The best online marketing can convince customers that the product or service you are selling is high-quality or likely to solve their problem.
Showcasing these offerings effectively can be a challenge, however, especially if you want a simple online solution that’s easy to implement or add to an existing business site.
These are 5 strategies for showcasing work online that businesses of all kinds use to show off previous wins, current offerings and future deals.
1. The Customer Testimonial
When shopping online, almost every consumer relies on recommendations and reviews from others. While most Americans are more likely to trust recommendations from friends and family, consumer research shows that people also value testimonials from other consumers that they don’t know.
Many businesses include reviews sections on their online storefronts. These sections are a good way to both gather customer feedback and collect positive reviews of your business’s product in a public place.
Testimonials and highlighted reviews can provide even more benefits.
A testimonial from a previous customer, for example, allows you to use a real-world experience with your business to show off a product or service.
These testimonials can tell visitors more about your business, the services you provide and how your products work in practice. This information is great at helping to assuage consumer worries and doubts.
Reaching out to previous customers to solicit testimonials and reviews can be a great way to highlight previous wins and take advantage of the positive feedback your business has received.
2. The Product Catalog
Catalogs are one of the best ways to show off physical products and services — especially if your products’ aesthetics are a major selling point.
Organizing catalogs that encourage customers to learn more about your business can be a challenge, however. A combination of high-quality images and smart web design will help you build a product catalog that drives engagement and conversions.
For example, see this page from design-and-build lighting manufacturer WAC Lighting.
The page features a number of large, descriptive elements that show off different product categories offered by WAC Lighting using high-resolution and visually appealing product images.
Each of these elements links to a category page that includes a number of sub-categories, which all have their own high-quality product images.
The combination of product name and brief descriptive copy helps to explain what the categories are, while the product images show off how the business’s products look in real-life settings.
Creating a catalog like this for your website can help you both show off products to potential customers and make different products easier to find. Combining descriptive copy, high-quality images and links is one of the best ways to encourage customers to consider a purchase.
3. The Case Study
For businesses that offer services, more conventional product catalogs may not work. It can be difficult to represent a service like an office redesign, construction or accounting with a simple image.
Case studies are one of the best tools for businesses wanting to showcase their services. These studies break down a previous success your business has had, introducing visitors to a client, the problem they had and how your business rose to the challenge.
This page, from marketing firm Amp Agency, provides an excellent example of case studies in action:
The page breaks down a previous Amp Agency campaign, a partnership with Patagonia. The case study tells the story of how Amp Agency used a cross-country road trip to spread the word about Patagonia’s “Worn Wear” program, which encourages the reuse and repair of clothes.
Included in the case study is a description of the road trip itself, why the business decided on the road trip idea and how the campaign helped to grow the Patagonia brand.
Information like this can tell consumers a lot about a business — like how the brand approaches problem-solving.
Using similar studies on your business website can help you show off previous wins and intrigue potential customers.
4. The Short Video
When an image isn’t enough, many brands turn to video content to show off their products. Videos allow these companies to stage demonstrations, explain a product in-depth or show off a new offering from multiple angles.
Short videos, like this one from assemble-it-yourself furniture retailer IKEA, are more expensive to produce than still images, but can provide serious value:
The video, which is less than a minute long, quickly breaks down IKEA Place, an app that uses augmented reality to help customers visualize how furniture will look in their home.
Narration helps to explain how the app works, while the video shows off what customers can expect when using the app.
Videos like these can help you show customers how to use a product or demonstrate what the product looks like in action.
5. The Social Media Post
Social media is a great place to show off products using bite-sized pieces of content.
Even brief posts on platforms like Instagram can reach massive audiences when successful, helping your brand to show off products to as many consumers as possible.
As with other product showcase techniques, you’ll have the most success in marketing with social media when you have high-quality product images and effective post copy.
Best Strategies for Showcasing Your Brand’s Work Online
With the right strategy, you can show off your business’s work in a way that drives traffic, builds your brand and encourages conversions.
Testimonials, product catalogs, case studies and short videos are all powerful tools for businesses wanting to showcase their work online. Implementing these strategies can help you put your products or services in the best light possible.
