Question: How often should I update my product photos? 

Answer: Easy question, with a complex answer. Updating your product photos depends on what you sell, whether there are seasonal changes to your product suite, who you’re targeting with your marketing, where you market, and more!

Product photos aren’t optional for online sellers

Your business photography needs are going to vary widely, depending on the type of business you run. If you’re someone with a lot of irons in the fire, you’ve probably already noticed – this is especially true if you happen to, for example, shift from offering primarily services, to adding products to your offerings. It’s a BIG change! (One that I’m currently on the journey of, too, so trust me, I get it!!)

But product sellers know more than most, that photos just… aren’t optional. Yes, even though we’re in the age of AI generated images at the click of a button. You cannot, I repeat, CANNOT, run a product based business without photos of the actual products that you sell, in real life, being used by real people. Not only is it kind of just not cool, but it’s a great way to alienate all of your potential customers VERY quickly.

If you want social media content, you’ll need them too!

And it’s not just about the listings on your website, or the marketplaces you sell on (we’re going to talk about Etsy’s policy changes here soon too, so keep an eye out for that!) it’s also about the social media posts you make for your business. Whether it’s on Pinterest, or Instagram, or video content for TikTok, you’ve GOT to have actual content of your products in use. But that means coordination, organization, and… scheduling. Because if you’re not taking those photos yourself, that means you’re bringing someone in to take them, or you’re hiring a pro and sending your products to them for flat lays and images for your website.

How often you should update your product photos depends on a lot of factors

So since today is focused on the logistics, we’re going to hone in on something VERY specific, that bamboozles so, so many business owners. How often should you ACTUALLY update your product photos? And we’re going to build out a little bit of a decision-tree sort of process you can go through, to come to a conclusion about the schedule that will work best for you. Because updating too often is investment with no return… and updating too infrequently, is a recipe for stagnated sales and stale content. Which obviously, you don’t want either!

1 – Are your products unique?

The first question to ask yourself when you’re coming up with a schedule for capturing product photos, is about the nature of your products themselves. If you’re a handcrafter, there’s a chance your products are made to order – and that means, you’re going to either need to: schedule product photography after you’ve created a batch release of items, rely on your own photos to list and sell your products, or use sample photos that represent the spirit of what you make, but don’t show the item specifically.

There’s nothing wrong with ANY of those options, and honestly, your life will be a lot easier if you can manage to stick with sample product photos. But… that won’t work for every scenario. If the customizations are more “your name will be here” versus, “this product is a one of a kind ring I’ve crafted”, then you’ll have an easier time with sample photos than individually photographing each one, because people can imagine the outcome of “Jessica” being replaced with “Sammy”. But for fully unique, one of a kind art? Scheduling photos for batch releases, or relying on your own photos is ideal. So… if you are a handcrafter or artisan, your ideal scheduling process with a professional photographer might look like “once a month when a product batch is being dropped”.

2 – Are there seasonal changes to your product suites?

But if you’re NOT handmaking every item, or you rely on photos of representative sample products, then there are still reasons to make sure you’re scheduling regular updates for your product photos! And a really, really big one, is seasonal changes and seasonal sales. Whether you’re a handcrafter, dropshipper, or boutique curator, if you’ve got seasonal collections? You’re going to need to be able to market them in a way that lines up with that season. What’s a Halloween collection without some pumpkin spice in the photos??

So if you have seasonal collections or sales, especially if that’s a major point in your marketing, it would be a great idea to schedule product photo updates quarterly, so that you can grab some specifically targeted to that season’s promotions. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a one-woman operation, or running a full team and a distribution warehouse – seasonal photos for your products will increase your seasonal promotion based sales. It’s not rocket science, it’s… well, it’s normal science. Specifically the marketing psychology kind.

3 – How quickly do the trends change in your niche?

Once you’ve thought through whether your products are going to need photos scheduled on the regular because of their uniqueness, and considered your seasonal promotions, it’s time to think about audience. In most arenas, as a side note, we think about audience first and foremost literally always, because it’s the key to success no matter what. BUT, in this specific area, we’re allowed to consider those other logistics first!! That’s because this one pretty specifically focuses on the sets, props, and styles of your product photos, and whether what’s working now is going to work long term. And ultimately, “how long this will work” is the baseline for deciding how long you can wait between product photo updates.

So – think about your audience, what you sell, and what industry you’re in. You should be tapped into how fast (or slow!) things change in your own industry. Are you keeping up? Are there trends that you need to hop on quickly or suffer falling into the void of obsolete sellers who are behind the times? No matter what, you’re going to know this better than anyone else, especially if you are your own ideal client.

Your branding overall will likely be based, at least to an extent, in ensuring that those trends and changes are reflected (and able to be fluidly brought into your content) in your presence overall. But obviously, if you’re in an industry that changes aesthetic tones quickly, you’re going to need to make an effort to bring those tones into your marketing photos. AKA, you’re going to need more frequent product photo updates, period. If you’re in an industry that moves like molasses, then your packages of photos are likely to have more staying power.

4 – Do you market on platforms that penalize reusing photos?

Finally, we’ve got another big one that should be worked into your product photo update schedule: marketing platforms. Now, this doesn’t just mean things like print ads, if that’s on your marketing list. It also means places like Pinterest, Instagram, TikTok, and other social platforms you use. You might very well be able to create repeat content for a platform like TikTok, if your audience is largely new people who’ve not seen your product before, and where video compilation formats make it a lot easier to use and reuse the same images over and over without it being the exact same content day after day. But… the same is NOT true of Instagram, Pinterest, and some other platforms, where you’re making more frequent static posts.

For those, you’ve got to have enough variety that you can keep your content going with fresh images, and not just because it keeps your audience interested, but because platforms like Pinterest know when you’re reposting the same image, even if you’re adding a different caption and title. So – when you’re choosing how often you’ll have product images refreshed, consider the way your chosen platforms handle reposting/image use, and take that into account in your schedule!

Need to update YOUR product photos?

If you’re reading this and feeling a bit overwhelmed – that’s okay. Don’t worry, you CAN create a schedule, and you DON’T have to do it alone! If you’re in need of a helping hand, just reach out. I would love for me and my team to help you design a product photo update schedule that works for you, highlights your products to your ideal people, and TURNS HEADS.

So whether you just need a single update, want to try out product photo outsourcing for the first time, or you’re ready for an annual schedule, get in touch. You deserve product photos that grow your sales, no matter what stage you’re in!

Bonus: Take a look at just a few results that my AMAZING team of collaborators and me have gotten for our social media management clients!