First focus image design, click rate increased by at least 50%

How do we strike a balance between “design aesthetics” and “delivery effectiveness”? We will introduce a set of methodologies from Alimama Creative Center, based on how to design the first focus image to maximize the click-through rate . enjoy~

The banner design for this big promotion has been completed, please check it out."

“I feel like the overall look isn’t promotional enough. Can you make the logo bigger and use a brighter red?”

"This is ugly, are you sure you want to adjust it this way?" (An hour later) "Okay, take another look"

“That’s better. By the way, can you put a few more of our products to make the shopping atmosphere more intense?”

“…….” (Speechless)

I believe that the above conversation is very familiar to many people who have to deal with designers at work every day.

The beauty of design should be the purest pursuit in every designer's heart. However, in this e-commerce environment where media costs are extremely high, what we hope most is that more people will click on the placements we put out, and even make transactions. The two often fall into a state of seeming contradiction.

So, how do we strike a balance between “design aesthetics” and “delivery effectiveness”?

Next, I will introduce a set of methodologies from the Alimama Creative Center on how to design the first focus image to maximize the click-through rate.

Anyone familiar with the e-commerce environment knows that the first focus is an important tool to optimize the store's ability to acquire traffic, and it mainly relies on picture displays to attract consumers to click. The creative design of its pictures is often the first factor affecting its click-through rate.

To this end, the research team first deconstructed the six elements that constitute the creative design of the Shoujiao banner, which are:

We then conducted an AB comparison of the click-through effects of the materials that were the top priority of the Diamond Ads throughout the year. Except for the differences in design elements, the two groups remained consistent in terms of delivery plans, delivery units, and random traffic allocation conditions, allowing the comparison results to more purely restore the difference in the impact of creative quality on marketing effectiveness.

Taking into account the different product characteristics of commodity categories, the different styles and element designs of creative displays have their own advantages, and not all industries are the same. Therefore, the methodology discussed in this issue is mainly applicable to four categories: food/tea/tobacco and alcohol, children's clothing/mother and baby, shoes, and cosmetics/skin care .

The following content will present the research results on the six major elements that constitute the first focus creative design.

Tonally: real photo background > flat color background, monochrome background > multi-color background

Except for food/tea/tobacco and alcohol, the other three groups all showed that creative choices of using photos as the overall background can obtain higher click-through rates. More realistic life scenes can set off the atmosphere and convey style, which is better than flat color tones.

The click-through effect of products in the three categories of children's clothing/mother and baby, shoes, and cosmetics/skin care with photos as backgrounds increased by 19.4%, 11.0%, and 11.3% respectively compared with products with color backgrounds.

There is no obvious difference in the choice of food/tea/tobacco and alcohol in the two styles, but in the design with color as the background, single-color blocks perform better than multi-color blocks, with the effect improved by 22.7. Food products can more clearly convey their own attributes in a simple atmosphere.

In terms of color tone: the main colors preferred by different products vary greatly

By comparing the creative differences between the high-click group and the low-click group in a single-color background, it is found that the main colors preferred by products in different categories vary greatly.

For food/tea/tobacco and alcohol, the best enhancement effects are achieved with brighter pink (+20.7%), yellow (23.9%+), and calm and mysterious black (+21.7%).

The overall tone of maternal and infant/children's clothing uses simple and pure white (+22.3%), which significantly enhances the creative effect.

Shoes are more attractive against less saturated backgrounds such as brown (+54.1%) and gray (+22.1%).

The best performing colors for cosmetics/skin care products were brown (+11.0%) and green (+19.1%), and the overall atmosphere was pleasing to the human eye.

Use of products and portraits: Except for beauty products, it is best to only present products

Product images and portrait models are often used to convey the characteristic attributes of the product and restore the real atmosphere. For food/tea/tobacco and alcohol, children's clothing/mother and baby, and shoes, the results of presenting only the products are better than the combination of products and portraits, with click effects increased by 19.3%, 30.9%, and 24.4% respectively.

For beauty products, simply presenting the product’s appeal is not the best; images with only a person’s portrait (+22.3%) or neither (+30.0%) performed better. Brand promotion with a spokesperson or stylish design can achieve a higher click-through rate.

Product quantity: Not all categories have the more products the better

Food/tea/tobacco and alcohol have their own advantages when presented as single items or in gift packages, and there is no obvious difference in the click-through rate depending on the number of products. The more maternal and child/children's clothing products there are, the better. The effect of three or more products is 16.7% higher than that of 1-2 products.

For beauty and footwear products that help manage personal image, there are two options for choosing the number of products that perform better. One is to place multiple products (a 16.3% increase in beauty and a 24.8% increase in footwear) to create a lively atmosphere, or to be more likely to hit consumers' interest in one of the products. The other is to convey the brand image through text or images without placing any products (a 18.4% increase in beauty and a 55.9% increase in footwear).

Number of portraits: Multiple model portraits in makeup/skin care category > No portraits

There is no need to use portrait models to convey the product connotation of food/tea/tobacco, alcohol, mother and baby/children's clothing products.

In the makeup/skin care category, in the absence of products, multiple portraits (3 or more) have a significant positive increase (+22.2%), and beauty portraits are mostly of lips, fingers, face and other body parts.

The portrait rules and product quantity of footwear products basically show consistent characteristics, with no models (+19.8%) or multiple models (+36.0%) being the better options.

Logo: Placing more logos really helps increase click-through rates

All four categories of products are more attractive if they contain brand logos.

In the case of having a brand logo, the effect of maternal and child/children's clothing with an event logo is better, increasing by 25.9%; while the effect index of footwear products with an event logo at the same time will decrease by 29.6%

Content: Food is more of a "discounted price" type, clothing is more of a "limited time and limited quantity" type

Compare the data type analysis of creative copywriting, and split the information content into "price discount category" and "limited time and limited quantity category" according to keywords.

The data found that for food/tea/tobacco and alcohol copywriting, there was a more significant positive improvement (+13.9%) in price discount related prompts. Food products can gain higher attention through price cuts and discounts during festivals.

As for maternal and infant/children's clothing and footwear products, limited-time and limited-quantity information performed outstandingly, increasing maternal and infant/children's clothing by 13.0% and footwear by 60.7%, which can effectively stimulate consumers' desire to click.

Author: JS Planner

Source: JS Planner (ID: powerpluspoint)