Product Photography vs. Video: Which One Drives More Sales?

Visulas are silent salespeople of every brand. Whether a product gets attention or gets overlooked, it truly depends on the visuals. Nowadays, customers decide in a few seconds if they want that product or not. That’s why businesses are spending huge amounts on visual marketing. Product photography is a traditional and successful method of marketing, but video marketing is nonetheless. Both play an equally important role in building brands. But the question remains the same: “ product photography vs video” 

Does product video drive more sales than product photography? Let’s explore.

The Power of Product Photography

Product photos have been the backbone of e-commerce and advertising for so a long time. It is the traditional method of marketing and advertising, and many businesses still rely on product photography today as well. Perfectly clicked photos give confidence to the customer about the product they are thinking of buying. Professionally clicked photos highlight the product’s texture, features, are color, which gives a decent idea to the customer about what they are buying. A recent report by Shopify highlights that sharp and clear photos have reduced cart abandonment. Photos are affordable; they cost much less than a video shoot. One photo shoot can provide you with different images for multiple platforms. Photos are easy to load and share; they are perfect for mobile and heavy websites. 

However, photos can’t capture how the product works; they can only capture moments. That’s where videos come in.

Why Product Videos Are Growing

Videos add life to your product; they give a demonstration of your product instead of just showing it. Video adds emotions to your brand. Buyers, visualize themself using your brand. A product video can highlight features, benefits, and usage. They build connections by emotional storytelling as well. They answer so many doubts and questions of customers, for example, in a 1-minute video, a clothing brand can show how the dress is going to look after wearing, for which skin tone the dress color looks perfect, and a tech brand uses videos to simplify complex product demonstrations. A study shows, videos increase conversion rates by 80%. 

Product videos do require more investment in terms of money and time, but still, returns are higher than the investment.

Product Photography vs Video: Competition Analysis

Comparing product photography and product video, we have found that the competition often depends on industry type. For fast-moving goods like Soft drinks, packaged snacks, Bread & bakery items, Tea & coffee, packaged water & juices, etc, photos are usually enough because products are straightforward. For high-ticket items like furniture, gadgets, or fashion videos perform much better compared to photos. You should look at what your competitors are doing. If they are using product videos only, you should do both to keep yourself ahead of your competitors. If you are already using videos, you should analyze your content which type is doing good and focus on that. 

Final Thoughts: 

Product Photography vs Video: Which One Should You Choose?

The answer is not simple; you can’t choose one. For a first impression and a quick, easy scan, product photos are best for engagement, and impression product videos are best. For small businesses are startups, photography is good for keeping marketing under budget. For maximum results, use a mix of both photos and videos. Many big companies like Amazon use both product photos and videos. 

You should always look for an amazing production house that has both photography and videography skills. One such leading production house is Vastvik Films, with over 15 years of experience in video marketing.