Five CTR-Boosting Tips to Make Your Amazon Main Image Stand Out
How do Amazon photographers give your product a strong competitive advantage on the search results page?
The short answer is: by sticking to the Amazon rules perfectly and at the same time applying creative techniques to highlight your product’s strengths and give it the edge over your competitors.
We know what we’re talking about: the content we make increases our clients’ CTR by 22% on average*.
*We created more than 900 category-leading Amazon listings and analyzed the results. A substantial increase in CTR was observed in the vast majority of the cases.
The main image is a decisive factor
Main images on Amazon listings are called “main” for a reason: they’re the first thing your customers see, so investing in them gives you the best chance to have your customers hooked.
The one and only goal for the main image is to grab attention and get clicked on. Keep it in mind throughout this article.
As a seasoned Amazon photography and design team, we’ve seen firsthand how an impactful image can make or break a product’s success. We want to distill our experience into five essential tips to enhance your main image.
We’ll navigate through tactics ranging from optimal image ratios to the strategic use of color, each designed to boost your Click-Through Rate (CTR).
Plus, a bonus insight awaits you toward the end. Let’s dive in!
Tip 1. Optimizing image ratio and minimizing white space: Making the most of your Amazon listing photos
Amazon wants your main image to be plain and dull. According to the official requirements, it must be just a pure white background with the product occupying 85% of the image—and nothing else. How do we use it to the max?
Going vertical
Lately, we’ve been delivering vertical (1×1.25) main images to all our clients. The reason we moved on from the classic square format is that vertical images look better on mobile devices, and recent stats show that nearly 80% of Amazon browsing is done on smartphones.
Purchases are still mostly made on desktop, but since we’re discussing main images, we need to focus on grabbing the customers’ attention and prompting them to go check out your listing. Vertical positioning does just that: it makes your listing more conspicuous in the search results.
Keeping unused space to a minimum
The ideal outcome is full coverage: your product takes up the entire main image, with just one pixel between the edge of the product and the edge of the frame all around. Obviously, it can’t be achieved with every product.
Minimizing white space is crucial. If your product is narrow, we’ll show its package next to it. If it has many components, we’ll fit them all in and arrange them prettily. We’ll make it float, show it at an angle, tetris up its parts, and add bright details to the box it comes in: meticulous studio work and post-production that we do guarantee that we get the most out of every little bit of available space.
Tip 2. Flawless Amazon product photography service
We’re stating the obvious here, but we can’t help it. It’s as simple as it gets: poorly photographed, your product loses its appeal, and its clickability collapses. Let’s take a look at the three most critical points.
Angle
The right angle can dramatically alter the appeal of your product as it helps showcase the best features. A slightly elevated angle can provide a comprehensive view, highlighting details that might be lost in a straight-on shot. We experiment with different angles to find that sweet spot where your product looks both inviting and authentic.
Lighting
This may be the most important factor in photography. Good lighting brings out the true colors and textures of your product, making it more lifelike and desirable. But there’s no universal formula for good lighting: for each product, it must be individually set so that the image is crisp and no important details are obscured. It takes a pro to do it right.
Retouching
Once all the necessary shots are taken, post-production steps in. Depending on the product, it can take hours of an expert’s time to achieve the immaculate look.
However, there’s a fine line between enhancing a photo and misrepresenting a product. We know where the line is in terms of both Amazon rules and customers’ perception of realness, so we manage to correct minor flaws and bring out major strengths without overdoing it.
Tip 3. Playing with the package: Product photography Amazon can be tricked with
Consider adding extra graphics to the photo of your package that’ll go to your main listing image. This way, you get a chance to make your main image more informative and your product more noticeable in the search results.
Package as canvas
If the box that your product comes in has some free space on it, we can put a large blurb on it that’ll scream about the main benefit you offer. No need to redesign the packaging at this point: all the changes are done by retouchers during the photo post-production stage.
Adding context
Apart from blurbs and badges, we can add something to the package to hint at the lifestyle or the aesthetic your product embodies. It’s a smart way to make the product more relatable to your target audience. This context doesn’t have to be overt; even minimalistic designs can suggest a premium experience or practical utility, depending on what you have to offer.
