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Photo versus copy

by seobro
13 replies
People often ask me - Which is more important, photo or text?

They see this as a war. It is photo versus copy. Which is more important to us?

Well, I have heard that you can sell with a poor or no image. However, you cannot sell with poor copy. That is not my experience. I have sold plenty with poor copy. However, I quickly found back in the 90's that you need quality pictures to make products move.

Here is my evidence for you. It is from science daily. Oh, on my side is science.

With the right photo, your Facebook text profile hardly matters
#copy #photo #products #science #sell #versus
  • Profile picture of the author Kerkhofssupport
    It all begins with words. on a ad, a headline before the video etc.
    The mix itself is important.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dandybeer
    ad must have foto and than text . without foto your ad looks chip
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  • Profile picture of the author Wytnyt
    Quite an interesting thing you have here seobro. I've always been under the impression that photos only enhance how good your copy already is. I haven't heard of instances when bad copy sells because of a good photo. Maybe it's just my lack of experience. Heh

    Vincent
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  • Profile picture of the author Duecks
    when I change my logo on Facebook ads it became more profitable with the same text.
    But text must be good too.
    mix logo and text is important.
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  • Profile picture of the author trcapro
    I'd say neither one is more important because it depends on what the subject matter is that you are dealing with and who is your audience.

    Some people respond better to a higher level visual stimulation while others still prefer the written word.

    All in all, the key is to make sure you get your point across and don't short chance the reader/viewer on critical information.
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  • Profile picture of the author angiecolee
    I agree with trcapro. Without testing to see what's working and what's not, it's entirely subjective. Personally, I don't buy from people who look like they put something together in five minutes. With how easy it is these days to have your website done overnight or to find excellent images on iStock Photo or other sites, it seems ridiculous to me that someone wouldn't take the time and effort to make sure their information comes across as professional - both in how it's written/structured and how it looks.

    That being said, there are plenty of places that can sell without copy or photos. Their brand, reputation, and the actual product/service speaks for them. So in the end, it's up to the individual business to select the right mix for them, and then get out there to see how well it works.
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  • Profile picture of the author maximus242
    Depends on the product, for example clothes can be sold with just a photo and no copy.
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  • Profile picture of the author alfid
    Both, quality copy and images, should be supplemented to achieve an effective result. If we add them a good video to this equation, it will be much easier to sell the product.
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  • Profile picture of the author knish
    Photo and Copy should not face a fierce fight, but complement one beside the other to achieve a high sales ratio.
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  • Profile picture of the author trcapro
    angiecolee - Thanks for the vote of confidence in my answer. I know exactly what you mean in regard to people today being able to throw just anything together with lightning speed. Sadly, I think that is why there is a lot of very poor content out there in cyberspace with terrible spelling, improper grammar and just a bunch of useless fluff.

    The only really good thing about it is that if you have the talent to write/create anything even half decent you're already ahead of the game.
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