Cover Photos Questions/Comments

[klstock]

I just read the announcement where Zazzle says they will be prioritizing products with cover photos. If so, then doing a search by "popular" would not be accurate, it would be arbitrary and misleading. I used to have several beach and tropical invitations that would be on the first and second pages of results because they have sold well. Now I have to dig a few pages in to find them (and they have cover photos!). If you do a search for "tropical wedding invitations" or "beach wedding invitations" and look at the results that show up on the first page, about half of them have zero to do with "beach" or "tropical".... 

The cover photos are extremely time consuming. If a person wants to do them on items of their choosing, and has time for it, great. I try to do as many as possible, but if you are doing a collection that has 20 - 30 items in it, there is no way I have time to do cover photos for every single product, and some don't need it. Some look good as they are with the focus on the product and artwork.

There is cost and time involved - is there an increased cut for the designers who are now functioning as a free art department? Yes in some cases, it may generate more sales - and yes the designer would profit from sales - but if the designer is the one incurring the fees (canva pro for example, or some are purchasing product mockups) and the designer is the one taking the time to make these cover photos - which takes time away from making OTHER stuff - then a bigger chunk of the profit should go to the designer. 

[Caprice]

I have done some tests: using a search string, find out where the product currently is in the MP.  Using the VERY SAME search string - see where it lands after a cover photo is added (and processed by Z).   

[NigelSutherland]

I wonder if Zazzle was hoping that we'd be purchasing our own designed products, and then photographing them in various contexts to create cover pics, thereby boosting their sales? Perhaps I'm an old cynic... 😉

[KeegansCreation]

No. There is no expectation that we'll purchase the products. They provided us with a way to download both the artwork and the product mockup as seen on the product page so we can give it a fresh background.

[mylittleeden]

Well the though crossed my mind to buy blanks, as I have over 40,000 products and after more than 10 years on here only just turned Gold so thought better of it, I don't earn enough to afford this! It has taken me two days to create 8 different covers! I am thinking I will just create a few as I go instead. I am finding it hard to get the scale and angles looking right.

[Barbara]

I've settled on "going rogue," not necessarily trying to fit products into scenes. The ones I did that way have ended up not pleasing me at all. Looking through an enormous book from a library book sale filled with color photos of advertising, promotion, graphics, posters, book jackets, illustration, and  more, I noticed how each object was presented with a consistent aesthetic wherein objects were arranged artfully on plain backgrounds. They inevitably drew the eye. I said to self, "Aha!" It isn't quite as easy as I thought it would be, and it's currently slow going while I'm learning, but it's less aggravating than searching for mockups out there in the wild. Also, it's fun.

Colorwash's Home

[SalvageScapes]

I stopped creating them. It did seem to boost exposure at the very beginning but then they stopped featuring them. It was extremely time consuming and for all that time and effort, the bulk of my products (even best sellers with thousands of views and hundreds of likes)  with or without cover photos, have disappeared from main search results. It was taking way too much time and, 100% agree, it gave little return - and they don’t actually put your products at the top. Not even the ones with years of history and sales. Also, brand new products that I took the time to do cover photos for never showed up in the MP search results. In the past a new product would at least show up in the search and people would start liking it and buying it to give it a chance. Instead all non-cover photos just disappeared from search results and a few random with covers show up and slowly disappear. 

In the end - they still seem to feature only the same handful of designers regardless of store rank and cover photo anyway. As a Silver status store, with well over a thousand followers,  I now have consistently decreasing sales on Zazzle instead of increasing.  The bulk of my time will now go to my other stores, at other print on demand platforms where revenues are increasing much faster - based on customers likes and sales actually increasing MP search results. And where they see this and feature my new products. 
At least until zazzle fixes this anyway.

Lastly, as someone with a background in Marketing and business branding,  I also have to second the above comments that the store looks a lot messier. The products aren’t displayed well and the lack of uniformity makes zazzle looks much more amateur than their competitors.  If they want to allow designers of various skill levels to create ad hoc product photos, I’m shocked and surprised that someone that heads up their marketing department didn’t push back - sharing that these types of photos would be better at the end of the thumbnail preview. Not as lead photos with a scattered array of random in Situ products of various quality. The look is not good, somewhat confusing, amateurish, and the complete opposite of a “clean” and professional on-line store front you would hope to achieve for a Global brand.

[waterart]

You said that so well, maybe that is why there are pages and pages of editor picks, to try and weed out all terrible looking cover photos. I have a hunch Zazzle is going to scrap the designer made cover photos, it is drawing designers away from here and to other PODs (me included), and probably will draw customers away too, in part maybe because that one item they were looking for never showed up in their search for lack of a a cover photo, or the cover photo looked so bad the editors didn't want to feature it.

[CreativeLeahG]

I think we need to consider MOST consumers likely view the marketplace from their mobile phone, so the view is not what we (working from desktop/laptops) see. As such the view is not such as mashup. Also re the covers, when shared across social media this is where they will have the edge on regular product images being shared. And of course re the Google Ads Zazzle invests heavily in. Many sales are 3rd party generated (most of mine are) and so in this case, the covers take the lead regarding display.

