It wasn’t long ago that I was sitting where you are now – a frazzled digital marketer ferreting out new channels, innovative technologies, and first-to-market trends. Like you, my days were dictated by brainstorms and status meetings. I was a slave to vanity metrics (they really, really like me!). I dreamed in KPIs.

While digital marketers are still guided by technology and innovation, consumer shopping behaviors have changed. The consumer of today has 24/7 access to beautiful images and great content on more channels than ever, from social sites and mobile apps to brand and influencer blogs. One-tap payment solutions have made it easy to purchase products within mobile and digital environments too. And as a result, brands are now scrambling to bridge the gap between content and commerce – to understand how, no matter where in the purchase funnel a shopper is, images can directly be tied to sales.

The Rise of Visual Commerce

Unsurprisingly, visual commerce—the emerging and essential need to show how images engage and convert customers at every point of the purchase funnel—is a prominent topic among brands. It’s no longer about which of your images are well-liked; for marketing execs, vanity metrics mean little if they can’t be directly associated with ROI.

To shed light on some of the biggest visual commerce trends and challenges, we conducted a comprehensive market study with the Internet Marketing Association – a global organization made up of leading professionals across thousands of brands. In the following infographic—Top 10 Visual Commerce Trends for 2016—we present our findings.

visual commerce trends

Right Picture, Right Channel

There’s no question that images are the preferred language of consumer engagement. But change doesn’t come without challenge. As visual commerce continues to grow in importance, there will inevitably be a period of experimentation and uncertainty. Even today, there is a lack of consensus as to what’s working – and where work still needs to be done. This study serves as an important step in the right direction, unveiling some of the biggest obstacles marketers now face.

So, on a scale of one to five, how confident are you in your visual commerce strategy? Are your creative assets enabling you to hit your marketing goals? Which of your product photos are generating the most engagement – and, more importantly, how much revenue are they driving for your brand?

If you’re unsure of how to answer any of these questions, we’d love to chat.