You can have the absolute best product, and it still won’t be enough to guarantee success when it comes to marketing online. Your readers need to know exactly why your item is the perfect choice for them. Setting yourself apart from the other merchants ensures it’s your product the customer purchases. Your job is to guide them down the garden path. It’s a chance to show them how you solve a problem they have. How do you write effective product descriptions?

The process begins with your customer, why do they want your product?

Know who your target customers are and understand them. Ask yourself why they would want your product. What need/desire does it meet? How will their lives improve once they have it? These are all important questions you need to answer. Before you even start writing descriptions,  try writing an FAQ first. Try to think of all the possible questions someone might have about your product. You will need to be able to provide answers for these questions.  Knowing the answers will help you deliver a more impact driven descriptions.

Be aware of short attention spans.

It’s a well-known fact that internet users have notoriously short attention spans. If you don’t captivate them immediately, they’ll likely move right on to something else. You must capture their attention right away! How you format your content makes a big difference, so here are a few tips:
  • Capture your visitor’s attention by using a bold headline and an eye-catching logo to start building your brand.
  • Keep your sentences and paragraphs short so scanning is easy.
  • Avoid using jargon and or slang. Don’t use technical language in your product descriptions.
  • Take the time to write a gold star worthy slogan.
  • Use bullet points to list your product’s benefits and features.
  • Bring your product descriptions to life by using high-quality photos of the product.

Elements you want to be sure to include in your product descriptions:

  • Headlines should express the most powerful benefits of your solution. It needs to be short and sweet, but still strongly convey the benefit to the potential customer.
  • Feature & Benefits highlight key reasons your audience might be interested. This helps them find their own need to purchase.
  • What is it that makes your offering different from the others? You want to be sure and emphasize what sets you and your product apart from the competition.
  • Ratings and Reviews: Today’s savvy online shoppers do a lot of comparison shopping. They love reviews or ratings. They want to know how people feel about your company and products. People want to know if customers got what they expected. were they disappointed,…or overjoyed at how it exceeded their expectations.
  • Photos: We have heard it said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Nowhere is that more applicable than in sales. Use high-quality photos and be sure to include multiple shots of the product. Use your photos to highlight small details and demonstrate the itme in use. Emphasize different features, or to show the benefit ( think before and after pictures).
  • Videos: Useful for people who simply don’t want to read product descriptions.
Get creative with your descriptions. Besides sharing what makes your product so special, you can do demonstrations. Don’t forget those testimonials to help build credibility! Let them see your product in action

How to avoid common product description pitfalls.

As with anything, the more you write product descriptions, the better you will get at it. That practice will give you valuable experience and insight into what works best for your product. These things do take time. so until you get there, here are some common pitfalls to avoid as you are perfecting the craft. Balance too long and too short. Understand that people shopping online have shorter attention spans so you need a strong hook that will keep the customers’ attention. You need to be sure to include all the information your reader needs to make a purchase decision. Don’t forget that your customer should always come first. Developing rapport and trust with that potential customer, after your SEO gets them to your site, is key to strong sales. Keep your focus on your potential customer, on meeting their needs, and helping them to see why your product is a must-have. Stay personable. That is a much better tactic than simply stuffing keywords into descriptions hoping for a better ranking. Remember to always test your products. How will you know what is and isn’t working in your descriptions? You can attempt to get a feel for it, but feelings can be wrong. The numbers don’t lie though and the simple answer is to split test your results. Test different headlines. Try formatting it differently. See, specifically, what kind of a difference it makes to include video. Does including testimonials make a difference? You just can’t know, definitively, what works best for your target customer if you don’t test it. Test, tweak, then test again. That is how you get better.

The keys to writing effective product descriptions aren’t that difficult if you apply these tips.  

  If you find yourself getting frustrated try and remember the more you practice, the easier it will get. Do you have a specific process for writing your product descriptions? We would love to hear about your experience…feel free to comment.

Did you enjoy this post?  

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