How Better Images Help Your Product Listings

Marketing products may seem straightforward. You create a product, write a description, set a price, and add some images. However, if you want to be a successful content creator, you need to understand the importance of each of these steps. In this post, we'll specifically discuss what makes a product image truly successful.

I mean, think about it. When shoppers browse online, the first thing they see is the product's image. The price usually comes next. Try it out if you don't believe me. Look for something you want to buy, and notice how you scroll until you find an image you like. Then, you check the price before deciding to explore any further. Images play a powerful role in driving sales and beating the competition.

This post will focus specifically on images, but pricing will also play a minor role here.

When people are looking to buy something online, the images of the product have a big impact on their decision, second only to the price. So, if you have a catchy listing title, a good ranking in search results, and the right price for the buyer, how can you make your product stand out from the remaining competition?

It will all come down to the components of your images.

Appealing Images

Let's assume you're selling a Notion Habit Tracker Template, and you've set everything up perfectly to rank on the first page.

Now, you want to stand out as the "most attractive" listing.

Being the most attractive listing is subjective. It all depends on the audience you're selling to. Notion templates perform better when they include electronic devices rather than plain backgrounds in their images. Just think of how the buyer plans to use your product and design the images in a way that helps convey that.

For example, if you're selling a Notion Habit Tracker, it's important to show your template design on devices like phones, laptops, or tablets. This helps the buyer visualize how they will use it. You can even showcase the template on all these devices if possible, but the main goal is to get the point across.

Another example is a resume template. Imagine you're browsing on Etsy for a resume template. You might see the template itself, someone submitting the resume in an office setting, or the resume on a desk with a cup of coffee. These professional setting designs can make the template more appealing and relatable.

But what makes an image attractive? It really depends on your target audience and their preferences. If you are selling products on Etsy, Gumroad, or any other platform, then you have to consider who the audience is and how to market to them. Let’s look at Etsy and Gumroad since they are the most popular platforms for selling digital products.

Etsy

According to SemRush,

Etsy Shoppers spend an average of 13.5 minutes per visit and visit an average of 4.64 pages. That equates to 174 seconds per page visit. Can your listing convert in under three minutes?

Also, 64% of shoppers are on mobile devices. They’re browsing on smaller screens compared to computer screens. Are your listing images optimized for mobile screens?

According to Similarweb data

Etsy has a 58.67% female audience. The majority are between the ages of 25-44. Are your images targeting these demographics?

Knowing who is shopping on the platform should give you a better understanding of how to market your products. Let’s look at Gumroad now.

Gumroad

According to SemRush,

Gumroad shoppers spend an average of 6.25 minutes per visit and visit an average of 2.56 pages. That equates to 146 seconds per page visit. Can your listing convert in around 2 minutes?

Similarly, 64% of shoppers are on mobile devices. People prefer sitting back on their sofa and shopping on their phones. Make sure to optimize for mobile screens!

According to Similarweb data

Gumroad has a 67.34% male audience. The majority are between the ages of 18-34. Are your images targeting these demographics?

Every platform has its slight differences, and knowing them can give you an advantage over your competitors. Understanding these nuances allows you to tailor your marketing strategies and optimize your product listings for each specific platform, increasing your chances of attracting and converting potential customers.

This is all great, right? But I won’t leave you with just data. Let’s get a few examples.

Listing Image Examples

This post speaks specifically about Gumroad and Etsy, but this will apply to just about every single platform. Trust me, I’ve tested dozens of them.

Let's continue with Notion Habit Tracker Templates in this example, specifically on Gumroad. I searched for these templates in Gumroad's search and Discover store.

So, I went ahead and looked for Notion Habit Tracker Templates on Gumroad. It's a platform where you can find a variety of digital products.

Examine the top six listings. It’s no coincidence they ranked at the top of the search results.

Can you spot any similarities?

• → They are all using electronic device elements

• → The top four all have large fonts

• → The top three all use the Notion icon

• → The top two are minimalistic, with appealing colors

Notice my bolded words.

All four are fantastic components of an image anyone can use to improve their images.

Elements, fonts, icons, and colors.

I also pointed out with a red and blue arrow on the image above. Look at the number of downloads they have and the pricing. Each of them has a different business strategy, which all can work well, depending on your own strategy.

Take note of the pricing and total downloads. The blue arrow points to the one with more downloads, but it has a $0 price tag, making free products obviously easy to “sell.” Then the red arrow points to 123 downloads at a $50 price tag. That looks amazing right?

One listing is making money from direct sales, while the other probably has a more advanced plan to gather email subscribers using a lead magnet.

It’s an important thing to consider what business strategy your going with.

Let’s look at Etsy using the same search example**:** Notion Habit Tracker.

For this example, I did skip the first four listings since they were all Etsy ad listings. This post is about non-ad listings.

You want to learn how to improve your listings without spending money, don't you?

Take a good look at the listings and consider what you've learned.

Can you spot any similarities? Any differences?

• → They are all using electronic device elements

• → All eight listings have varying large fonts

• → 5/8 listings use the Notion icon

• → All of them have their own unique, appealing colors

Differences

If you caught it, then you have a sharp eye.

Three of these listings are actually Google Sheet products. Even though I typed Notion Habit Tracker Template.

Interesting right? 🤔

Lastly, consider the number of sales and the price.

These top eight listings are winning most of the sales because of ranking. They’re basically only competing against each other on those top results, and it's a great position to be in.

At this point, knowing your audience is key.

You can apply the four key components for better CTR and conversions if you know who you're selling to.

Once again, those four key components for listing images are

Elements, fonts, icons, and colors.

Successful product listings require eye-catching images that grab the attention of potential buyers. When content creators understand the target audience and their preferences, they can design images that showcase the product's use and appeal. By optimizing images for specific platforms and considering elements like fonts, icons, and colors, click-through rates and conversions can be significantly improved. With these strategies in place, content creators can create compelling listings that drive sales.