No one can argue the status of visuals in marketing. Be it a 3d product rendering services or traditional photography shooting, you can’t sell without illustrating your product in some way. Yet, in this consumerist era social media threw us into, most content has a shorter lifespan compared to earlier decades. Therefore, visuals are a very sharp tool that you need to know how to make use of. So the short answer to the question is yes, 3d product rendering is going to help you sell. At least as long as you get the most out of your content, and all the other components of your marketing plan are sound.
We compiled inside this guide a handful of useful resources, so you can grasp where to start from and how you can improve your results!
When do you need the 3d product rendering services?
Let’s say you went through the first few steps of the product development process. You have a defined concept, you researched the market and saw a need that wasn’t addressed. Or you simply decided to hop into the pool of competition (hopefully not without research). You could spend months and years reading and learning, so we put together a very straightforward infographic that maps out the process of building a strategy:
For more in-depth information, you can follow up on these useful articles:
- What is the product-market fit?
- Understand what a value proposition is.
- How do you set your market position?
- Which pricing strategy better fits your brand and market?
- Trouble building your sales and distribution model?
- Design a marketing plan, improve your marketing strategy and build a sales pipeline!
- How should you choose and train your support team?
- Make accurate sales forecasting by measuring KPIs, short for “key performance indicators”.
- Feedback loops are very useful in building a competitive advantage!
And, in case you still don’t know how to build your strategy, read this full article on go-to-market strategy.
After you simulated a few business scenarios in your plan and everything feels fine, you get to the fun stuff – at least from our perspective. I’m talking about designing and prototyping, whether it’s a physical or a digital product.
So, when do you need a 3d artist in your product launch strategy?
1. Make use of 3d modeling within the prototyping stage
From our experience in designing objects of any kind, this step should not be rushed as it can determine the product’s success. On top of that, it’s usually better to let a concept sink into the back of your mind. You might see things differently after a little while.
At this point you could make use of a 3d model of your product. Usually designers have the skill to model their concepts in some 3d software, or you might want to spend less. You can take this job upon your shoulders if you have the time to learn a new skill, But… it’s really hard to design it yourself if you don’t have the experience, as it takes years and decades to cultivate your creativity. Money buys time after all, but be selective and minimize your risk of failing by investing in good design.
We’ll write an article on that, including a selection of designers – apart from us of course! – with whom we would work on a product development project.
Take this project we did for Wanderjagt where we offered our 3d product rendering services for this cool portable kitchen. During the process the client definitely found ways of improving his design, partly because he had a 3d model to play with, partly because he was actually able to see a realistic simulation of the product. In the past, he would have had to spend time and resources on building a prototype at this early stage, while at this point changes in design were taking minutes to be made.
Sure, a 3d render will not replace a physical prototype, but you won’t need it so early into the process.
2. Test, test, test.
When in the prototyping stage, you will need to start testing your design, show it to others! Render your product and ask people close to you to be sincere with you – a spontaneous reaction is very insightful! Be prepared for some criticism, and make sure that they should really speak their mind. Engaging with students that study product design on forums such as this Reddit could generate you some precious feedback. It’s a risk, but you need to weigh the benefits.
Or, you could contact us and it will be our pleasure to give you our professional feedback!
Since we talked about the prototyping stage for a product, you can have a look over this Instagramable armchair we designed for MegaMall back in 2019, and also see the final, physical result!
3. The Crowdfunding Campaign – a storytelling 3d render will make a difference.
Since crowdfunding campaigns are limited in time, you need to squeeze every drop of attention you can. This is the first opportunity to monetize the project and absorb the costs, so you’ll get better results if you already defined a market segment and understand your potential clients. Keep in mind that context matters very much when presenting your product! Set aside platforms like Amazon – where a pure white background is required, the set design is going to put your product into the spotlight. That’s our favorite thing to do, getting creative when a client needs some eye-candy visuals.
At this point, the product isn’t entirely finished, so be receptive and perfect your sales pitch and your positioning strategy. You might not reach the financial objective of the crowdfunding project, but the learning opportunity is invaluable. Improvise, adapt, overcome! Here is a more in-depth article on launching a crowdfunding campaign!
Now, for any testing to make any sense, you need enough data, so you’ll need to engage as many people in your crowdfunding campaign as possible. I can’t stress enough how important it is to have good branding, sound copy and storytelling renders or animations. Keep around you professionals that can get creative in finding visual bridges between your product and potential buyers.
4. Tell a (True) story with creative 3d product rendering.
Sure, it matters if you have realistic renders or high-resolution pictures of your product. But that should be the norm, and that’s not why your audience buys your product. When you buy a product, you don’t just look for the benefits and features, unless you’re looking for a bargain. And if you look for this type of client, you shouldn’t worry about marketing, you just need to beat your competition on the price.
When I buy a pricier product (I’m not talking about groceries or stuff I regularly buy) I sometimes find myself imagining the experience of enjoying that product. That’s kind of a story, which can be enhanced by a proper marketing strategy.
In other words, having your marketing team and us put our creative minds at work together, is probably the best way to achieve your goals. We do have the experience of past projects, and we can even recommend excellent marketing professionals.
You can have a look over our project back in 2020 when we designed and visualized a utopian scene to showcase a product for Vondom.
Outsmart your competitors, creatively!
Final tips and some links!
- Still not convinced what to choose, 3d product rendering or photography? Have a look over here at this photography pricing guide, and then read this comparison article.
- I cannot stress enough how crucial to our development was for us to find The Futur business guides! They also publish a lot of personal development resources and useful kits that will help keep your business on track.
- If you own a creative company, you’ll also find in handy their premium creative skills tutorials!
- Maybe you can’t afford their paid tutorials, so have a look over their free video content, which is still very reliable.
- These guys have compiled a thorough guide on how product development stages should take place. Have a look!
- Here you can read a quick guide for your product launch!
- If you’re curious about business accelerators, take a look over here.
- And here you’ll learn about how customization raises brand loyalty......
Article published on November 24th, 2020.By Razvan Socol, architect @OVERLAP.SPACE
