Research shows that market research can be unreliable. In focus groups and other testing situations, it’s not uncommon for consumers to try and make the administrators happy by responding in ways that aren’t entirely true. To get around that, more companies are trying to get directly into customers’ heads.

Kimberly-Clark, for instance, used a retina-tracking computer system to test the package redesign for one of its brands.

EyeTrackShop is a company that provides just this sort of hi-tech research, having done so for clients like Procter & Gamble and Google. We asked them for a few tips about how to create eye-catching video and imagery. Here are a few tips from company president Jeff Bander.

1. Show people using the product versus the product alone.
2. EyeTrackShop’s market research shows that videos are best remembered when images are on the left and text and numbers are on the right. The eyes are naturally drawn to visual content when images are on the left hand side of the video and text is on the right.
3. When using product placement in your video and you show a close-up of the product while mentioning it, the recall (or likelihood people will remember it) is much higher. You don’t necessarily have to say the brand’s name, as long as the brand is seen.