Compelling Reason #1: 78% of online shoppers want photos that bring products to life
In previous blog posts, we’ve provided an overview of Product Photography and explained 360°/Spin Photography. If you haven’t read those yet, please do. You’ll understand the importance of product photos as well as what makes a good product photo. This blog addresses lifestyle product photography, another key product photo type.
As mentioned above, compelling reason number 1 is that 78% of online shoppers want photos that bring products to life. That’s a huge shopping audience that wants to see lifestyle product photos. Ignore that number at your peril! If your product listing doesn’t use lifestyles but your competitors do, online shoppers will be more interested in and spend more time looking at their listings, giving them the edge in sales.
However, before we review the 6 other compelling reasons, let’s first take a deeper look at what the term itself means.
What is lifestyle product photography?
Lifestyle product photos, by definition, use settings that either mimic or are actual real-life scenarios. At the very least, the product is placed in a setting that provides in-use context. But often they also include people, pets, or animals. These kinds of photos are nothing new; print ads use them extensively. However, their use in ecommerce is relatively recent and rapidly gaining in popularity as their benefits become more apparent.
The staple of ecommerce listings is the basic white background product shot. However, lifestyle product photographs capture attention in a way that a simple product shot cannot—they add a contextual setting and usually a human (or pet) element. In a lifestyle photo, adding the human touch can be as easy as incorporating a hand holding some part of the product. Using other parts of the body like feet, lips, face, or torso are also effective.
However, a product lifestyle shot that captures most or all of a person in mid-action engages the most attention. It’s the easiest way for a prospective customer to relate to the product and get caught up in the story the photo tells. In other words, a good lifestyle product photo will trigger an emotional response because people identify with it and see themselves inside the world portrayed in the photo.
And that’s a good thing because emotions influence buying behavior.
Shutterstock points out:
“Ninety-three percent of communication is nonverbal. Images are particularly powerful because of their ties to our memories and emotions…Emotional reactions are critical in the role of marketing, because campaigns with purely emotional content perform twice as well as those with mere facts.”
Compelling Reason #2: Lifestyle product photography tells a story, inviting the viewer to be a participant
As noted earlier, our first compelling reason is that 78% of online shoppers want photographs to bring products to life. And the best way to bring something to life is to show that using the product leads to a positive experience.
As meero.com puts it:
“Nowadays people, especially the X, Y, Z generations, are looking for EXPERIENCES when buying online, which is why your packshots should be a reflection of your brand image and tell a story…Product photography has the power to narrate a story: what the brand is about, what it means to consumers, and why the visitor should care about it.”
With a product lifestyle photo, we’ve moved beyond a mere product image to something with appeal that is useful in real life. Something that will improve their life. Something that someone MUST HAVE in order to make their life better, happier, prettier, or inspire them to greater things.
Expert Photography notes:
“The goal is for consumers to feel like they are living vicariously through your images and make a purchase because they want what you have shown them!”
Compelling Reason #3: Product lifestyle photos that affect emotions can turn a potential buyer into a customer
It’s important that your lifestyle photos tell the right story to your target audience. That way the images build rapport and more easily appeal to their emotions.
Those who study how emotions influence decisions—including purchasing decisions—point to research done by neuroscientist Antonio Damasio. He discovered that patients who couldn’t feel emotions due to surgery or medical reasons had a difficult time making decisions.
Which emotions do your customers typically experience when shopping?
Zoovu.com reports on a study by SMITH, an experiential commerce agency. They found there are up to “8 different emotional mindsets that influence how consumers make decisions to shop and buy.”
The 8 Emotions
- Needs Validation (20% of surveyed shoppers). They are doubtful and hindered by a fear of getting it wrong, so they seek other people’s opinions, including expert advice.
- Decision Anxiety (17%). These folks get overwhelmed by options. So, they either don’t decide or decide too quickly.
- I’m Special (16%). These shoppers love shopping experiences that feed their unique preferences. If they love your products and brands, they’ll spread the word on social media.
- Got to Be First (12%). Early adopters love to be in the forefront to stand out. Products they buy are a part of their identity and values. Fear of missing out might also be in play.
- Know-It-All (11%). These consumers love to do their research and will set themselves up to be that expert others can turn to for advice.
- Buy and Be Done with It (10%). Similar to the Decision Anxiety folks, they can get overwhelmed with choices and become frustrated. As a result, they buy as quickly as possible to get the unpleasant business of shopping over and done with.
- Want Some Fun (9%). These people love to browse and shop. Called dopamine browsing, they shop to feel rewarded or inspired.
- Avoid Remorse (9%). These folks stick with the tried and true, so they’ll never regret their buying decision.
What this all means is that consumers make decisions, even shopping decisions, based as much on emotional impulses as on logical facts. This also means that emotions can override logic, including pricing, and make them take action.
Compelling Reason #4: Lifestyle product photos help reinforce your brand’s personality
Since lifestyle photos evoke emotions, they also impact the perception of the associated brand and either establish or reinforce that brand’s personality.
