There aren’t many things I’d say are make or break when it comes to growing a successful handmade shop, but your product photos are definitely one of those!
When you create photographs of your products, you are essentially creating the “hook” that gets people to click and visit your listing.
Even if you have amazing SEO that drives people to your website, if your photos don’t invite those shoppers to take the next step they won’t click through to your product listings.
Which means essentially that without good photos, all of the marketing efforts, SEO, and traffic strategies that you’re using are not going to pay off.
So how do you know if your photos need to be updated? Today we’re going to find out!
So, ready? Let’s dive in.
There are many reasons why the photos you have for your product listing are so important.
We’ve already talked about the most important reason, that they are the first step of getting people to click. When people are shopping and have a page full of thumbnail photos to choose between, your photo has to sell them. They aren’t in your listing so they can’t see the details you have there, it’s all up to your photo to convince them to click through.
Your photos also help you sell at higher prices because they help you boost the perceived value of your products. If a photo is high quality and the setting conveys value, you are able to charge a higher price.
That said, even if you’ve been taking fabulous and professional looking photos, it’s important to remember that what was a top notch photo 5 years ago may not work as well now. The way we use and see pictures evolve over the years, and you need to stay on top of the latest trends and keep your listings current.
What that means is you may want to take new photos for your listings from time to time to make sure that they still look current . . because you want your pictures to look good next to all of the competition’s photos.
Your competitors are either improving or they are new and on top of the latest trends and following the newest standard of photography, so it’s important to level up to make sure your shop or your products don’t look dated.
So how do you evaluate your photos to decide if they need a refresh?
Let’s go through the 4 signs that tell you it’s time to take new product photos.
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Now I know at first you’re going to be like “well that’s kind of obvious Deb!,” but it’s not as cut and dry as you might think.
You might have some old pictures that are really good . . . but you also have some that aren’t the quality of photo you would have if you were to retake them today.
This may be because you’ve improved a ton since you took those photos – maybe you’ve launched a lot of products since then and you’re getting more experienced in photography.
You also might have better gear, better lighting, or an improved backdrop or background for your pictures.
And because of these reasons there may be some older photos in your shop that don’t look quite as good as the new ones that you took more recently. They might stick out or look a little old . . . and they’re not getting the clicks that they used to because your newer items look more current.
You may even have noticed that one of your products used to sell really well, but now it just isn’t getting as many clicks — of course that can happen for many reasons, but if your photos look a little bit more dated compared to your newer products or compared to what your competition is now doing, you definitely need to go and redo those older shots.
Before you re-do your photos, it’s important to take a look at what kinds of photos are standard in your niche. Notice what people in your niche are doing with their photos, because you want to level up to the current standards and trends.
The next reason you might need to take new product photos is if you only or mostly use white backgrounds on your photos.
White backgrounds used to be a lot more accepted on platforms like Etsy and in ecommerce in general.
In fact, years and years ago when I started creating videos for you guys, I even made a tutorial about how to remove the background on your photo to create a white background! But those times are definitely gone – this is not where you should be focusing your energy anymore.
So if you are using mostly white backgrounds, your photos definitely need a refresh.
Now there may be some cases where a white background will be necessary, for things like holiday gift catalogs and PR opportunities for example.
But in your online store, they’re absolutely not a necessity— so there’s no need for a pure white background, it really screams eBay or Amazon – which is not the vibe that you want when you’re selling handmade!
It’s also hard to get white background photos right from a practical and technical standpoint— I am sure many of you have tried and struggled with it – it can be a nightmare to try and take a photo with a perfect white background that doesn’t change the colors of your product and is perfectly white with no shadows.
It also doesn’t convey emotions, which is a big factor in getting people to click on your photo.
All of these reasons are why you definitely need to redo some pictures if your listings have mostly white backgrounds.
One option to consider is using a plain color background to match your brand instead. So if your brand has a joyful vibe you could have a pink or yellow background, and if your brand has a calm or earthy vibe you can use greens, blues, and browns – or your actual brand colors directly if they work well with your products and offer enough contrast between the background and the product
Or you can ditch the plain background altogether and use a lifestyle background or props instead, which brings me to my next point:
A lot of the movement from white images to lifestyle photos is because people got used to seeing lifestyle photos, or photos with props or models, on Instagram.
Instagram taught us to think “magazine” much more than ever before, in the sense that we sell a lifestyle, not a product. All of the curated images that we were seeing on Instagram are what we are now seeing in ecommerce and product listings. . .
. . . and so you need to be doing that too!
If you’re selling me a mug, you want to put coffee in it and a little croissant next to it to sell me on the actual feeling that I’m going to get when I drink my coffee and eat my croissant! Think how many more clicks that will get versus a photo of just the plain mug.
So if you’re not using props, models, or lifestyle shots it’s definitely time to add those images into your listings!
Another thing that has changed is how models are used to showcase products. Years ago it was common to see products like jewelry photographed on plastic or black velvet busts, and it was OK because it was how everyone was doing it.
But now most people are using real people, taking photos of the jewelry on actual necks or hands, and so it’s really important that you level up to that as well or your competition will always be clicked on before you.
The final reason your photos may need a refresh is that you don’t use graphics.
If you don’t have some photos that are graphics, or that are incorporating graphics into the photos, it’s a big red flag that there is a lot that your photos are not communicating to potential customers – which is for sure costing you sales!
Graphics can be something you create and convert to JPEG to upload to your product images, or they can be a photo with text, arrows, etc. mixed in to help explain product features and processes.
Both are a great way to communicate important information that is in the product description, because the fact is that not many people read the description.
It also simplifies the ordering process and clears up confusion about product options, which make customers feel confident about what they’re going to get and how to order it.
So if you’re not using graphics there are definitely things that you’re not saying with your pictures that you need to be saying . . .
. . . and I have an article about The 2 Things That Make For Great Etsy Photos with fantastic examples of how to use graphics in your product listings— be sure to go read it to learn all about using graphics and making sure your Etsy photos and graphic images are actually getting you sales.
Thanks for reading, and until next time, au revoir!
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