Photography & Video
Quality photos and videos drive ecommerce sales. Our Photography & Video category includes the cornerstone 15-part “Product Photography” series, instructing all aspects of modern photo techniques to DIY merchants. We’ve also addressed smartphone photos, 360-degree image tools, optimizing for Google image search, and more.
-
Photography & Video
Photo Captions (Greatly) Help Ecommerce Conversions
March 15, 2018 • Marcia Yudkin
“A picture is worth a thousand words.” Many of us conclude that pictures make words unnecessary. We believe images are so explicit and clear that they communicate fully on their own. Too often that’s not true, however. Whether of people or products, photos can be more ambiguous than most people assume.
-
Photography & Video
13 New Video Tools in Social Media
November 27, 2017 • Sig Ueland
Social media platforms continue releasing tools to generate and distribute videos, to help users reach new followers and build their communities. Here is a list of new and updated video ...
-
Photography & Video
Missing Image Attributes Can Hurt Holiday Sales
November 22, 2017 • Pamela Hazelton
The holiday shopping season is in full force. Etailers are hoping for big returns on their marketing efforts. But etailers often lose conversions due to missing title and alt attributes ...
-
Photography & Video
11 Ways Photos Harm Ecommerce Conversions
June 6, 2017 • Pamela Hazelton
High-quality product photos are critical for conversions. Without photos and video, it’s nearly impossible to compete for sales. There are exceptions to every rule, however, and it’s no different when ...
-
Photography & Video
10 Tutorials for Product Photography
May 29, 2017 • Sig Ueland
To showcase your products at little expense, consider do-it-yourself product photography. Assemble a professional-level production setup at very little cost, and there are plenty of expert tutorials available to guide ...
-
Photography & Video
8 Types of Videos That Convert Shoppers into Buyers
April 7, 2017 • Pamela Hazelton
With more than 7 billion videos watched daily on YouTube and Facebook, it’s no surprise that video content is the number one method to sell products and services. Descriptive media ...
-
Photography & Video
10 Viral Videos from Brands, for Inspiration
April 4, 2017 • Sig Ueland
Video is big and getting bigger. According to a study from Cisco, by 2021 over 75 percent of global mobile data traffic will be video, and there will be more ...
-
Photography & Video
How Much to Pay for Photography, for Ecommerce?
October 6, 2016 • Armando Roggio
What is a picture worth, in dollars and cents? Online retailers need product photography, relevant product lifestyle images, and even stock photos (for blog posts and social media). All of ...
-
Photography & Video
9 Popular Product Videos, for Ecommerce
September 28, 2015 • Sig Ueland
Creating a product video can be a good way to deliver useful information about a product, as well as to convey the essence of your brand. If you’re interested in ...
-
Photography & Video
8 Brands That Live Stream Video for Innovative Marketing
August 31, 2015 • Sig Ueland
Apps like Periscope and Meerkat have thrust live streaming video into the social media spotlight. Brands have been quick to respond — experimenting with ways to incorporate live streaming video ...
-
Photography & Video
Online Retailer’s Guide to Photo Copyrights
July 10, 2015 • Armando Roggio
Using product or lifestyle images on an ecommerce site without permission from the photograph’s creator or copyright holder is a crime that — in the United States — carries up to $150,000 penalty. So the next time you’re tempted
-
Photography & Video
13 Solutions for Sharing Video
May 25, 2015 • Sig Ueland
Video content accounts for approximately 80 percent of all U.S. Internet traffic, according to Cisco Systems. If video isn’t part of your business’s content marketing strategy, perhaps it should be. Here ...
-
Photography & Video
Video Styles that Attract and Convert Shoppers, for Ecommerce
April 6, 2015 • Jason Lawrence
In today’s marketing world, companies spend much time and money deciding how to create the most compelling content to promote their brands. One way to do this is with video. There ...
-
Photography & Video
15 Animated GIFs on Twitter, from Brands
March 2, 2015 • Sig Ueland
In “12 Free Animated GIF Creators,” my article last week, I addressed tools to create animated GIFs for your website, email, and social media campaigns. In this article, I am ...
-
Photography & Video
7 Powerful Apps for Product Photography
February 5, 2015 • Jason Lawrence
You might remember “Product Photography: DSLR Cameras vs. Smartphones,” my article about the trade-offs between using DSLR cameras and smartphone cameras for product photography. I noted that there is a ...
