One of the factors I looked at when analyzing 60 best selling images for ‘active seniors’ was whether the subjects were looking at the camera, or elsewhere (e.g. at each other, out at the ocean etc.)

I was pretty blown away by this result – 72% more downloads per image when subjects were looking at the camera? The average for the set was 777.1 so the ‘looking at camera’ group performed well above the mean. This was also true for conversion rate (downloads/views) – Looking at Camera: 11.16% conversion; Looking Elsewhere – 9.24% conversion.

The Eyes Have It

According to this eye tracking study, viewers look at people’s eyes and they look where people are looking. As a result, I’m fairly sure that images of people looking at the camera are more engaging in search results and lead to higher click through and ultimately more downloads. This may also work in ads whereby people find eyes more engaging and arresting and therefore stop to look.

A Potential Problem


As you can see from the screen shot above (which is from the above-linked study), people look where the models are looking. If the model is looking at your text, more people read your text. As a result, the problem is the following:

  • Model Looking at Camera -> Arresting ad, people look at it BUT they don’t read about your brand.
  • Model Looking Sideways -> Less arresting ad BUT those who look will likely read your ad copy.

We may be caught in a little trap where buyers purchase images that engage them, produce ads that grab attention but make the customer look at the model, not at the product being advertised.

Conclusions

  • Looking at the Camera images had more downloads per image and better conversion than images where people were looking elsewhere.
  • It’s possible that even though these images are more engaging, they may lead to less effective ads.
  • I think this is only something that can be answered by A/B testing, but I’d love to hear what you think. Also, if you create collections to explore this in your own data, I’d love to know what you find. I’ll be looking at this factor as I analyze more categories for future posts.
  • Microstock photographers should shoot both.
  • Maybe the ideal ad has two people – one looking at the camera to engage the viewer and another to look at the copy to get the viewer to read it ;)   What do you think?