Product Photography

The Essential Checklist for Amazon Product Photography that Converts

The Amazon marketplace continues to grow as one of the hottest solutions for businesses of all sizes who want a straightforward way of getting their products in front of the largest e-commerce audiences in the world and then fulfilling the inevitable orders. But in order to be competitive in an increasingly saturated market, sellers need high quality Amazon product photography that hits the key marks for conversion.

When it comes to product photography, we’ve really seen them all: The comically bad, the good-but-could-be-better, and the best. Make sure yours is the kind that gets products out of the Maybe Zone and into shopping carts. The fact is, product photography has a direct affect on our client’s sales and bottom line. We’ve had clients come to us after spending money on “Just okay” product photography, and it’s hurt them instead of helping them. After all, it’s a proven fact that 93% of consumers consider images essential in purchasing decisions.

So what should you be looking for when sourcing the best product photographer or agency for your Amazon business?

Let’s start with the absolute basics of product photography:

✓ Professional lighting. Lighting impacts everything from how well your customers see the details of your product to how to true-to-life the colors are. Poorly lit product images do NOT say “credible seller here.”
✓ Clean white backgrounds. White backgrounds make your product pop off of the page and also coordinate well with other products shot on a white background.
✓ Natural color
✓ Bigger images = More conversions. It’s true.

Those are the bare minimum of what you should be shooting for (pun intended) when it comes to product images for Amazon.

Now, here are the key essentials we believe set good photos apart from great photos:

1.) Are the angles right for your product?

– We take every conceivable angle when shooting a product. You can decide later which images work best for your specific product. Shoot from above, below, straight on, from the left, from the right, everything. Angles are subtle but powerful. For example, shooting an item from slightly below the horizon makes it appear taller.
– Establish scale. Is your product something that people might not have a frame of reference for?

2.) Are the backgrounds removable?

Removable backgrounds offer flexibility.

-With removable backgrounds, you can control the shadows and place your product over stock photography.
-You can put a white background behind the product for straightforward product photography. You can add a colorful background to better coordinate with a marketing campaign. Make your photographs do double duty for you.
– You can create a variety of lifestyle images to use in marketing collateral or in social media campaigns.

3.) Are the photos showing how it’s used or how it works?

– Does it assemble into a bigger piece?
– Does it hold something?
– Is it meant to be used with something else?

Give customers context. Think about the questions you might get about your product, and shoot images that can help answer those questions.

4.) Are the photos showing what’s inside the packaging?

– People want to see the texture and color of what’s inside the box, especially when it comes to products like creams, hair gel, bath salts, wood chips, food, etc.
– Show them the raw goods and paint a fuller picture of your product. These are sensory driven images, the touch and feel of your product, and they’re appealing to consumers.

5.) Are you showing all the pieces together?

– Is your product a kit? Show images of the individual pieces, groupings of pieces that go together, a full group picture including packaging.
– Show an image of the item arranged neatly inside the packaging for gifting, if applicable.
– Is there a tricky part to assembling your product, one you always get emails about? Be sure to take some shots of that and consider creating a cinemagraph or a .gif. Research suggests that cinemagraphs have up to 71% more organic reach than still content.

6. ) BONUS: Do you have lifestyle or context photography?

High quality, straightforward Amazon product photography is just the beginning of what you can do to create imagery that sells. Lifestyle or context photography, an image where you product is shown in use in a stylized shot, allows consumers to form a picture of how they would incorporate your product into their lifestyle…Or the lifestyle they want to have.

– Do you have a food product? Show a model that represents your target audience enjoying, using, eating, or making your product. Put your product into a stylized environment to give it some context and storytelling.
– Clothing brand? The options are limitless. One client we worked with chose models who were real clients. Just every day dudes. It made for really compelling imagery and copy, as well as supporting their brand touchstone: custom suits for regular guys.

Admittedly, lifestyle photography does involve more expertise: an eye for styling and prop curation, the technical chops for more complex shots, etc. But the return on investment is a total gimme if done well.

Flexible backgrounds. Great lighting. Dynamic, versatile shots that are comprehensive and informative. Additional lifestyle images that appeal emotionally to visual buyers. Want to make sure you’re considering all the angles when it comes to finding the perfect product photography partner for your small business?

We created a handy checklist, so you can stay organized.

Have you got great tips for getting the best Amazon product photography for your business? Share them below! We’d love to hear your thoughts.