How to Write Product Descriptions that Convert
Are you struggling to make sales even though you have great products in your store or online shop? The problem might not be with what you're selling, but how you're describing it. Writing product descriptions that convert – that is, turn browsers into buyers – is a skill that any e-commerce business owner or marketer needs to master.
But don't worry, you don't need to be a professional writer to create compelling product descriptions. By following a few simple guidelines, you can write descriptions that highlight the benefits of your products, answer potential questions, and convince customers to make a purchase. Here’s how:
1. Know Your Target Audience
Before you start writing, think about who you are selling to. What are their needs, wants, and pain points? Understanding your target audience will help you decide on the tone, language, and features to highlight. For example, if you're selling eco-friendly products, you'll want to emphasize sustainability and the positive impact of choosing your product.
2. Focus on Benefits, Not Just Features
While it's important to list the features of your product (like size, color, and technical specs), what really sells is how your product makes someone's life better or solves a problem. Instead of just saying your backpack has a lot of pockets, explain how it helps organize your day, keeps your gadgets safe, and ensures you never leave anything behind.
3. Make It Easy to Read
Online shoppers tend to skim through texts. Therefore, your product description should be easy to read. Use short sentences, bullet points, and plenty of white space. Highlight key features and benefits so readers can grasp the info quickly without needing to dig through a block of text.
4. Use Sensory Words
Engage your customers' senses and imaginations by using sensory words. These are words that evoke sights (bright, colorful), sounds (whisper, roar), touch (smooth, soft), taste (sweet, spicy), or smell (fragrant, pungent). For instance, describing a candle as having a "warm, inviting vanilla scent that fills the room and soothes the soul" is more compelling than just stating it's vanilla-scented.
5. Include Social Proof
Incorporating reviews, testimonials, or user-generated content within or alongside your product descriptions can significantly boost trust and conversions. People are influenced by the experiences of others, so showing that real people love and recommend your product can be very persuasive.
6. Optimize for Search Engines
Use keywords naturally throughout your product descriptions to make sure your products show up in search engine results when potential customers are looking for something you offer. Do some research to find out what terms people use when searching for products like yours and include those terms in your descriptions and titles.
7. Answer Potential Questions
Try to anticipate and answer any questions or concerns your customers might have about the product within the description. This reduces doubt and the need for customers to leave your page to find answers elsewhere, increasing the chances that they’ll make a purchase.
8. Create a Sense of Urgency
Sometimes customers need a little push to make a decision. Phrases like "limited availability," "sale ends soon," or "only a few left in stock" can encourage people to act now rather than later. However, make sure you use this tactic truthfully to maintain trust with your customers.
9. Show, Don't Just Tell
Whenever possible, use images or videos alongside your descriptions to show your product in use. This helps customers better understand your product and visualize themselves using it. A picture is worth a thousand words, after all.
10. Keep Testing
Finally, there’s no one-size-fits-all formula for the perfect product description. What works for one product or audience might not work for another. The key is to keep experimenting and tweaking based on customer feedback and sales data. Try different approaches and see what resonates best with your audience.
Writing product descriptions that convert takes a bit of effort, but it’s entirely possible with these tips. By focusing on your audience, highlighting benefits, making your descriptions easy and enjoyable to read, and including social proof, you can significantly increase the chances of turning visitors into happy customers. Happy writing!