A study done by the University of Southern California showed “consumers humanize brands by perceiving them as like, part of, or in a relationship with themselves.” It follows three different research streams:
- Consumers perceive brands as having human-like forms, minds, and personality characteristics
- They perceive a brand as being congruent with or connected to the self
- Consumers can view brands in ways that are analogous to the types of relationships they have with people
So, a brand’s lifestyle photos need to use settings and photographic styles that appeal to its intended audience. Showing a tent that’s designed for use in arctic wilderness areas inside a shopping mall might be cute, but odds are it doesn’t reinforce the brand.
Lifestyle product photos can also use a brand’s color in subtle ways as well as incorporate other personality traits a brand might choose for itself.
If your brand doesn’t have a personality, consider creating one. Or at least define your target audience and figure out what lifestyle settings will resonate with them. Check out our blog on creating marketing personas to create a fictional stand-in character who represents a typical buyer of your product.
Compelling Reason #5: Lifestyle product photography allows viewers to see the product in context and understand how it is used
Depending on the product, it’s helpful to see it in use. You’d be surprised how challenged some people can be in that area—it truly takes an in-use photo for them to get it. Showing it in use also helps the prospective customer project themselves into the scene. Although videos can accomplish that goal, still photos shot in sequence, from different angles, with added text or callouts, can be more helpful. Plus, the customer can browse through photos more quickly than watching an entire video.
Another thing a simple product photo cannot impart is scale. Just how big or little is it in comparison to a person or a familiar object? A product’s item name might say it is palm-sized, but unless you show it in a hand, the point is not driven home.
Showing it in context also makes the product more convincing and real. It helps to sell the product.
Compelling Reason #6: Lifestyle product photography can be used for social media posts, blogs, emails, etc.
Product lifestyle images rule when it comes to social media and uses outside of a shopping website. That’s because they tell a story about the product, imply a backstory about the product, and encapsulate the brand’s personality—and that’s what drives social media.
They can also help provide a consistent voice about your brand, regardless of the product being shown.
In these other contexts, lifestyle product photos are often used with a fun or intriguing caption. That’s hard to do with a simple product shot. And since images with people automatically draw the interest of other people like a magnet, their use can generate conversations.
Compelling Reason #7: Many ecommerce platforms strongly encourage their use
Here at Petra, we represent thousands of products to a wide variety of marketplaces. When it comes to ecommerce, many platforms strongly recommend lifestyle images—and their numbers are growing. Some even lead with the lifestyle image rather than with the basic product image!
And we wouldn’t be surprised if, in the near future, some platforms will actually require them.
All these platforms understand the selling power of good lifestyle product images. You should too.
Lifestyle product photography tips
We’re not in the business of teaching you how to take lifestyle product photos. But here are some basic tips you can use to shoot more compelling ones.
- Tell a story from start to finish with the photos
- Change angles and move around
- Shoot wider/looser so text can be added to either side, or even top or bottom, for use on websites and social media
- Don’t make the product so small it can’t be seen, and don’t overpower it with other objects that might be mistaken for the main product
- Make sure the background shows, as it is the lifestyle setting that the product matches
- Add the human touch like a hand, part of a face, or a whole person to capture attention and trigger emotion; use of cute animals can trigger emotional responses too
- Whether you’re using models or friends, be sure to make them comfortable and get into the spirit of things so the photos will capture their emotions
- Lighting is so important—it creates the mood and can highlight colors and textures
- Choose your colors wisely and deliberately. Did you know that 90% of snap judgements are influenced by color alone? Check out this poster from graf1x to explore the specific emotions behind the various colors.
Conclusion: You need to make every effort to have quality lifestyle product photos so you can convert browsers into customers
Lifestyle product photos weave a story, help personify your brand, and breathe life into every product you sell. The result is stronger sales, greater brand loyalty, and a treasure-trove of relatable images for use on social media.
So, if lifestyles are not yet in your photo mix, it’s time to start strategizing.
- You need to decide how to showcase your products being used by people who represent your target buyer
- You want to encourage a shopper to step into that photo and identify with the people, locale, storyline, and product use
- Should your product appeal to multiple ages and interest groups, have lifestyles with each or create lifestyle photos that include the whole spectrum of potential customers
- Don’t forget to show the positive benefits derived from using your product
Petra Industries provides an amazing array of services for manufacturers as well as retailers. However, lifestyle product photography is a specialized field. It requires careful forethought, planning, location, props, and collaboration on the part of the brand, the marketing firm, and the photographer before a single product lifestyle photo is shot.
So, although Petra doesn’t offer full-blown lifestyle photography services, we do provide services including shooting images over a white background, 360° spin photography, basic retouching, and even simple lifestyles with a hand or arm in the shot.
Contact your Vendor Business Manager if you are interested in our product photography services. And if you’re interested in finding out more about what Petra Industries has to offer you as a manufacturer or a reseller customer, visit petra.com today.