Private users of our portal who are planning to advertise their piano for sale. As well as dealers who want to advertise their product range, often ask themselves. What photos of the instrument should I include in the ad to make it effective? Does it require professional equipment and a photographer? Or does a simple smartphone and a little willingness suffice? Below you will find some tips on how to take such photos so that the ad is interesting and catches the attention of the potential customer. Taking them is not a tedious and tiring process. We will also show you examples of good and slightly worse photos that sometimes appear in adverts.
1. Go natural
It is easy for private sellers to photograph their piano for sale in a domestic setting, which is as accurate and desirable as possible. However, among shops offering pianos for sale, there are different views and strategies circulating on the subject.
In our team’s experience and observations, dealers often over-complicate the instrument photos necessary to advertise pianos. Why is this? Perhaps they want to be seen as professionals. They have a vision of the perfect lighting and setting of the instrument. Sometimes they even over-photoshop the photos they have taken.
Are perfect catalogue photos of pianos more effective in sales?
Perfectionism unfortunately does not always pay off. What is more, it often leads to instruments not being photographed at all, and the publication of shop offers goes on for months. Or the ad contains a catalogue photo that is quite ‘artificial’ or, even worse, adverts are published without a photo.
According to our observations of the behaviour of people looking for pianos, when given a choice of advertisements for 2 of the same piano, differing only in the photo (one taken in the showroom surrounded by furniture and the other with the piano cut out on a white background). They are more likely to click on the ad and send a message to the one with the photo taken in the piano showroom setting. Such photos allow the person looking for an instrument to better imagine the future piano in their home.
What is our advice? Before you look for a photographer and prepare the perfect conditions for taking photos, think. Is this really what my future customer expects? Isn’t it better to show them even one or several real, natural photos from inside your shop. Showing its actual condition as to the time when the customer visits your shop to try it out and assess its musical qualities? It is sometimes worth thinking what the customer really wants to see, instead of „overthinking” and trying to perfect everything 😉
2. Avoid using catalogue images from the manufacturer
We do not recommend, especially in offers of used pianos, attaching catalogue photos from the manufacturer, as this tells the buyer nothing about the instrument, it can even scare them away. This does not give the person interested in buying it any idea of the condition of the piano. Does it have any damage, what conditions it is stored in or whether the seller has access to the instrument at all. Furthermore, the customer does not know what he will find in your shop. They may also think that since the dealer did not bother to take photos of the pianos he sells, the quality of his service may seem questionable.
3. How to take a good picture of a piano
Now that we know what kind of photos it’s better not to take/use. It’s now time for some tips on how to take good and attractive photos of a piano. We can do this with just our own smartphone (although if you have access to a digital camera then don’t hesitate to use it 😉 ). We have already written about this in our article. How to sell a piano to which we of course include a link. The advice you will find in the article will include. How many photos to take? How to light and position the piano? Which elements to focus on and examples of correctly taken photos.
4. Increase the “click-through rate” of your ad
To increase the number of people who click on your adverts, we recommend showing a photo of the instrument with the closed keyboard cover as the first photo. Why is this recommended by us? Because it triggers the customer’s curiosity to see more pictures (what is hidden under this cover, what do the keys look like?). This will increase the customer’s engagement, they will spend more time on the advert. It’s a little trick which we recommend you try out and see in practice. 😉
Bonus – the most common errors when taking photos
This paragraph is intended to show you how little is sometimes enough to make a photo of your piano look better. And thus get more people to pay attention to your ad.
In summary, if you take our tips into account you will save time and money spent on a professional photographer. You will also be able to use the money you raise to advertise your business on the internet, which will help more customers find out about the upright and grand pianos you have for sale.