The concept of visual marketing has become a common concept in e-commerce. We will learn about its meaning, the connection of effective influence to the sense of sight, the importance of visual marketing, and practical recommendations to improve your online store.

Salla, the future of e-commerce, is an easy platform to start your business

Introduction to Visual Marketing | Visual Merchandising

Looking back to your last experience visiting the shopping mall in your city, and walking past the shops lining its corridors, do you remember how your feelings varied with each shop you set foot in? Those feelings were never a coincidence, but rather a systematic guidance by targeting your senses, and this primarily includes your sight as it is an information receiver that cannot be underestimated. You might wonder how? The answer is simply "through the magic of visual marketing"; starting from the floor planning of sales and how products are displayed to the color schemes used, and even the subtle scents that spread throughout the store, the merchant has taken care of all these details to increase the impact on the consumer and prompt them to willingly make a purchasing decision.

In fact, visual marketing has long been field associated with traditional stores, while the technological shift has refined this experience across the pathways of the internet, making it an effective psychological tool on e-commerce stores as well. This has led merchants to make "visual" strategic decisions that are not limited to the attractiveness of the website but start from there; as the website should be responsive, visually comfortable for the user, and work well on both mobile phones and desktops, which is the minimum essential requirement for entering any home-based online business.  

The sense that controls 80% of impressions

Many studies and research have concluded that "humans are visual creatures by nature," as it turns out that 90% of the information absorbed by the brain is visual information. Looking at the online world, consuming everything starts through the screen, through the viewed picture, and consequently, the sales process is contingent upon the way the products are visually presented. Since this is the case; studies indicate that 38% of people will leave a website if they find the design layout unattractive. In fact, it takes visitors about 50 milliseconds to decide whether they like a site or not, and to bring this idea closer, a single blink of an eye takes about 300 milliseconds. Can you now imagine how limited the time you have to catch a potential customer's attention?

As a retailer, a visitor who does not like your online store translates their primary behavior as follows: they will not turn into a buying customer. This is where the role of visual marketing stands out; as it helps you define how shoppers perceive you.

The demand for visuals has been increasing significantly in recent years as a result of the qualitative shift in technology; as the user is obsessed with monitoring their phone screen all day, making them more addicted to visual materials over textual ones, which is what companies must focus on, especially if they wish to uniquely position themselves and target customers, which is what visual marketing provides them with -that is, the use of visual content in promoting the brand-, so what is digital marketing more accurately?

Meaning of Visual Marketing

Retailers -in real-world stores- use carefully selected marketing tricks to appeal to as many human senses as possible and create an engaging experience that leaves a lasting positive impression on the consumer, by engaging them in the shopping experience from the moment they step into the store until the moment they step out. On the other hand, in online stores, the term visual marketing refers to displaying products in a visual way that arouses the interest of shoppers and prompts them to buy, as it relies on the visible part shown on screens; in order to promote Branding through photos, videos, and other visual elements aimed at delivering the brand message as an image and not in a textual format, based on the fact that humans respond more efficiently to communication devoid of words, directed through tracking images and overall visual arrangements, which include the following:

• Choosing powerful display colors

• Using spaces effectively and visually comfortably

• Displaying products in an attractive and innovative way consistent with the brand identity

• Observing customer movements within the store displays, and setting up signage in a way that guides the path

Visual marketing helps enhance brand identity and loyalty to it, which contributes to increasing sales and generating innovative and repeated business.

Visual Marketing in E-commerce Stores

While the brick-and-mortar store experience is largely driven by satisfying curiosity through (discovery), visual marketing within e-commerce aims to guide customers -via the buyer's journey- within record time towards the final destination summarized in making a purchase decision. It does this by offering the best experiences, products, and promotions to shoppers before moving to the final step, and includes the following:

• The Image | Images are one of the most prominent visual mediums that attract consumer attention and prompt them to interact effectively with the store; the more attractive the image is to the potential customer, the faster they turn into a buyer in the blink of an eye.

• The Video | Video outperforms images in that it gives consumers wider space to see the fine details of the product through movement, which naturally influences the purchasing decision that depends on accuracy, explanation, and the attraction factor of sound and image.

• Text Selections | Smart and carefully targeted text quotes hook the target customer, grab their attention, set off responsiveness, and spread, thereby affecting sales.

• Infographics | Users tend to extract data in a matter of seconds, and this is what charts relying on simplicity and engaging templates deliver.

• Memes and Reactions | Part of the innovative tools in catching attention is handling events with a sense of humor matching current trends on social networks, which facilitates sharing the material among people, thereby increasing the chance of acquiring a wider slice of potential customers excited about your store and products, in addition to your pleasant interaction.

Based on the above, your e-commerce visual marketing strategy should cover all the basic requirements that customers expect from your website, in addition to injecting something extra that makes you stand out and remain unique compared to thousands of other similar e-commerce sites they can jump to with a click of a button. 

Finally; the appearance of your website, your homepage, the site search mechanism, clarity of product data, and listing product recommendations are the basics, while a little creativity and intelligence can be helpful in passing product recommendations to customers and presenting a level different from competitors. Do you have a store on the Salla platform? We recommend you check out the unique display options we offer to merchants.

Why is visual marketing important?

