Building a website that presents a compelling brand story might bring visitors to a website but it’s only one aspect responsible for keeping them there. What grabs the attention of web window-shoppers is compelling imagery.
High-quality images that frame jewellery in the right light can showcase colour, clarity and intricate design and detail. Jewellery is about appearance so the right images invoke powerful emotions in viewers.
Content moves quickly online and customers often don’t have the time to read through long paragraphs of text. If 90 per cent of information transmitted to the brain is visual, and visuals are processed 1000-times faster in the brain, it’s no wonder images are so much more memorable.
Having a variety of images – from products to events – helps to keep current customers and prospective buyers interested, which is important considering the average stay at a website is usually under five minutes.
Relevant and entertaining visual content that is refreshed regularly means retailers won’t risk losing visitors due to boredom and repetition.
Consistently posting images that have similar colours, patterns and designs will help a business build its visual brandidentity. Using relevant images will help jewellers gain attention, build loyalty and increase engagement among customers online.
Here are a few free and easy-to-use online tools to help retailers create eye-catching images that attract customers.
BeFunky
Free online photo editor BeFunky can help even novice photographers produce amazing photos. The powerful photo editor gives retailers the ability to crop photos and adjust them for exposure and saturation. Even better, BeFunky has an array of photo effects such as filters, textures and texture backgrounds. For a striking, elegant look, perhaps experiment with the built-in, black and white effects.
Jewellers can use BeFunky to tell the story of a product line by using the platform’s collage maker to create customised online photo collages.
Retailers can choose from an extensive selection of fully customisable layouts, patterns and colours, including ones specifically designed to be shared on Pinterest and Facebook.
BeFunky’s graphic-designer tool lets a retail brand’s team members easily create banners, flyers, cards and posters advertising new products by using a toolbox of functional design features. Jewellers can easily create brochures to promote new partnerships and infographics to give customers in-depth information on how a piece of jewellery is repaired and cleaned.
Pixlr
Pixlr is another free, online photo editor that offers retailers and their team members the ability to conduct graphic design on the go using three different platforms.
The robust web editor allows team members to easily replace colours in photos, transform objects and add layers and effects the same way they could if they had access to Photoshop.
For minor fixes, creative effects and borders, users can launch Pixlr’s Express web editor. With the Express editor, retailers can apply quick fixes such as overlays and stickers to make any photo stand out.
With Pixlr’s mobile app on Android and iPhone, retailers can take their photo editing on the go by creating custom photo collages, stylising product images and even layering multiple photos to create a unique look using double exposure.
Canva
Another popular free, online photo editor is Canva, which gives retailers the freedom to create eye-catching photos in a wide variety of formats.
With access to thousands of templates, icons and design elements such as shapes, lines and typefaces, jewellers will be able to design eye-catching posters, flyers, brochures, infographics and images for their social-media platforms.
Retailers will also be able to create images, e-newsletters and invitations to events such as in-store sales. The platform also has an extensive library of photo ideas to inspire jewellers for their next marketing campaigns.
Using the free online tools mentioned here, jewellers should be able to create stunning images that will give their brands a strong visual identity. Strong imagery attracts visitors, which generates customers and results in business growth.