There is an abundance of information on the internet, making it easier for consumers to research products and compare prices before making a purchase. However, when it comes to purchasing a product or service online, without physically handling the item first, transparency is key.

Marketing and advertising professionals rely on online marketing images for countless purposes, from advertising products online to making a purchase online to evaluating a service or product. When users click or otherwise interact with these images, the business or brand behind the image may receive some or all of the interaction, depending on the purposes for which the image was designed.

With the ability to modify graphics online and the explosion of online communities like reddit where consumers can share and comment on digital imagery, the ability to track how a specific image is performing, either directly or indirectly, is becoming more accessible. This can then be used to modify and/or improve the image’s performance moving forward. For example, if a marketing image is performing below expectations, it may be time to revisit the strategy behind the image or the person responsible for creating and publishing the image.

The Basics Of Online Marketing

In order to understand how to make an image more transparent, it is important to have a basic understanding of how online marketing and digital marketing, in general, work.

The most basic concept behind digital marketing is that an image, or sometimes even text combined with an image, is capable of generating interest and action online. That said, when a business or brand uses digital marketing to promote a product or service, the goal is to generate interest within the target audience and then convert that interest into action, whether it’s moving into a purchase or sharing the product information through social media.

In general, when designing a digital marketing image, either alone or in combination with text, careful consideration should be given to the size of the audience the image is intended to reach, how much attention the image is likely to receive and what action, if any, the image will encourage.

The Performance Of An Image

When it comes to the performance of an image, the first thing to consider is whether or not the image is performing as expected. This can be easily checked using Google Analytics, which most businesses and brands are familiar with and use to track visits to their websites. However, even those who are not as familiar with this particular piece of software may find the information provided by Google Analytics to be pretty straightforward. For example, if you have an online store and you set up Google Analytics on your site, you can easily find out how many people are visiting your site, the length of their stay and what actions, if any, they are taking (i.e. shopping carts, filling out forms, subscribing to email lists, etc.).

Depending on the type of product or service being promoted, the image’s performance may be determined by how well it represents the product or service, how engaging it is, how easy it is to understand the messaging behind it and how well the copy accompanying it matches up with the image.

Why Do Marketers Use Online Marketing Images?

Even before the internet, marketing images played an important role in consumerism, starting with the earliest forms of marketing in the 16th century when graphic representations of products were used to persuade consumers to purchase a product. In fact, the Oxford English Dictionary defines a marketing image as “a photograph, painting or other graphic representation used to advertise a product or service”.

Since then, the use of marketing images has greatly expanded, with marketers now using them to educate the public about products and services, to encourage consumer voting and to show how a product or service solves a particular problem.

One of the primary reasons behind the rise of internet marketing and social media in particular is the ability to easily create marketing images specifically designed for the digital landscape. That is, instead of just using a stock photo and maybe adding a bit of text to describe the product or service, graphic designers and marketers can now create highly engaging images that will perform well on social media platforms and even on a website in the form of a slide show or an engaging video.

How To Make An Online Marketing Image More Transparent

• Use high quality photos.
• Apply a solid white background
• Only use visuals that are relevant to the subject matter
• Stay away from stock images
• Avoid using logos
• Minimize text in marketing images
• Keep photos simple and uncluttered
• Do not put yourself in the images you create
• Research the purpose of the image before creating it
• Make it easy for users to identify with your brand
• Make it possible for users to relate to the material
• Avoid marketing text in images
• Do not “over-design” your images
• Show your personality but do not overdo it
• Do not use animals in your marketing material
• Play around with typography
• A/B test different versions of your image with A/B testing tools like Google Optimize

The Pros Of Using Sliders And Visual Elements Instead Of Just Text

One thing that Google Analytics makes apparent is that, while people still love to read text-based content, images are gradually becoming more important to consumers.

The most basic reason behind this shift is that people can now see and appreciate the beauty of an image much more so than a simple list of words. Moreover, since people spend more time on mobile devices than they do on desktop computers, websites have to utilize responsive design, which automatically scales the text and images to fit the screen size of the device on which it is being displayed.

Another reason that text and traditional marketing images are losing popularity is that people are moving toward more engaging and attractive ways of presenting content. Indeed, with the ability to use images in different combinations and superimpose multiple images on top of one another, marketers can develop highly visual presentations that are both engaging and attention-grabbing.

To this end, designers can use a tool like InVision to develop an engaging presentation that will both attract and retain the attention of their audience. Moreover, in a world full of competing products and services, marketers can create highly specific images to convey a sense of individuality and identity that will make their product or service stand out.

Tips For Making A Good Marketing Image

While there is no set formula for creating a successful online marketing image, there are several tips and tricks that can be followed to develop an image that will attract and retain visitors, potential customers and even existing customers.

First, make sure that the background is completely white.

This will not only make an image appear brighter and more vibrant but it will also serve as a blank canvas upon which the subject matter can be displayed. Moreover, the ability to add a background color behind the image is also something that most websites have these days, so it is not necessary to risk boring the viewer with a plain white background.

For similar reasons, apply a solid white background to the photos used for product shots as well. Moreover, make sure that all of the links in the article point to external websites and that these websites are relevant to what the reader is looking for. This prevents the links from being labeled as “clickbaits” by anti-spam software and prevents damage to your SEO, or search engine optimization, strategy.

Final Takeaway

With all of this information about online marketing images and the various ways that they can be used, it is important to remember that marketing images, just like all other types of images, should be treated with respect.

This means that photographs should only be used where they add value and should not be manipulated in any way that is overly critical. Moreover, graphic designers and marketers should be mindful about the type of content they are putting out into the world. While the ability to track a specific image’s performance online is becoming more accessible, designers should still keep in mind the intended audience and the purpose for which the image was designed.