Group Lifestyle Shot

Manufacturers, retailers, and marketers looking for new ways to promote their products often need help choosing the right representation strategy. Nowadays, more and more companies tend to use 3D lifestyle rendering in their marketing campaigns.

Group lifestyle shots made with CGI are an excellent solution for e-commerce brands’ marketing campaigns. It allows for highlighting several related products’ main advantages and showing how they complement each other in a real-life setting. But what exactly is a group lifestyle shot, how it is created, and how to use it most effectively? 

In this post, CGIFurniture dives into the details and explains everything you need to know about using CG group lifestyle shots for product promotion as well as why, how, and where to use them to get more sales.

Let’s get started!

#1. What is a Group Lifestyle Shot?

Group lifestyle shots are also known as “group product shots”; they’re used universally by retailers and manufacturers across all industries—from fashion to furniture to technology—to showcase their entire lineup of items in one image.  Such a shot shows multiple products in a single frame. It can be a simple arrangement or something more elaborate, like an environment or an intricate setting.  

The idea of lifestyle shots in modem marketing is to create an image that captures the essence of what the product does while also showing off its features uniquely. Lifestyle shots are meant to give off an aura of authenticity and realism—the idea is that if you take a picture of real people using the product in their natural environment, it will look more believable and encouraging. 

Group lifestyle product shots are universal marketing images because they can be used across different platforms like catalogs, brochures, and billboards, on e-commerce websites,  product listings on Amazon, or as a part of email marketing campaigns. 

Group lifestyle shots are designed to show a group of products that complement one another. This type of image is excellent for upselling, cross-selling, or promoting the idea of buying more than one item at a time. It’s also great for showing an entire design space, like an apartment, with all the goods in the picture. For example, if you sell a line of kitchenware and dining room furniture, you could put all the items together in one shot to show how they work together perfectly.

#2. Benefits of a Group Lifestyle Shot in Product Marketing

As a marketer, you know you need to find ways to get your product in front of your customers. You also understand that the more creative and eye-catching the way you do this, the more likely people will notice and engage with your ad.

That’s where a group lifestyle shot can help. It is an image of a product line or set in one scene which is a great way to show how certain items look better together. For example, with lifestyle furniture renders, customers can see how their home can look with all the products in the image, inspiring them to try the same design.

A group lifestyle shot is a visual marketing technique that involves taking multiple views of products to create an overall mood and setting for the product. This is usually used in e-commerce to promote upselling and cross-selling by showing how the products work together in a lifestyle. 

For example, if you’re selling a pair of shoes, you can take a group lifestyle shot of them with other items like sunglasses, jewelry, and handbags. 

Or, let’s say you sell lamps and coffee tables. You can take one picture of your lamp and one picture of your coffee table and then add in some other items that complement those two pieces. It could be a vase, some plants, or another lamp or coffee table from the same collection. Sounds appealing, isn’t it?

Try kitchen furniture 3D visualization now and expect your sales to skyrocket in a flash.

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Group Lifestyle Shot in 3D Rendering vs. Product Photography 

In e-commerce, there are two types of images that you’ll see: traditional product photography and CG shots. 

Product photography is usually time-consuming, costly, and hard to organize. Comparing the capabilities of 3D technologies with traditional photography nowadays, CG solutions provide more options for creativity and cost-effective content creation and repurposing in the omnichannel marketing world. 

An important thing to know about CG lifestyle shots is that they are not just images — they are multimedia pieces that may include 360-degree panoramic views of the product, animation, different configurations, AR models, and more. 

CG  lifestyle images for marketing campaigns benefits lay in the opportunities to:

• Showcase multiple products at once. Group lifestyle shots are an excellent tool for cross-selling. 
• Show the diversity of your product line. Lifestyle shots are a great way to show off the versatility of your products.  
• Create any scene or scheme for lighting, merchandising, and decorations. When implementing CGI in your product promo, the limits are only in the imagination!
• Highlight special features and benefits. Lifestyle 3D rendering allows you to see how your products would look in real life and how they would fit into the environment around them. This is an excellent way to show how your product could look in an interior space, on a balcony or patio, and on any other surface or surface area.  3D models allow you to create multiple versions of one product – with different colors, textures, and materials – so that customers can see how they would fit into their space before buying one.
• Demonstrate products in action. Animated product visualization is like face-to-face communication with customers. It can manifest the details of your products, show excellent functions, and changes people’s perception of your products.
• Develop a strong brand identity. A group lifestyle shot will help establish your brand identity as someone who cares about their customers’ needs and wants to show them how to improve their lives using your products.
• Add credibility to your brand. Product visualization can help your customers see the quality of your products and understand how they work. It allows you to communicate your brand’s values and gives people a chance to interact with them more meaningfully than simply reading about them on paper or watching an advertisement.

CGI allows marketers to create complex group lifestyle shots of various products in a shorter period, which is more effective, less stressful, and truly here to help brands sell and shine. Plus, CG images can be easily customized, changed, and reused, so marketers have more control over what they’re showing and how they want to present it.  If you what to deeply understand why use CG lifestyle images in product promotion, read our article on lifestyle shots 6 types and learn how to expand your market reach using CGI. 

#3. Why Use CG Group Lifestyle Shots in Product Promotion?

Marketing requires constant change and innovation to stay relevant. Creating new marketing strategies will help you stand out from the competition. You need stunning visuals to attract potential customers but you also need them to show benefits and features.

CGI is one of the most popular marketing visualization techniques used by brands today. This is how choosing group product 3D renders can help your business:

• Showing several products at once. The group lifestyle 3D visualization is a great way to present multiple products attractively. With a single shot, you can show off multiple products in one scene, which is a great way to sell the variety and flexibility of your product line.  It’s an excellent way for customers to see everything you offer at once and get a full picture of what they can expect.
• Doing quick changes if needed. With 3D rendering, it’s easy to change the angle, color, and details of your product or even a background. Everything creates digitally using 3D software by a dedicated team of professional artists.
• Telling a story. Group lifestyle shots make it easier to convey a story. If you want to tell a story about how your products can make any home cozier, group lifestyles are the way to go! 
• Presenting new product designs. They’re also great for showing off new ideas or upcoming projects that haven’t been released yet—you can create and test a virtual mockup of what the final set of products will look like.
• Using upsell and cross-sell. They create a sense of community around your products, which can help build brand loyalty and encourage consumers to buy more than one item from you (upsell). You can also use them to cross-sell related items that might be useful in conjunction with the main product featured in the shot.
• Applying visuals for different marketing channels. Group lifestyle shots will help to sell more products and prove their effectiveness on every marketing channel:  from print ads and social media posts to websites and shopping apps.

Catch the eyes of your customers with a 3D group lifestyle shot. 3D visualization gives fast and photorealistic results, has an easy and customizable workflow, and saves a lot of budgets. 

CGI services can bring to life any creative concept marketers without hiring photographers, camera operators, actors, or transporting products and props to a studio. We will be happy to provide you with a perfect product CGI solution depending on your business needs. 

#4. The Best Marketing Channels to Use a Group Lifestyle Shot

A group lifestyle shot is a great way to show off your products, but it is not the only way to use it in your marketing. You can try it out on different marketing channels mixing it with other types of product images.

Here are the best CGI marketing channels to use when you want to take advantage of powerful group lifestyle shots:

• E-commerce store product pages. E-commerce stores can use CGI in product pages and catalogs, showing products in various settings, including group lifestyle shots, without creating new content for every product. 
• SEO. If you want to rank higher on search engines like Google and Bing, then you’ll need a good amount of high-quality content for all of your products—and one way to get that is by using CG group images on your website. With a couple of multi products visuals, you can create a much more compelling product page that will help your SEO efforts.
• Marketplace listings. You can use this type of content on marketplace listings so shoppers can see what your brand looks like from an outside perspective—and what kind of environment customers will be stepping into when they purchase your products. It will grab attention and will bring more potential customers to your doors.
• Email marketing. You can send out an email with a group lifestyle shot as the main image or include it in an email newsletter as part of a larger product catalog. 
• SEM. To increase your sales and conversion rates, you’ll need more traffic to your website. One way to do this is through paid search engine marketing (PPC) campaigns on platforms like Google AdWords or Bing Ads. With PPC, you can target people looking for products like yours—and one way to ensure they find yours first is by using CG group images in your ads.
• SMM. You can post group lifestyle shots on your social media profiles and use them in ads on these platforms.
• Video marketing. Group lifestyle shots can quickly become a 3D animated product presentation for a product line. Remember the strong impact of video marketing and use one of the 7 types of CG product videos. 

#5. Tips on What Makes an Impressive Group Lifestyle Shot

Now that you know what a group lifestyle shot is, how it works and where to use it in your product promotion, it’s time to start planning one for your next campaign. Follow these tips and suggestions to make your group lifestyle shot stand out:

• Make the products a center of attention. Group lifestyle shots show multiple items together but they should always be clear and outstanding for the viewer. First, fill your frame as much as possible with the product or products you are trying to sell.  
• Use simple backgrounds without too many distracting items. Lifestyle shots should be straightforward with minimal background distractions so that viewers can focus on the items themselves and not get distracted by other elements around them. A good rule of thumb is that you should be able to discern the product from at least two angles in the frame, which can help the viewer to tell what it is and why they should care about it.
• Include several views on your product pages. In your marketing, you should include one—or several—of these shots. This can be as simple as showing off your products to people of different sizes and shapes or showing them in different environments. Delivering them in different situations will allow potential customers to see the products in action, which is a much more effective way of promoting than just listing their features and benefits.
• Think through the composition of the image. When deciding how to compose your shot, it’s essential to consider how the items fit together in the frame and how they play off the background. These elements can significantly impact the shot’s overall aesthetic and readability. 
• Pay attention to color schemes and contrasts. In our CGI practice, we look for ways to use color to help draw attention to specific items in your group scene—you may want to push them forward or pull them back, depending on what kind of statement you want to make. 
• Balance out the scale and shapes of objects in the frame. We also play with scale and shape: stacking smaller objects on top of one another can make them seem more dramatic or exciting when pulled forward, while uneven or asymmetrical stacks can give a shot an unexpected edge.

Using the best practice of CGI marketing and producing outstanding group lifestyle shots, you will be able to capture the attention of more customers who will be interested in buying even more of your products. You will also save money and time and collect more value than ever. 

In short, a group lifestyle shot is a product image that appealingly showcases a range of products with the help of 3D technologies. In-store and online, these shots are created to make products look like they’re being used, put together, or enjoyed in a home or outdoors for an extra wow factor.

We provide e-commerce brands with 3D modeling, rendering, and animation services to clients worldwide. If you are ready and want to try CGI for your business — give it a (group lifestyle) shot! 

Max Kharchenko

Senior Account Manager

An ultimate problem-solver and skilled negotiator, Max provides first-class advice to clients. He is an extrovert, a dog person, and a sheer pleasure to talk to. In his spare time, Max enjoys playing basketball and watching Netflix.