Say Cheese to Conversions: 

7 Winning Shots Every Ecommerce Business must Consider

As an ecommerce nerd with a passion for photography, I can’t help but see the striking parallels between capturing the perfect shot and optimizing for an effective customer acquisition strategy.  In my eyes… they’re basically the same thing. Hang with me here. I get asked about both and I’m attempting to simplify both in one shot! (See what I did there? <<) Alas! The ecommerce triangle has now become…the photography triangle 😊

1. The New Era of Customer Acquisition: A Multi-Faceted Approach

Gone are the days when digital marketing meant just blasting ads and hoping for the best. Today, we have a myriad of tools to help us narrow in on our target customer. Even print ads are now part of the digital marketing ecosystem (more on this in #5).

It’s no longer about focusing on just one thing, like search engine marketing or social ads. Now, you need a well-rounded, multi-channel
strategy that reaches your customers at the right time, on the right platform, with the right message. It’s like a well-composed photo: every element has to work together to drive the right return.

2. Traffic is Your Light: Mastering Aperture for Ecommerce Success

Every photographer knows that light makes or breaks a photo. Similarly, traffic is the lifeblood of your ecommerce business. Without enough light—or enough people visiting—there’s no image, no conversions. But too much light, like too much unqualified traffic, can blow everything out of proportion.

Here’s the thing: it’s not about getting as much traffic as possible. You need the right visitors. Just like how a good photographer positions their subject to capture them in the best light, marketers need to target the right people who are actually interested in buying. Random traffic is like random lighting—sometimes it works, but more often, it’s just a shot in the dark. 

“Smart targeting in ecommerce is like finding the perfect lighting in photography—it illuminates the path to conversion.” – Steven Livingston

3.  Pricing Sensitivity: Fine Tuning your Ecommerce ISO

One of the trickier parts of photography is finding just the right light sensitivity for your environment, to deliver the winning shot. Ecommerce pricing works the same way. You can have everything perfect, down to the subject. However, dial in the wrong sensitivity for the environment, and you end up with a shot that goes dark. Reflect on the value and advantages of your product or service, as technology has made it simpler than ever to compare prices. There are plugins that do this for you, for crying out loud. When offering products on multiple platforms, consider this and make sure to offer distinct products on each platform that cannot be compared directly in terms of price. This is akin to the Costco model: you are hard pressed to find the exact variation of any Costco item anywhere. It allows them to have a differentiated product and avoids price comparison with competition (unique pack size, added feature, etc.) .

4. Conversion: The Shutter Speed of Ecommerce

In photography, shutter speed controls how fast you capture the action. If it’s too slow, your image might come out blurry. In ecommerce,
think of conversion as your shutter speed. You want to convert customers as quickly as possible, but rushing can lead to missed opportunities. If you’re asking people to buy too soon without nurturing them, you might lose them entirely.

On the flip side, if you take too long to guide them through the journey, they might lose interest and leave before you’ve had a chance to
capture their attention. Just like getting the timing right in photography, conversion is all about understanding the pace of your customer’s decision-making. As you consider the journey, take into consideration things that cause friction … website user interface /experience, difficult check out, lack of information for products, long ship times etc.. Important to know what’s important to your subject and when, so you can set up for the right shot.

“The art of conversion in ecommerce is akin to mastering shutter speed—timing is everything.” – Steven Livingston

5. What’s Old is New: Leveraging Traditional Instruments with a Digital Twist

Now more than ever, there’s a proliferation of marketers vying for your customer’s attention. The right photographer…sorry marketer, now needs to stand back and instead of focusing on one channel, consider the overall customer acquisition plan. Technology has made traditional channels more sophisticated, allowing marketers to leverage omnichannel marketing in ways you couldn’t a few years ago.

We’re talking personalized ads, retargeting, and even cool new ways to make traditional marketing—like direct mail—more effective. You’ve probably seen postcards with QR codes, which take customers directly to a landing page. The opposite is true, technology such as geofencing allows for customers to be served ads in multiple formats based on demographics, location, proximity etc. which can drive audiences not directly searching (higher funnel) to product/site.  We can then move these customers, who may be in a discovery phase, to more mid/lower funnel tactics (closer to pulling the trigger on a purchase) by using postcards that offer a $x off if they purchase in the next y days. The right combination leads to an overall lower customer acquisition cost that drives an amazing picture for you and your business.

6. Measure and Optimize: The Histogram of Marketing

After every shot, I have a habit of hitting the down button on the arrow to check the histogram to see the output all my adjustments and inputs resulted in. This is no different when measuring the result of all our inputs used to acquire customers. We should clearly understand the return overall ad spend drove. I’ll get controversial here…. Marketing and finance always disagree on brand building tactics not having a measurable outcome. In my opinion, those days are over. You should clearly understand how the sum of the parts adds to the whole, where some elements don’t drive return in isolation, but they enhance the return you see on other channels.

7. AI in Digital Marketing: The Mirrorless Camera Revolution

Just as mirrorless cameras have revolutionized photography by combining portability with high-quality imaging, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming digital marketing. AI allows for real-time data analysis and decision-making, akin to a photographer who captures a scene with the clarity and precision of a mirrorless camera’s electronic viewfinder. AI empowers personalized customer experiences, predictive analytics, and automated processes that keep your business agile and responsive—ensuring you’re always ready to capture the perfect customer, just like a poised photographer ready to snap the perfect shot.

“AI in digital marketing is like the mirrorless camera in photography—it brings a new level of clarity and responsiveness to capturing the perfect customer.”

Ecommerce and photography may seem like distant cousins, but they share the same core objective: capturing the perfect subject. For business leaders, this translates to engaging with customers in a manner that’s both artful and analytical.  The next time you hop on a call with your agency or marketing team, keep some of these considerations in mind and ask the pertinent questions to ensure your acquisition strategies are being framed properly.

Here’s to winning in the field and taking amazing shots!

Steven Livingston