1. Why Your Images Should Become Texts
Text vs. images. It's the grand debate. Do blog posts work better, or should you be sending text-based ads? Both certainly work. But sending product images to your customers via text-based marketing (SMS) is the perfect medium to incorporate your product images. Let's look at the numbers.
The average text open rate is 90%, and the average text response rate is around 45%. Those are significant numbers, especially when we compare that with emails, which have open rates of 20% and response rates of 6%.
Not only will people open it up and look at them, but they will get to see a glimpse of your actual product. Combine this with pixel activity (this measures what consumers looked at on your website) and shopping cart abandonment trackers and you can deliver hyper-relevant product imagery to a medium where your prospects are bound to be looking. That's a win-win.
And if you’re on the fence about using SMS, rest assured that SMS marketing is opt-in only and that there is no way for brands to market to customers without their consent. Therefore, those customers who leave their phone numbers on opt-in forms are asking to be text-marketed.
2. Using Pop-Ups With Product Images
If used correctly, pop-ups can be an incredibly powerful medium. The top 10% of pop-up campaigns have conversion rates that hover around 10% (which is incredibly high).
So, hit your visitors with a well-executed popup that incorporates product imagery.
Are you ready for the cherry on top? Add a discount to the pop-up. It doesn't have to be a big discount (10 - 15% works,) but you should definitely add one. Not only do 92% of consumers use discounts, but adding that discount gives you something else. It gives you their email. What do you need the email for? Read on. We're diving into some inboxes.
3. Email Flows
Emails still work. Due to the sheer number of emails brands send out every day, they do have lower open rates and response rates than SMS. But it's way easier to get an email than it is to get a phone number, and there's still a good percentage of people out there that open brand emails. The average ROI for email campaigns is outstanding— with around $32 in return for every $1 spent.
For eCommerce, emails aren't just good at getting some customers— they're a great way to combat the ever-growing shopping cart abandonment problem that persists through the eCommerce industry. Did someone check out a few items and then leave? If so, send them an abandon cart email. But what if they still don't buy?
Send them product image emails every once in a while. They clicked "Add to Cart" for a reason. There was intention there. You just have to figure out how to re-engage your customers in a meaningful way. Sending them emails with product images included—as in hero banners—is a great way to do just that. It re-introduces them to your product in a highly visual way and triggers that existing purchase intention in the back of their minds.
You can set up some pretty complex email workflows using product images. You just have to figure out where you want them and where they fit well in your existing flow. Let's look at some Klaviyo (which integrates with Shopify) email flow examples. These are the spots where you can place product images to really drive sales.
1. Topic triggers
Let's say that you have a blog that posts organic topics about the type of products you sell. So, maybe you sell shoes, and you have a shoe fit guide blogpost. Once readers read that whole blog post, send them an email with a tagline like "Looking for the perfect shoe fit? How about the perfect shoe?" Then, include rich images of your gorgeous shoes.
2. Shopping cart abandonment triggers
Did they leave those shoes in your shopping cart? Keep those shoes in their periphery by sending them abandoned cart email flows. Send them an email with a big, bright, beautiful picture of your sneakers.
3. Past purchase triggers
If you're not cross-selling, you should be. It boosts bottom-line revenue by up to 30%. And you don't even have to work for it. Just by sending an automated email of your cross-sell (or upsell) filled with gorgeous product images, you can put people back into that purchasing mindset.
4. Deal trigger
If they handed over their email in return for a discount, try sending them a product image based on their browsing behavior on your website. After all, they need to spend that discount, right?
There are hundreds of these types of triggers where product images just fit naturally. It would be a shame to ignore that amazing creative you have tucked into your arsenal.
Final Thoughts
Don't hoard all of those high-quality product images in the nooks-and-crannies of your website. Get them in front of peoples' faces. Every time one of your prospects sees a product image, they're one step closer to converting.
Are you looking for an agency that can help you make the most out of your product images? At Future Holidays, we're ready to help you dominate the retail space with smart, savvy SMS, email, and popup campaigns for your product images. What are you waiting for? Contact us to learn more.