Graphic enhancements
To make your product pop in a sea of thumbnails, you want the graphics in the main image to be engaging. It can be a splash of color, a pattern, or some strategic branding: anything to add character to your product while maintaining the authenticity and trustworthiness that Amazon shoppers expect.
Mistakes to avoid
Amazon doesn’t like it when sellers mess with their main images. Many get away with this as Amazon algorithms may fail to spot their cheating. But they get better every month, and we don’t want to put your listing at risk of being suspended, so we play by the rules.
We know how to tweak main images within the technical requirements of Amazon, so working with us, you’re in the clear.
Tip 4. Introducing models to humanize your Amazon FBA photography
A human touch is another way to make the product relatable and showcase it in real-life use. It can truly transform the way customers perceive the product, right at the first glance.
Is this an option?
In many categories, Amazon doesn’t allow models in the main images. Exceptions are cases where humans are essential to presenting a product: like clothes. If some of your competitors use models in their main images, you should go for it, too. We’ve seen model images turn out real deal-breakers for CTR.
Lifestyle connection
A model can bridge the gap between a static product and its practical application and illustrate how it fits into your customer’s lifestyle. This connection can be subtle—a hand holding the product or a model using it in a natural setting—yet it significantly enhances the appeal by showing relevance and ease of use.
Selecting the right model
This choice is crucial as the model must resonate with your target demographic and reflect their style and values. So for some products, it’s not like any model will do, just for the sake of having a human in the frame. What we do when selecting the person is about finding the right representative for your brand and product.
Authenticity in pose and expression
We avoid overly staged or unnatural poses that can detract from the product’s appeal. The goal here, again, is to present your product in a realistic and attractive context that prompts potential buyers to imagine themselves using it.
Tip 5. Bright colors: The attention grabbers in photography for Amazon products
The strategic incorporation of color in your main image can become a game-changer in attracting customer attention. A bright and well-thought-out detail creates a focal point that makes your product stand out among similar-looking competitors.
If your product looks bright, you’re lucky. But if it’s monochrome, like most products in your category, you need to add something colorful to the main image to be immediately noticed by the shopper.
It can be some sticker, label, or a graphic effect showing the product in action: anything that’ll work as a thoughtful splash of color to direct the customer’s attention.
Even for colorful products, adding a detail of a new color that makes the image different from those of your competitors can make your product immediately more visually attractive.
Pro tip: Amazon requires the main product images to have a white background. However, in some categories, this rule isn’t strictly enforced, allowing for more engaging images. Just be sure to have a backup image that follows the guidelines, in case Amazon steps in and requests an image with a white background.
Extra: Always do A/B testing!
We’re stating the obvious here, but we can’t help it. It’s as simple as it gets: poorly photographed, your product loses its appeal, and its clickability collapses. Let’s take a look at the three most critical points.
Your Amazon product photography service provider must supply more than one main image for your listing. We follow this rule in every project. By showing one half of the shoppers one image and the other half a different one, you get to quickly figure out which one works better. If automatic A/B testing isn’t available in your seller account, replace the image manually every week to find the best performer: the effort will pay off.
One of the ways to decide what the difference between the main images should be is to examine your competitors. For some product types, the main images in the search results are quite similar. You can mimic your competitors’ visual style in one main image you’re going to use, and for the other one, modify the style somehow to set your product apart.
If you are willing to invest some money in image testing, use PickFu. It allows you to get feedback from real people on why they find some images more appealing than others. We are not paid for recommending this service, and we’re not affiliated with PickFu. It’s just friendly advice.
Bottom line
A less-than-perfect main image for your Amazon listing means that you’re losing money. We’ve discussed some of the most effective tips to make the clickability of main images soar.
The 5 tips are about fine-tuning image ratios, mastering photography, leveraging free space on packaging, introducing human elements, and employing color strategically. Combined and implemented wisely, they help convert views into clicks and clicks into sales.
With us, you can build a listing that resonates with your audience on a visual and emotional level. In the final images, every pixel will count in capturing hearts and minds. You can rely on us to make your product unforgettable.
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