How to Maximize Your Listing Photo Slots

Online Marketplace Photos

Have you ever wondered how to fill all your photo slots in online marketplace listings? Do you just add one or two photos of your product, or show your product from as many angles as possible, and leave it at that?

According to research, the more photos there are, the more information the customer will receive and the more likely the customer will feel comfortable about buying your product. They recommend you take photos from different angles, show any details that you want the customers to know about, and display any special features. But is there more that you can do?

Before I answer that, the next question is, do buyers read your listing descriptions?

Do Buyers Read Your Listing Descriptions?

My answer is, some do, and some don’t. Some buyers are in a rush, or just don’t want to read through long paragraphs of text.

Potential buyers are more likely to just to skim through your photos and read the title when they are just browsing or comparing products. Once they make a more definite decision, they will likely come back and read your full listing description before buying your product. But even then, there are always buyers who will buy first and read the full description later – or don’t bother at all.

So this is where your photo slots will come in very, very handy.

What To Put in Your Photo Slots

The first thing to do is write down all the main features of your product, your unique selling points (why yours is better than your competition), and all the main things you want your potential buyers to know about your product. Include anything from your normal listing description that you want your future customer to know about your listing, without having to wade through all that other text.

Next, make another list of common misunderstandings that your buyers have had in the past about your product. This is very important as it can remove any potential disgruntled customers that you have to deal with later. This was the last thing I learnt and works like a dream now to avoid possible customer dissatisfaction.

The good thing is that photo slots can also include text, so to prepare all your listing photos I recommend you use a good photo editor or online design platform, such as Canva, Templett, or Adobe Express, to create your photo slots. These are very easy to use and will be well worth the investment of your time to learn how to use them.

Yes, preparing your listing photos can be time-consuming, but my recommendation is that out of all the things you do to prepare a listing, this is the most important. It will grab your potential buyers attention, eliminate any unnecessary confusion, and give your customers more confidence to purchase from you.

Your 10 Photo Slots

In marketing, there is what we call the 4 'W's: Why, What, When, and What If. These are the things you need to address to capture your target market. If you can address these subconsious questions in your potential buyers' minds, they will be more likely to purchase from you.

Keeping your potential buyer in mind, ask yourself:

1. why should I buy this product from me?
2. what am I buying, how does it help me, and does it fill my needs?
3. when is the best time to buy this?
4. and finally, what if I buy this - and then have extra benefits from it?

Write down all of your answers to clarify them in your own mind.

Your first photo should always be the very best photo of your product. Also keep in mind how it looks on a crowded search page. Check to see if it stands out and how it compares to your competition. Do you need a light background, a dark one, or a color backdrop to have it stand out? The more you can do to make it different and better than the rest, the more success you should have in attracting buyers.

The next 2 to 4 photos should be just of your product, to show different angles, closeups of details, and how it can be used.

The remaining photo slots should include the designs that you made that incorporate text.  See some of our examples below. These can include:

• sizing,
• your unique selling points,
• your product features,
• common misunderstandings,
• store discounts,

• ease of use,
• why your product is different/better to others,
• cross promotions,
• summary of your store products.

In short, photo slots are wonderful features to use for listing your product. Use them as marketing tools, attention-grabbers, for critical information, and as a means of communicating quickly and directly to browsing customers.

And well worth any time you spend on creating them.

As well as photos of our products, below are examples of what we put in our photo slots and how we format them. These are templates that we designed in Canva and can be used across all or most of our listings, or easily modified for individual listings. We then print these out as JPEG photos and upload to our listing photo slots.

For more information on how to identify your target market: