Prime Minister Cameron clearly finds this post thought provoking...

We came across an interesting post in http://www.neurosciencemarketing.com/blog/ that showed how the orientation a person’s sight (in a photo) has a profound impact on a viewer’s attention. The example showed how a baby shot used in a potential advertising campaign increased headline visibility when the baby looked towards the headline rather than at the viewer.

In advertising we will look at what the person we see in an ad is looking at. If they are looking out at us we will simply look back at them and not really anywhere else. …a face in your ad will attract attention, but be sure the face is looking at what you want the viewer to see!

Source: http://www.neurosciencemarketing.com/blog/articles/baby-heat-maps.htm It’s not a huge surprise but it’s worth considering headline placement or what your main conversion point is when choosing imagery. A good example online might be having images of people looking at your website’s sign up form. In this case we might refrain from ‘puffing-up’ important website conversion points (like sign ups / subscribe now / buy now) with large red borders, heavy-set typography and big ‘web 2.0′ buttons, simply by a little attention to our image choices and the visual direction they create. Take the opportunity to review your website’s imagery. Have a browse through the pages of your own website and ask yourself whether your image choice is assisting conversion or not.

Are the people in your photos looking towards the areas you most want your audience to discover or are they looking away from them, thereby directing less visibility towards those key areas you want them to see?

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