With e-commerce surging to a record high, innovative digital marketing is more important than ever before. 3D imaging is a valuable marketing tool that can give businesses a crucial edge online. While 3D imaging is more challenging to generate than traditional 2D photos, it will pay off in numerous ways.
1. Audience Engagement
3D imaging offers opportunities for potential customers to interact with your products online. Unlike 2D graphics, 3D graphics can be viewed from all angles. For example, your business’s product pages could feature 3D renderings that customers could turn around and zoom in on, simulating the way they might interact with a physical product in the store.
The increased interactivity of 3D images encourages customers to spend more time exploring your products. Seeing an item online in the same level of detail you would have in-person can create a much more engaging shopping experience. It helps customers visualize the product in a way that 2D imaging cannot match.
2. Streamlining
3D imaging is all about quality over quantity. The traditional approach to digital marketing is to use either one image showing the best angle of your product or several images that cover a few key angles. These static images can be eye-catching, but they are unlikely to stand out to audiences like a dynamic 3D image will.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, a 3D image is worth a thousand pictures. One interactive 3D image on a product page can replace an entire carousel of static images and reduce the need for lengthy product photoshoots. This results in clean, streamlined pages and promotional graphics.
3. Customization
Customization is emerging as one of the most highly sought-after shopping experiences. In fact, studies have shown that customized products can result in 20% higher customer satisfaction. Businesses that offer customized products can create the best customization experience possible using 3D imaging.
With 3D images, customers can see the product they are customizing in the most realistic way possible online. Seeing the product they designed take shape before them can be highly effective at converting casual shoppers into loyal customers. As an added benefit, customized products tend to be conversation starters, increasing the likelihood of customers promoting their shopping experience through word of mouth.
4. Collaboration in Product Design
3D imaging is useful for employees as well as customers. In the product development process, using 3D CAD modeling offers numerous advantages for product design as well as marketing. For example, 3D imaging can help the design team communicate their ideas and foster easy collaboration between team members.
3D images make it easy for everyone to quickly visualize a product, which can lead to rapid idea generation as well as error reduction. Since 3D design files are shareable, members of the design team can visualize actual changes to the design, rather than creating a 2D drawing and adding notes to it.
Additionally, anyone, regardless of technical knowledge, can quickly view a 3D image and gain an understanding of where product development is at. In contrast, a lengthy text description might leave many struggling to accurately picture how the product works, and a gallery of static 2D images lacks interactivity. The convenience and accessibility of 3D imaging will result in an optimized design process and an overall better end product.
5. Reducing Buyer’s Remorse
Buyer’s remorse is not enjoyable for either customers or businesses. It is the result of a shopping experience that was ultimately unfulfilling. Studies have found that typical Americans spend nearly $1,000 a year on online purchases they consider disappointing.
There are a variety of causes that customers cite for this disappointment, such as clothing size, item color, and overall product quality. Luckily, 3D imaging may be able to help improve shopping experiences and reduce rates of buyer’s remorse.
By allowing customers to see a product from all angles, shoppers will get a better idea of what a product will look and even feel like. 3D imaging can help with clothing size troubles, as well. A 3D image will allow for a more accurate display of an item’s fit and shape. In fact, many customers are even using 3D imaging and AR to create “virtual try-on” experiences, where customers can “try on” a digital projection of a clothing item.
6. Showcasing Details
Marketing is all about showing customers what makes your product great. Few tools are as advantageous for this as 3D imaging, especially when it comes to digital marketing. Whether it’s a virtual try-on or an interactive mock-up, 3D images allow you to showcase every detail of your products in ways that are not possible with traditional graphics.
Even if a 2D photo is high-definition, customers are only able to view the details visible in the photo’s static angle. There are countless things that might catch a customer’s attention, including details that marketers may find hard to anticipate. Additionally, interactive 3D imaging can add aesthetic appeal to products that are not traditionally attractive by highlighting technical details. This may include more practical, everyday items or industrial products.
Revolutionizing Digital Marketing
The benefits of 3D imaging can take your digital marketing to new heights. By creating online experiences that are interactive and detail-oriented, you can increase customer engagement and satisfaction. 3D imaging tools will even help create a streamlined, collaborative work environment for your design team, leading to better products for your customers. With 3D imaging, products can go beyond the 2D screen and help you build real connections with your audience and team.