The term ‘Product Description’ implies just that: a description of the product you’re trying to promote on your Online Store. But is that all you really want it to do?
So many Small Business Owners make the mistake of simply describing their products, rather than actually writing about them in a way which entices and excites the reader into adding it to their shopping cart.
While writing a product description may appear an easy task, there is a subtle art to getting it right so that you’re tempting your audience into purchasing without shoving the sale down their throat. A well-written product description has the power to move your customers through your sales funnel, from being a slightly engaged user to a fully-fledged buying fan. By injecting the right tone of voice, some creativity and a clever sales pitch emphasising the product’s benefits, your Store has the ability to convert even the most hesitant of Online Shoppers.
So here are our top 5 simple steps if you’re looking to boost the effectiveness of your Store’s product descriptions and increase your conversions!
Use the Right Words
Using the right words within your product descriptions are a sure-fire way to help you engage your audience and get them interested in your product straight away.
According to advertising tycoon David Ogilvy, the 20 most influential words include ‘suddenly’, ‘now’, ‘announcing’, ‘introducing’, ‘amazing’, ‘sensational’, ‘revolutionary’, ‘miracle’, ‘magic’, ‘quick’ and ‘hurry’, to name a few. By incorporating some of these strategically throughout your product descriptions, you can captivate your audience and persuade them into buying.
Furthermore, using sensory adjectives has been shown to increase sales, as they stimulate more parts of the human brain. Restaurants have been known to use such words on their menus, focusing on words that don’t just describe the taste of the food, but also the sound and touch. For example, words such as ‘crunchy’, ‘smooth’ and ‘sticky’ allow the reader to fully engage all their senses and really experience what it is they’re reading.
Focus on Your Ideal Audience
Just as there’s no point designing your Online Store for everyone in the world, there is no reason for you to be attempting to write your product descriptions so they entice all of human kind to buy your products. By honing in on your ideal audience you’ll be better able to appeal to their specific needs and interests.
When you write for a huge crowd of buyers, content tends to become wishy-washy and you wind up addressing no one in particular. Instead, what you want to do is make your reader feel as though you are talking directly to them, appealing to them and their needs. This will allow them to feel as though your product will specifically help them and help solve their individual problems.
The best way to do this is start by thinking about your ideal buyer: What kind of humor does he or she appreciate? What words does he or she use? What kind of questions does he or she have about your product? Also consider using the second person ‘you’ in your copy and try writing the description as though you’re were selling to them face-to-face.
Entice with Benefits, Not Just Features
One of the most common mistakes people make when writing product descriptions is to focus on the features of a product rather than the benefits a customer stands to gain from using the product. It’s all too easy to get overly excited about what the product has instead of the outcome it will achieve, which is, in the end, what your readers are most interested in.
Potential buyers aren’t interested in the fact that your lawn mower has a 1.8 litre German engine that can spin the blades 0.67 times faster than the earlier model. No. They want to know that this lawn mower will give them the cleanest, neatest lawn in their suburb, helping them to beat their snobby neighbor the annual Lawn Competition.
Consider the benefit of each of your features. How does your product make your customers feel happier, healthier, or more productive? Which problems, glitches, and hassle does your product help solve?
Don’t just sell features, sell the end desired result to your reader.
Write in a ‘Scannable’ Format
You’ve probably heard already that your Site’s content should be made ‘scannable’, meaning that it should be simple and quick to read without having to re-read sentences or look up words in a thesaurus. Your product descriptions should be no different.
Given that a vast majority of Online Shopping, or at least research on products, is conducted via a customer’s mobile device, it’s imperative to have content that is easily digestible via this platform.
When writing your own product descriptions avoid using large slabs of unbroken text, which can be daunting to readers. Instead here are some areas you should focus on when designing your product description format:
- Entice your visitor with headlines;
- Use easy-to-scan bullet points;
- Include plenty of white space;
- Increase your font size to promote readability;
Write in a ‘Scannable’ Format
When writing for your ideal audience you’ll likely be using the words and phrases he or she will be searching for when they’re shopping Online. In this way, you’ll be automatically optimizing your product descriptions for Search Engines, meaning your products will stand more of a chance showing higher in the Search Results Pages of Google.
When writing your own product descriptions, ensure to use at least a few key terms within the body text, as this will help Search Engines identify your product as relevant to a user’s search. Also consider using these key phrases in your headline, subheadings, and image captions.
However it’s important not to get too carried away and jam-pack your content with keywords to the point of unreadability. Always remember to write for your customer first and optimize for Search Engines later.
When you sit down to write your Store’s product descriptions, don’t just think about pointing out the obvious features of the product. Create an enticing story around the product, use exciting language and explain how it can help the reader achieve a better, healthier, happier or more productive life.
Mastering your product descriptions will require creativity and testing. Don’t be afraid to test the format of your product descriptions on your most popular products to learn how to best appeal to your customers. Nail this format and you’ll likely see a marked increase in your Online sales!