[Caprice]

Not so sure?  I just looked at my google analytics for the past month.  Only 40% of viewers for my products were on mobile.  The rest were desktop and tablet.  *shrugs*

[CreativeLeahG]

I think it depends on the niche. Wedding stuff - more laptop/desktop due to the wedding planning etc. Other general gift niches, mobile. But we'd need more figures, as you say.

[Caprice]

I've seen a couple of instances where adding a cover photo actually LOWERED position in the MP.  The mind boggles.

[KeegansCreation]

To me, the most egregious thing I see with designer uploaded photos in the MP is mockups that don't match what Zazzle is selling. Zazzle pointed this out in their latest iteration of cover photo instructions. Many PlaceIt mockups (which otherwise look great) don't match Zazzle products so people really have to be careful. I did it myself and didn't notice the wrongness until I actually uploaded it. 😐 

[Caprice]

Hi Keegan C - sorry if it's dopey - but not sure what you mean by below? You mean a mock up that is for a blanket...but contains a pic of a mug too? Something like that?

"mockups that don't match what Zazzle is selling."

[KeegansCreation]

I mean a mockup that is close to but not the same as the product it is for. This can happen if you aren't careful with commercial mockups (such as at PlaceIt). Zazzle noted it when they made the cover photo announcement. Their "don't do this" section had a mug mockup that was similar to Zazzle's mug but had a different handle. They also warned against tote bags (in commercial mockups) that have the handle attached on the outside instead of the inside of the bag. I have seen several such examples in the MP- cover photos with a similar product but not quite the right one. I almost did it myself with a gift tag that was cut differently than Zazzle's gift tag, but I caught it after I had uploaded it and removed the photo.

If all your mockups are Zazzle mockups with a fresh background then that isn't an issue.

[Caprice]

Interesting.  One of the perils of having a gajillion designers doing the cover photos - instead of a Z art department that knows these caveats inside and out. 😔

[mylittleeden]

Also when creating your own it is difficult to get the scale right. I am worried about that as could be misleading to the customer.

[waterart]

That's my worry too. I only did around 30 covers and I've had it, it's too wearisome and time consuming. What's wrong with the different product views zazzle already has for products, some of them would make nice cover photos? Maybe a better and more efficient way to go is if zazzle added more of these kinds of product views and we can choose one as a default for our product.

[Windy]

I have suggested this to Zazzle and have also suggested they use new models every so often. The old views get stale and people get tired of seeing them. Maybe it's a funding issue. I would have thought Zazzle could hire a big graphic design department, but maybe that's just not something Zazzle can afford to do.

[Angel]

@waterart 

More product views to choose from would be nice. For men's ties there is only one model and he's wearing what to me is a fairly ugly color, so if my tie designs aren't in that color range they don't look good on the model.  😰

I've been trying to make some tie cover photos and when I cut out the tie from the model mockup, it is so junky, not good enough to put anywhere. And without Photoshop - which not all of us have it is hard to make some things look nice.

I would like to have more mockups to choose from - such as a tie that's swinging out, folded, angled etc. But then I wouldn't need to make a cover photo would I? That would be nice! 😊😊

[KeegansCreation]

Scale is a tough one. I've taken to measuring the art on my walls and the size of various household objects as seen from above on a table so that I could more accurately place Zazzle products on new backgrounds. But talk about time consuming! 

[Cat]

I absolutely agree! I'm trying to create mockups that don't have size-recognizable objects in them because it's super easy to make something look bigger or smaller than it actually is just by putting a pen or paperclip next to it that's too big or too small. I see a LOT of covers in the marketplace that have this issue, and I'm trying hard not to be part of the problem, but it is definitely a challenge!

[savanamm]

Are we allowed to use Canva images for presentation of our designs?

[Windy]

This is governed by Canva TOS. So in some cases, yes. Otherwise, no.

[Barbara]

After looking through the marketplace, I felt something important was suddenly missing: the ability to compare within a product line. Looking at greeting cards, some used Zazzle's standard mock-ups and others used the new covers. If I were seriously looking for such a card, I'd want to compare them side-by-side, looking at the images, at the text, which is becoming more difficult. Cards at different angles and widely varying decor items make choosing a card difficult, even confusing and off-putting. I checked a few greeting card sites, finding it easy to zero in on an interest, and then peruse and compare the cards because that's what was focused on. In other words, if I were searching for a card online right now, I'd go to Hallmark.

I hope the result of the vastly different presentations of the same product don't chase away both customers and designers.

Colorwash's Home

[Caprice]

Agreed.  Makes it hard to compare products. 

[ievajen]

but cover photo can also enhance the product to show in a better way, make it more appealing 

[Barbara]

That's what we might think--that a cover can make a product more appealing--but I somehow doubt it when there are multiple pages of nothing but covers, which is where it's going. The cover will then have to be an emerald in a pile of pretty pebbles to stand out. Curmudgeon that I am, I think it's our designs that should pop, not the decor around them.