-
Photography & Video
5 Great Video Hosting Services for Ecommerce
January 8, 2015 • Jason Lawrence
When it comes to managing an ecommerce site, it’s important to consider the best way to integrate product videos. There are a range of video hosting options, depending on the ...
-
Photography & Video
Product Photography: DSLR Cameras vs. Smartphones
November 4, 2014 • Jason Lawrence
High quality product photography is key for building customer trust and increasing conversions on ecommerce sites. A topic that comes up a lot at Arqspin, my 360 photography company, is ...
-
Photography & Video
3 Ways to Make Ecommerce Product Videos More Effective
August 17, 2014 • Armando Roggio
Collecting product videos on a single page and adding product video testimonials to product detail pages and social media sites could lead to more sales for online retailers. Some in the ...
-
Photography & Video
10 Sites Using Video Creatively to Engage Customers
July 14, 2014 • Sig Ueland
Businesses can use video to engage customers. Videos can show a product in motion and deliver helpful product information, from an expert. Here is a list of businesses using video creatively to ...
-
Photography & Video
Sharing of Photos and Videos Fuels Marketing Opportunities
October 31, 2013 • Armando Roggio
As more consumers share photos and video online, marketers may find new or better ways to engage potential customers or simply be more helpful. This year, 54 percent of adults in ...
-
Photography & Video
I Made a Movie and So Can You! Tools and Resources
October 23, 2013 • Sig Ueland
On Oct 24, 2013 at 7 p.m., Coffee, Kill Boss, a movie I wrote and co-produced, will premiere in the beautiful Paramount Theater at the Austin Film Festival. Here is a ...
-
Photography & Video
15 Video Tutorials for Product Photography
August 26, 2013 • Sig Ueland
You can produce professional-looking product photos without having to hire a professional photographer. By following simple instructions from online video tutorials, you can create rich product images for very little ...
-
Photography & Video
Mobile Image Recognition to Revolutionize Ecommerce?
August 21, 2013 • Armando Roggio
Mobile image recognition technology identifies objects like shoes, handbags, and golf clubs in images, videos, or directly through a tablet or smartphone’s image sensor. The technology may make a new ...
-
Photography & Video
Top 10 Cameras for Ecommerce Product Photos, Videos
July 29, 2013 • Jason Lawrence
One question I get asked a lot at Arqspin, my 360 product photo company, is, "What camera should I use for product photography?" With the right techniques, almost any camera can be used to take good product photography — even the camera on your smartphone. And if you’ve read "How to Tak...
-
Photography & Video
Behold the Animated GIF
June 4, 2013 • Jason Lawrence
Since its birth in 1987, Graphics Interchange Format, or GIF, has proved to be one of the most durable image standards. GIFs are supported by nearly every modern web browser and almost every email client in the world. That’s a big deal. GIFs provide a way of embedding animated content ...
-
Photography & Video
5 Simple Ways to Make Great Product Videos
May 1, 2013 • Jason Lawrence
In "Learning from Infomercials for Product Demonstration," my article last month, I discussed the importance of product demonstration and video in selling online. This month, I’ll explain how to make product videos that get results. Given the rise in well-produced online video, it can ...
-
Photography & Video
12 How-to and DIY Video Sites
April 16, 2013 • Sig Ueland
Adding videos to your website can be a terrific way to inform consumers on your product expertise, add value to their shopping experience, and set your site apart from your competitors. A video can be produced with little or no expense. And there are plenty of how-to videos available on...
-
Photography & Video
Learning from Infomercials for Product Demonstration
March 29, 2013 • Jason Lawrence
Perhaps the easiest advertisers to brush off are the ones behind television infomercials — those talking-head, late-night sales pitches complete with low-budget graphics and mind-numbing sound effects, enticing us to buy a $29.99 kitchen gadget we don’t need at 2 a.m. What could they k...
-
Photography & Video
How to Take Gorgeous Product Photos
January 28, 2013 • Jason Lawrence
Editor's Note: We welcome Jason Lawrence as our newest contributor. He is a computer scientist, researcher, educator, and entrepreneur, having co-founded Arqspin, a mobile phone-based platform for creating 360 spins. He is also an associate professor in the Computer Science Department a...
-
Photography & Video
10 Compelling Product Video Examples
January 3, 2013 • Armando Roggio
Product videos may attract additional shoppers, encourage sharing, and increase sales for online retailers. So it is little wonder that so many leading retailers are using product videos now. Relying on data aggregated from several sources, SundaySky, a video-platform provider, reporte...