With a good product description, you can convince your customers of your products and increase your sales. In this article, you will learn how to succeed with your product descriptions by avoiding the three worst mistakes.
Good product descriptions convince your customers and make them buy the item. But selling goods in such a way that buyers immediately buy them is an art. Learn from the mistakes of others. In this post, you’ll learn which mistakes are fatal and how to avoid them.
Mistake one: standard product descriptions instead of convincing sales arguments
Many customers end up on a product page that provides the same description as the competition. This happens especially often when they browse online bookstores: almost all retailers offer the blurb as the only information about the book.
This summarizes the content of the book – typically it sums it up well. But that is not enough. A product description on the Internet must replace the role of the salesperson and encourage the customer to buy.
For online shoppers, one thing is immensely important: trust. He wants to feel that you, as the retailer, are familiar with the product and can answer his questions.
Learn from the pro:
Apple founder and marketing genius Steve Jobs once said, “Sell Dreams, Not Products.” The goal is to trigger emotions in the reader. You don’t accomplish this by simply reciting facts. It’s better to tell stories.
This is how you do it right:
Craft an individual sales text for each product. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes and, if possible, clarify all his questions in advance. Offer him real added value. Provide him with convincing sales arguments and present yourself as an expert.
Therefore, always highlight the benefits of the product and show its advantages. You can do this with clear examples or comprehensible comparisons. In this way, you make your performance understandable and create images in the reader’s mind. Try to answer these questions in your texts:
- Why should the customer buy this product?
- What is the benefit for him?
- What problems can he solve with the product?
- How does it make his everyday life easier?
- Why is it better than all the others?
For example, let’s say you are selling a successor model of a vacuum cleaner that is more energy efficient than its predecessor because of a new motor. Don’t tell about the motor – instead, write, “You’ll save money by using less energy!” Supplement your product copy with customer reviews and critiques from newspapers and online portals. This helps readers form an opinion about the product.
Mistake two: Pure listing of technical facts
Nothing is more boring for store visitors than having to struggle through dry descriptions or endless lists of facts in product descriptions. Most customers can’t do anything with the numbers. Too many technical bells and whistles only unsettle them and often cause you to lose customers. Because as soon as a reader doesn’t understand a term and has to Google it, they’ll leave your site.
Here’s how to do it right
Make it as easy as possible for potential buyers. Don’t assume that readers of your product copy have the same knowledge about your goods as you do. For example, with e-book readers, explain what technical terms like “e-ink” mean and how much storage space two gigabytes really provides. Maybe integrate a table with all the values so that the reader can classify the advantages of your products.
Mistake three: Unstructured product descriptions
A single long block of text as sales text scares off potential buyers. Prospective buyers want to avoid having to search for information for a long time, but rather have it presented to them as if on a tablet.
Practical Tip:
You don’t need to optimize all product descriptions at the same time. Start with the most important ones, for example, your current top sellers. See what happens. In most cases, you will not only be rewarded with more customers. You also make a jump up in the search engines. Because they recognize that you rely on unique product descriptions and display them higher up in the SERPs. This, in turn, gives you more attention and the chance to attract new customers.
How to do it right
Make it easy for readers to absorb the content by providing a clear structure. Highlight the primary selling point in the headline—briefly and succinctly. For example, mention that your offer is an e-book. That way, the potential buyer knows right away what they’re getting.
Paragraphs and subheadings divide your product descriptions into logical sections of meaning. In addition, the use of bullet points has proven to be effective. Bullet point lists give readers a summary of the most important content. In this way, you create attention and the customer receives all the significant information at a glance.
Many customers are visually oriented. Product images, therefore, have a major influence on the purchase decision. With detailed views, shots from different perspectives, video demonstrations, image galleries or infographics, you put your products in the right light and stand out from the competition.
Tell your reader exactly what to do on your product page. Use call-to-actions and ask him to buy with clear instructions. Use buttons to lead them directly to the shopping cart.