Let us first agree that recent studies have established that a user retains 10% of what they receive through hearing and 20% of what they read, while they retain over 70% of what they see of visual commerce. On other hand; identifying shapes is guided towards reading, as the brain recognizes distinctive symbols that leave a faster footprint in memory, while the brain takes longer to process textual language. Because of this specifically, textual content comes in third place, while shape and color precede it in creating the first visual impression and winning over the viewer (customer-consumer). The importance of visual marketing can be summarized as follows:

(1) Consolidating the Brand Identity

We agreed early on that the sense of sight is very sensitive regarding the data entering through it, as it is more influential and clings to memory. Thus, a smart merchant can invest in this aspect to establish their brand identity by embodying its message through images and visuals passed to the customer-consumer, positively affecting their purchase decision, and ultimately boosting loyalty.

(2) Attracting Customer Attention

In the visual worlds on the internet, you are limited to several minutes to make an impact on the passing viewer (potential customer), and since the image is faster in impact, it is your winning card. Studies prove that attractive visuals can raise purchasing decision rates by about 85%, thanks to the attention-grabbing factor provided by the image, making passing features an available opportunity, which in turn will affect sales, conversion rates, and shares.

 (3) Emotional Influencers

It is no longer possible for users to part with their mobile screens. Therefore, it has become easy to stimulate them emotionally through attractive images full of life, leading to a rise in immediate engagement rate.

(4) Increasing Clicks

Relying on an effective and interesting visual marketing strategy can help the merchant boost customer interaction and thus increase conversion rates and revenues by including call-to-actions, quotes, and motivational images in the visual content that encourage them to willingly take action.

(5) Increasing Interaction

There is a close connection between visual content and user emotions, which leads to direct interaction -through liking, replying, and sharing- thereby serving the interest of the brand as it is an effective marketing tool among groups of acquaintances and friends. Naturally, merely sharing raises the brand's reliability, which leads to taking action.

3 Marketing Tips to Improve Customer Attraction to Your Store

No matter how many products you have in your store, you still need visual marketing to boost attention attraction and increase sales processes, (why?) because customers are looking for a unique experience, not just a website selling products! In fact, visual marketing in e-commerce is about creating a fun and engaging experience that makes your website visitors want to buy from you. It is also about helping shoppers explore your site and discover new products they want without much effort.

1- Invest in Design and Layout

It is no secret that the internet thrives on visually appealing content. There are millions of designers around the world making the internet a more attractive and unique place, everyone tries to make their Instagram page more aesthetically pleasing. This is what sells, and this is what will gain more likes and followers. The same applies to your online store; except that a more attractive site will lead to increased sales and revenue.

46% of consumers base their decisions regarding the credibility of online stores on their visual appeal and aesthetics. As trivial as it may seem relatively, colors, fonts, and design elements in your store can be the factors on which you win or lose a customer, as 94% of first impressions are design-related. In fact, aesthetics should not conflict with the smooth transition between pages, but rather work in harmony with it, so it is easy for the customer (user) to navigate through availability, ease, flow, and quick time. In return, the website structure must be simple and easily understood by a first-time visitor.

Finally, all of this -design, planning, and structure- must be compatible with smartphones. 85% of adults believe that a company's website, when viewed on a mobile device, should be as good as or better than the desktop website. Given that 79% of customers place orders using their mobile phones, having an unresponsive page is not an option on the negotiating table.

2-Make Your Landing Page Exceptional

Your website homepage is often where shoppers land first, and it is also likely to be the page with the maximum number of visits. Therefore, all your chances of making a good first impression lie in the shape of your homepage. Being the page that makes your website visitors decide whether they want to shop from you or not.

It takes 2.6 seconds for a user's eyes to land on a page that influences their first impression the most. It is your job to design the page in a way that is not confusing when they enter your website, so they want to stay and shop. The page must be useful and interesting, including: (who you are as a brand, what kind of products you sell, what value you offer, and an easy way to navigate through your website) and all these essential details should be clear on the homepage.

Beware of information overload! You need to provide enough information to help them understand without overwhelming them, as shopper behavior expert Paco Underhill says in his book "Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping": "If you tell too much, you will give up on them. If you confuse them, they will completely ignore the message."

This page is also the first opportunity to prove yourself as a reliable and humane brand that understands its customers and cares about serving them. Aside from being attractive and easy to navigate, other aspects must also be taken into consideration; such as page load speed time. 39% of people will leave a page if it is not downloaded in record time -due to the browse's usual impatience-, and the homepage is often the place where you will have to prove speed first. Well, speed and attractiveness, to be more transparent :)

3-Make the Experience Interesting: Activate Recommendations 

When visitors search for a product, they are 1.8 times more likely to convert. This is because when a visitor searches for something, they have a very clear intent. Displaying other products on a single product page helps shoppers discover products they might not have come across otherwise. There are different ways to do this; as you can show other products that are similar to the product, products bought by people who bought this product, and other products that go well with it. Personalizing these recommendations improves your customer experience. After all, 44% of consumers say they will likely become repeat buyers after a personalized shopping experience. Here are useful layouts:

Recommended for You | Product recommendations based on shopper preferences.

Products matching your cart | Products that complement the chosen product and can be styled together.

Trending Products | Best-selling products (at category level if shopper shows affinity to categories).

Style It (Complete the Look) |Tailored recommendations for different occasions.

Offering styling recommendations helps shoppers see their chosen product styled with other products they might want. Showing this on different occasions also helps you illustrate how versatile the product is, providing more reasons to buy it. The "Style It" option can be shoppers' destination for inspiration. This helps especially when shoppers find themselves in a dilemma of buying and pricing a product due to lack of ideas on how to consume it. Studies prove that 64% of women have their purchasing decisions influenced when seeing product photos in their optimal context.