While photos and videos can help sell your products, words are just as important. Your shoppers need to not only see your product but also to understand what it is and what it does. This means you need to show exactly how your product benefits them.
How does your product solve their problems?
How does it make their life easier?
What value does it provide?
Your product description needs to answer these questions – in the simplest and clearest way possible.
This process of connecting with your shoppers requires an understanding of where they’re coming from. You should know exactly what your shoppers’ pain points are and what they’re struggling with. If you don’t, you’re going to have a hard time persuading them to pull out their wallets.
Here are four easy ways to write product descriptions that sell.
1. Make your copy readable and scannable
Unless you’re selling to academics, write in simple terms. Aim to write at a 7th-8th grade reading level. This ensures that your target audience will understand what you’re saying. However, word choice is still important since shoppers don’t want to feel like you’re talking down to them. You want to appeal them like an old friend would.
To improve your product description’s readability, consider adding:
- A clear, concise product title
- Benefit-driven bullet points
- A large font to make it easy to read
- Subheadings to break up text
- Great photos or video to boost your product’s desirability
- Lots of white space
Amazon’s product page for the Echo is quite readable. Shoppers can quickly scan the information to find out what the electronic device does. There’s zero filler and a few bullet points are enough to persuade most people to buy one.
2. Focus on the benefits
Explaining what your product is and what it does is obvious. But what’s more important is to show how your product benefits your shoppers. While you may be excited about your product’s features and specs, your shoppers are more interested in the benefits. They only care about how your product helps them.
An easy way to show this is to list the feature and then explain its benefit. For example, here’s how Zappos describes a pair of shoes on their site:
They do a fantastic job showing us why this is a high quality pair of shoes.
- Genuine head-sewn construction (feature) >> for durable comfort (benefit)
- Stain and water-resistant leather upper (feature) >> for durable and lasting wear (benefit)
- 360 lacing system with rust-proof eyelets (feature) >> for a secure fit (benefit)
Each feature shows shoppers exactly how it makes their life easier. If I was looking for a good pair of shoes, I would definitely check out this listing.
3. Focus on your shoppers
One of the biggest mistakes businesses make is that they put too much focus on their product or service and not enough on the shopper. Your shoppers have one question when they visit your site – “What’s in it for me?” If you can’t answer this question right away, you’re going to lose them. They could care less about your product or service. They only care about how you can make their life easier and better.
Out of these two statements, which one sounds better:
1. The phone has a quick charging feature.
2. You’ll save time and get more done with its built-in fast charging technology.
While they both generally say the same thing, the second one is focused on the customer. Notice that it says “you” in it. The second sentence would be more likely to persuade the customer to buy since it solves a problem.
So remember, always make it about your customer.
4. Don’t be vague
Ditch filler words. These are any words that don’t mean anything or just take up space. Filler words kill conversions because it forces readers to stop for a sec which can lead to a page exit. Be sure to double check your description for filler words.
Also, be careful of “duh statements”. These are statements that are commonly used by companies but really mean nothing. They include statements such as top quality, premium or the best. These are “duh statements” because it leaves the customers thinking “Duh…that’s obvious. I expect it to be top quality but that doesn’t prove anything.”
You can prevent this by explaining exactly how your product is “high quality”. Similar to your product features, you need to show exactly how your product benefits shoppers.
Amazon’s Paperwhite clearly showcases its positive benefits and highlights problems that are avoided.
Positive benefits:
- Read with one hand – over 30% lighter than iPad mini
- Battery lasts weeks, not hours
Problems avoided:
- No screen glare in bright sunlight
- Built-in light-read without eyestrain
There’s zero filler. It’s clear, specific and shows exactly why it’s an awesome product.
To wrap up
When writing your product descriptions, don’t just describe your product.
Instead, write with your shoppers in mind. Focus on how you can make their lives easier and better.
Stop making vague statements that add no value. Quit talking about the features and specs. And highlight the benefits.
That’s how you compel your shoppers to buy from you.
