5 Tips to Take Your Amazon Main Images From Meh to WOW

Your skin’s been spotty for ages, so you’re standing in the skincare aisle, determined to pick the perfect moisturizer. There are so many. Tall, squat, expensive, economical. Gels, lotions, oils. Pink, blue, black, red.

How do you choose?

Then, you see it. A certain shape and style of container catches your eye. Its design is simplistic yet sleek, and it stands out on the shelves. You grab it, give the ingredients a quick look-over, and head to the checkout.

Like skin care products vying for attention among many almost identical containers, your Amazon products first appear to customers on a web page overrun with similar items. Representing these items are the product’s main Amazon image.

This image appears not only on Amazon’s landing page, but also before any secondary and lifestyle product photos at the top of a listing. Framed against a white background, your main image showcases your product with minimal distractions. 

Because of these images’ apparent simplicity (not to mention Amazon’s strenuous image requirements), you may be tempted to throw in the hat and settle for a less-than-ideal main image. Or you may prefer to focus solely on lifestyle pictures; after all, they are the most integral, right? 

However, turning your main image into a quick, check-off-the-to-do-list task would be a costly mistake. Consider this:

• Main images are your customer’s first point of contact with your product and brand, whether the customer views Amazon on a cellular device or computer. 
• Main images can increase not only your Amazon conversion rate but also limit returns and dissatisfaction by giving customers a clear, instant representation of a product. 
• “The human brain can process entire images that the eye sees for as little as 13 milliseconds.” This means your main image must capture customers’ attention instantly, or they’ll scroll past. 
• Main images replace the touch-and-feel aspect of brick-and-mortar stores. Quality images speak to quality products.

Like the moisturizer whose stylish composition jumped off the shelf, your Amazon product photography can catch eyes and win buyers—while following Amazon’s rules.

Let Marketing by Emma guide you through the ins and outs of quality main images and discover 5 tried-and-true tips to making your Amazon photography shine.

5 Tips for Capturing Optimal Main Images

Tip 1: Follow Amazon’s Rules

Amazon periodically updates their rules and regulations, so make sure to keep up to date and check your categories’ style guides.  

Amazon’s requirements include clauses on pixel size, nudity in photos, GIFs, appropriate models, and many more details applicable to both main images and other listing photography, so read closely. In addition, further specifications exist for categories such as clothing, clothing accessories, shoes, handbags, luggage, and jewelry.

Tip 2: Keep it Realistic

Say you purchased a fun graphic T-shirt off of Amazon. The Amazon listing itself is informative, but your excitement stems from the pictures. The fabric looks soft, the fit appears snugly contoured but not too tight, and that graphic is like it’s made for you. 

Your package arrives and you rip it open. Your heart sinks. The material is actually very thin and somewhat scratchy. No matter. You try it on. What is this?  Unlike what the pictures showed, the shirt cuts into your circulation at the shoulders yet awkwardly balloons around your waist. Ugh! Disappointed, you leave a disgusted review on the product’s Amazon page and begin processing a return. 

See how important realistic main Amazon images are? If photos do not capture your product well, unhappy customers, bad reviews, and returns will most likely multiply. In fact, “22 percent of returns are due to the product appearance being different than what the website displayed.”

That’s a huge percentage! Make certain your main image accurately represents your product. 

Tip 3: Think Professional

What’s something the human eye instantly recognizes in images? Quality. Quality product photography for Amazon catches attention and represents your product and brand in the best light. 

If you want to hire a professional photographer to take your main image, then by all means! You can, however, take professional-grade photos on your own. Simply grab a good camera with a high resolution lens, ensure you have consistent and bright lighting, and steady the shot with a tripod or flat surface.

Tip 4: Balance Detail and Distance

A picture taken from too far away, even when cropped to fit at least 85% of the frame as per Amazon’s rules, lacks detail. Customers need detailed photos to feel they are examining the product and can trust in the product’s quality. Yet, a picture taken from too close is visually overwhelming and makes some details out of focus.

When taking your main images, find a pleasing ratio of product and white space, making the product predominant yet set back and showcased.

Tip 5: Edit

Last step, editing. Touch up your image’s contrast, sharpen details, and adjust color vibrancy, but don’t enhance to the point of surrealism. 

Remember, your main and secondary images replace the tangible aspect of brick-and-mortar stores, so e-commerce customers rely on true-to-life photos for purchasing decisions and are upset when pictures are misleading. Wouldn’t you be? 

So upgrade your photo without downgrading realism.

1 More Tip: Let Marketing by Emma Help

Now you’re prepared to capture customers and boost your conversions with eye-catching main images, snapped in accordance with Amazon’s specifications. 

Whether you need an extra eye or a proven Amazon listing optimization service, Marketing by Emma is happy to help. Our team of experienced copywriters desire to turn selling on Amazon from stressful to effortless. Find out how our expertise has turned many Amazon sellers into 5-star success stories!