Why You Need to Improve Your Visual Search

In January of this year, Social Media Today published an article about why visual search will be one of the biggest digital marketing trends of 2019. They described visual search as having the potential to revolutionize how consumers find and buy products moving closer to offering instant gratification demanded by today’s customers.   I have to agree with the statement that 62% of Millennials desire the ability to visually search over any other new technology based on my own daughters and, frankly, me. All of the big players like Google, Amazon, and Pinterest are already ahead of the game because they have developed “significant capabilities in this area.” For example, Google Lens is the bomb! It has been referred to as the “future of search” by many experts and I agree with them. It operates from inside the Google app itself. To search what you see, you need to tap the lens icon in the search bar for real-time searches. You can look up books, movies, artwork, locations, products and more. I searched this jar of peanut butter and was able to obtain peanut butter recipes, nutrition information, brands and specific information about purchasing the product. The app doesn’t stop there, it will also translate words you see with automatic language detection, which I have used a lot this summer since my daughter has spent most of June in Italy and France. I found this particularly helpful when trying to find her an Airbnb at the last minute when she decided to extend her trip a few days. All this being said, the takeaway is that images play an important role in earning customers for your business. People are visual, they read pictures. Let’s go back to my last-minute search for an Airbnb. If the listing didn’t have at least four or five good pictures, I skipped on past them and moved on. Look around your business. Are you missing some visual opportunities that could convert into a customer? Visual search helps consumers find your product. Don’t think this knockout new search tool is for the heavy hitters, it is for any business big or small. How can you capitalize? Here are a few tips offered by WebFX: 1) Don’t just rely on one image, offer multiple images for potential customers to know and understand your product or service. Again, going back to the Airbnb example, I did not give any of the listings the time of day unless they had several good, quality photos. I mean, I was like the Momma Bear on the hunt looking for that Airbnb. I zoomed in and examined every little detail. Make sure you are well represented with your photos. Multiple photos also allow your audience to find your website first. Additionally, make sure the photos are high-resolution; this better enables them to be processed by search engines. 2) Although you are focusing on visual searches, keywords are still important. Do your research on keywords to help provide your audience with a helpful description of your product. After you have identified the most important keywords, you need to integrate them into your image title and description to help your audience and search engine better understand your image. 3) Include captions to help you describe what’s happing in your photo. Use this as an opportunity to go into detail about your product or service. This creates a way for your audience to relate to or identify with the product or service. As marketing is ever evolving to meet consumers’ demands and needs, it can often feel like you are always one step behind. Leave it to the professionals at CyberSpyder to keep you ahead of the game and give you a competitive edge in your market. Call 479-782-0005 today to see how visual search can benefit you.