Colorwash's Home

[mylittleeden]

I complete agree, it is so difficult to know what to do for the best. I have too many products to do them all. Plus if I do a cover I would prefer them to reflect the product. So  finding my only way forward with this, is to pick out a few from each collection and just do a couple here and there. Frankly if I did all my 40,000 + items it would take me years! Just praying this doesn't affect sales too much? I don't see the point in popping them all on just on the same backgrounds or worse just a color but I am sure people will and game the system. You just have to hope your designs are good enough at the end of the day. I think creating a good cover is very challenging unless you are a photographer and purchased the product yourself or have access to a large high quality picture library. What would help from zazzle though is having the mock ups pre-cut png's instead of cutting them out ourselves!

[igiftcenter]

Just a quick thought: is it possible your cover photos may give  you a visual advantage over other products of the same type (mugs or ?) in a search engine search result? Is there a change a buyer might be drawn to your cover photo for whatever reason it looks appealing to them over another from a competitor that does not have a mockup / cover image?  Just a thought

[Barbara]

Maybe it's just the age group I'm in, but what I've seen are people meandering about on their phones without buying. Even my son, who's in his forties and a whiz on the phone, goes to his computer when he gets serious.

I'm now toying with the idea of keeping the covers I've already made but editing the products so the cover will be one of Zazzle's. That way, my mockup will be just another view a customer can click on.

By the way, Insights gives me no info at all on what electronics the people are using. Is it in some separate section?

Colorwash's Home

[Caprice]

I got that info from Google Analytics.  Don't think insights provides.

[ColsCreations]

With all the various comments around different threads regarding Cover Photos using mockup products that don't match what Zazzle is actually selling, I just want to drop this here:

Today I used the Z menu to drill down to Home & Living - Drinkware - Mugs - and then the filter to narrow to Combo style mugs. On the first page alone there were 4 results using Covers with misleading mugs of the wrong style. OK, accidents happen, but 3 of these were Editors Picks and the 4th was an official Disney mug!!!!!

As much as I don't like the whole Cover idea, I have been enjoying the challenge of making them. But the playing field needs to be even here. Results taking top spots (INCLUDING sponsored brands and EP's) need to play by the same rules the rest of us are, which means taking the time to find/create a mockup that accurately reflects the product being sold.

[Barbara]

Cover photos are good in theory, but not so good in practice, not in the way it looks, not in the way it drains designers of their time, and not in the way it's being handled. It's understandable why a lot of designers are saying, "Nope, ain't gonna do it." Shortly, more designers will be saying, "Nope, ain't gonna continue doing it."

Colorwash's Home

[Westerngirl2]

Especially so when cover photos that you've uploaded revert back to the standard view. I have a particular pillow that has been selling well for 3 years, and in the past has been on the first page of the popular Zazzle pillows. Uploaded the cover photo for it a week ago, and it was showing just fine. Checked it today, and yep, it's reverted back to the standard view. Tried to upload the cover photo again, it tells me it was successful, but it hasn't changed the view in the backend. I guess I get to wait the usual 48 hours or so to see if it ever shows.

Doing all of this is time consuming and the whole upheaval in the MP placement is stressful. Is it too much to ask that when we take the time to jump through these hoops, we have our work STICK?

Sorry to vent; but I feel like a rat in one of those mazes.

[Cat]

Same issue here. Not sure what's going on but it's super frustrating!

[Scott]

We're currently working on some optimizations and new tools which we hope will improve your experience moving forward. It's entirely possible that someone did something and it caused some unexpected behavior. If this happens just let us know about it and we'll make things right.

Next time you have a chance can you create a new discussion thread in Tech and let us know about this? We can get that issue reviewed first thing tomorrow.

[Westerngirl2]

Thanks, Scott. I'll give it until morning & see if my latest upload took hold; if not, I'll start a thread in Tech. It's been a long day.

[Westerngirl2]

It took all day long today, but the cover photo finally came back in place. It was kinda weird, because it showed in my store back end this morning, but didn't change everywhere until early this evening. I still don't know why it reverted back to the standard view to begin with. I've spot checked some others of mine, and so far haven't found any that were like this one. So I'm assuming it was an anomaly, for whatever reason, and I won't go down the rabbit hole after it. The others that I worked on today seemed to process normally; I'll check them in the morning. Gives me something to do....lol!

[Cat]

I think mine is back to normal too... though to be honest, I didn't write down which product it was and now I can't actually remember. I fear the covers have got me a bit cross-eyed at the moment! Anyhow, I checked the collection that I'm pretty sure it was from and all seems to be well so I'm chalking it up to a temporary anomaly.

[Caprice]

Of course, Z will make its own business decisions - but from a designer point of view, it does feel like "goal posts" keep moving in terms of how to be successful.  I feel like this might be driving a lot of the frustration.