In the online marketplace, it’s your job to convince customers that your product is the one they should buy. There's a lot of competition out there, and you need the customer to see why you’re the best option for them. How do you do that?
Top-notch product descriptions.
If you can get into the customer’s head and discover what they're looking for, you can get ahead as a business. Here are 7 tips to help you write captivating product descriptions and get all the sales.
1. Create Buyer Personas
Good copy doesn’t convert just because it sounds nice. Well-written copy knows its audience and knows that it can't convert everybody who reads it. That means you need an understanding of who your audience is before you ever start writing.
Take a look at your data, and investigate what customers need from you. What are they interested in? What drives them? What are they looking at elsewhere online? All of this can give you a good idea of their characteristics, needs, and desires.
Use this info to put together buyer personas. These are the kinds of customers that you'll be targeting. For example, you may target swimmers who are looking for the latest technology to improve their form, or DIYers who want products that will help them renovate their home on a budget.
2. Decide on Your Format
The formatting of your description is important – it determines how your customers will read it. Most customers scan a description, looking for the information they need the most. That's why an easy to read, bullet-point style is ideal. It gives readers all the information they're looking for, while encouraging them to buy from you.
"Try using headings in your description. These will highlight the different sections of your description, and show the customer where to read if they're looking for something specific," content writer James King at Elite Assignment Help says. “You're looking to make it as easy as possible for the reader to get what they want. Use your formatting to encourage the reader to read on, rather than click away.”
3. Avoid Superlatives
In product descriptions, do you find yourself writing things like "This product is the best one yet," or “This is the most advanced product you'll ever buy?” These could actually be turning customers off. Why? Because everyone says they're the best, that's why. What makes your offering different?
You may well be the best, but your description needs to prove it to the customer – you need evidence. That could be statistics, reviews from other customers, or highlighting the key differences about your product and letting customers make their own judgements.
For example, you could write:
This e-reader is designed for easy reading, no matter where you are. The specialized screen makes it easy to read without the glare, and the battery lasts 65% longer than the nearest leading brand.
4. Focus on Benefits Rather Than Features
No matter how many exciting new features your product has, your customer won't be interested unless they know what's in it for them. Your job is to shape those features in a way that showcases how they’ll affect the customer and their life. Rework those features into benefits, and you'll see a difference in conversion.
For example, your MP3 player may have a longer battery life and up to 8 GB of memory space. You can turn these into benefits like this:
Keep the tunes going for longer with 6-hour battery life, and store up to a thousand songs.
5. Hire Help When You Need It
Whether you need an extra set of eyes to proofread and edit descriptions or you just want to outsource the whole kit & caboodle, there’s a huge pool of capable freelance copywriters at your disposal.
Freelancers can handle everything from competitive research to finalized copy, and many of them are more affordable than you might think. Besides, well-written and polished product descriptions are worth their weight in gold and conversions.
To find the right copywriter, you can ask colleagues for recommendations or peruse freelance websites like Upwork.
6. Appeal to the Reader's Imagination
When they're in a physical store, customers are able to pick up an object and imagine themselves owning it. An online store offers a lot of options, but tangibility is a definite limitation. Instead, you're going to have to do the work for them.
When writing, craft a story around how that product fits into the customer's life. For example, you can write:
Imagine having this barbecue system at your next backyard bash. You can grill several different foods at the same time, keeping all of your guests happy. You'll be the star of your block as you keep everyone fed this summer!
7. Don't Rush the Process
A good product description doesn't come together all at once. You'll have to take a few passes at it until it's perfect.
That means you'll have to write a few drafts while you tinker with the format and phrasing to get it right. This is a good habit to get into, as it helps you see issues with the text before you publish them, meaning you avoid any problems further down the line.
Captivate Those Customers
These tips are designed to help you write the best copy possible, so follow them carefully. Once you do, you'll have product descriptions that engage and captivate website visitors – to the point they just have to have what you’re selling.
