The Photos Made Me Do It

I’m sitting at my desk in my office, keeping one on eye two computers and one eye on the street out front. I’m waiting patiently for my first bushel delivery from Farmhouse Delivery. This week’s delivery is full of sweet corn, pears, sweet potatoes and fresh herbs, all from local farms.

I just learned about Farmhouse Delivery last week, but I’ve been following one of their competitors on Twitter and getting their e-newsletter for over a year now. I would read the contents of the competitor’s delivery basket each week and tell myself “I should sign up and do that.” But I kept hesitating for some reason I never really explored.

So what made me dive head-first into a purchase with Farmhouse Delivery? Same to-my-door service as the competitor. Locally grown produce just like the competitor. Pretty much the same price. I opened both websites side by side and I knew in an instant what it was. The photos. Farmhouse’s photos made me jump and hit the “join” button.

The photos scattered throughout their website — some of vegetables I can’t even identify — made my mouth water. The photos are clean and uncluttered. They look professionally done, not just snapshots thrown up to fill space. I just couldn’t resist having what those photos are selling.

Photos do so much! Good photos can make customers out of casual readers and can make super-fans out of regular customers. They can illustrate, tell a story, evoke emotion, encourage action and rev up the senses. Photos shouldn’t be overlooked or ignored to then later be considered as an afterthought in the design and content planning process.

One year of visiting a competitor’s website and not doing a thing. Two minutes of my time on Farmhouse Delivery’s site and I’m staring out the window like a kid waiting on Santa. I’d say photos are a very important piece of the content puzzle…