The heat maps on the right show where consumers first gravitate towards when viewing search results and at this stage, it’s the images that hold consumers’ attention over all other information like price or reviews.
The data paints a clear picture if you want to increase your click through rate and convert, you need to have effective images. So if you’ve got one chance to make a killer first impression with consumers, how do you get it right the first time? Below is how we approach this at Rabbit Communications.
Step 1: Features Vs Benefits
Your product might have a whole host of exciting features that make it a better choice than your competitors, but if you can’t communicate this effectively to customers, it’s not going to drive conversions. Put yourself in consumers’ shoes and ask ‘what does that feature mean for me?’ It’s about taking a feature and translating it visually into an emotional benefit. At Rabbit Communications we try to hit three key verticals for each carousel image. Let’s take a look at some examples we recently created for smart home security brand Arlo:
- Feature: In this case the feature is the ability of the camera to zoom 12 times more than the naked eye. This is marked with copy – it’s worth noting that Amazon guidelines require a copy to be kept to a minimum.
- Benefit: The benefit is the ability to identify a person’s face at a glance as they approach your property.
- Outcome: The outcome is the provision of peace of mind and reassurance of effective identification of threats.
Step 2 Ordering Images
How should images be ordered on the carousel?
- Main product image: This should be a high quality image that showcases the look and feel of the product. This will be the image that appears in the search results page.
- Hero USP: What is the benefit of the most distinctive feature of the product? This is likely to be the feature that differentiates the product from the competitor set. In this case 12x Zoom.
- Secondary benefits: What is the second most important benefit another of the product features creates for consumers?
- Other benefits: What are some other benefits another of the product features creates for consumers? These may be less important than the hero and secondary benefit.
- Set up info: Install is among the top pain points when it comes to technology products. Cementing the product as easy-install later on in the carousel when the consumer is already convinced of its spec and is thinking ahead to install can help drive conversions.
- Lifestyle Video: Position 7 should end on a lifestyle video. Research shows this can boost conversions 29% to 43% in some cases.
Step 3: Ensuring consistency
It’s often said when it comes to Amazon that consumers are looking for a reason not to purchase. And this can often come down to one thing: consumer trust. We think consistency of visual style is key here. It helps reassure consumers that your products are linked together with a common theme and from a single manufacturer. For us, this means having consistency not only across benefits within a carousel, but across product ranges as well. See examples below:
Within the Carousel:
Within the product range:
For more information on how to optimise all things Amazon, from imagery to analytics, get in touch with the Rabbit Communications Amazon team for a free consultation at info@wearerabbits.co.uk or call the office on +44 (0) 20 3011 3124
