Why Brands Use 360° Product Marketing (And Why You Should, Too)

Finding a competitive edge that will sell more products is not always as easy as it would seem. In fact, if you were to ask a handful of marketers which media to use on a marketing campaign, you’re likely to get different answers. There are plenty of options available, from well-written copy to high-tech video presentations.

Unless you have a monster-sized marketing budget, though, you’ll want to center both your time and resources on the most effective ways to deliver a focused sales message. One way to do that is to consider 360° product marketing.  This newer method of promoting your products has three major benefits: it increases your buyers’ confidence, gives you a marketing edge, and improves your return on investment.

Increase Your Buyers' Confidence

 One of the biggest challenges online marketers face is how to provide their customers with a “real” online shopping experience. In fact, one of the first rules of marketing is to put the product into your customers hands. Sadly, most online marketers ignore this rule due to the perceived limitations of the fact that they are dealing with a digital marketplace. But this really shouldn’t be the case.

While popular, images and videos are severely limited in their scope and can only give your customers a partial look at your product.  You’re just hoping that they understand the product well enough to make a purchase.  But the truth is that you’re losing those customers who would have bought, had they only been able to better understand what it is that you’re selling.

This is where 360° product views really shine.  By adding an exciting new dimension to the online shopping experience, 360 product marketing is a completely different experience from photos and videos.  It digitally places your product your customers’ hands and allows potential buyers the ability to view a product from every angle and zoom into every detail. This then leads to higher buyer confidence and both increases sales as well as decrease the number of items returned. So stop simply telling your customers about your product and let them experience it for themselves.  

Gain A Competitive Marketing Edge

So, with all of its benefits, why isn’t everyone using 360° Product Marketing? The truth is that it’s still its infancy. But it won’t be for long. Take a look some of the biggest players in the online market who already are taking full advantage of this new technology:

Microsoft Design Lab - XBox controller

WebRotate 360 - patio chair

Cylindo - Canon camera

If history is any kind of guide, as go the big players so goes everyone else. It won’t be long before 360° Product Views are standard for every product. Don’t be the last one to get on on the action.

Improve Your ROI

While companies like those in the examples above may have huge budgets to work with, that doesn’t mean it’s out of reach for the little guy. The cost of setting up an online experience like this has continued to drop to a point where it’s affordable for almost any budget.

But then comes the real question that any marketer worth their salt should ask: “What is the ROI?” The answer to this, of course, really depends on your product and what you make on a given sale.  But generally speaking, an increasing of sales by 3x is not unusual and can be as high as 10x.

With 360° product marketing’s ability to increase your buyers’ confidence, give you a marketing edge, and improve your ROI, the final question now is not “if you should be using 360° Product Marketing,” but rather, “when are you going to start?”