HOW TO WRITE A GREAT PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
Whether you’re selling products online or in person, you’ll need to describe them well if you want people to pop them in their basket. While it’s easy to fall into the trap of just listing all the product features, what you really need to do is demonstrate what the product can do for your customers. In this article, we’ll delve into this in a little more detail.
Online product descriptions
Running an e-commerce store is competitive business. So, if you’re lucky enough to have potential customers visiting your website, most of the hard work is done! Don’t miss out on those hard-earned sales at the final hurdle by not investing a little bit of time into your product descriptions. Here are our top tips.
1. Include as much detail as possible
If you had a physical store, your customers would be able to see, feel, and maybe even test out your products to get an idea of their quality, size and features. Online, however, it’s a different story. It’s really important to include as much fine detail as possible, including things like the product size, colour, weight, material and functions, where relevant. Doing so will give potential customers the confidence that your product will be suitable for their needs, so they’re far more likely to buy it.
2. Sell the benefits, not just the features
While it’s important to include all the features of your product in the description, the key when it comes to making more sales is to also talk about the benefits of those features. For example, if you’re selling a cordless vacuum cleaner with a two-hour battery life, don’t just state the numbers – explain how this means you can vacuum your whole house without having to stop to recharge the machine, and without having to unplug it and plug it in again as you go up the stairs and into other rooms. Sell the convenience that this feature brings!
Physical product descriptions
Product descriptions are still important, even when you’re selling your goods in a store, at a market stall, or at a trade fair. Your packaging should convey the all-important points that make your product stand out from the crowd, especially if it’s going to be placed on a shelf amongst your competitors’ offering. Here are our top tips.
1. Sell the benefits, not just the features
Just like with online product descriptions, it’s important to communicate the benefits that come with each feature of your product. This can, however, be trickier if you’re trying to squeeze a description into a small space on your product packaging. We’d recommend putting your key USPs in the most prominent place, and communicating the features and their benefits in short bullet point form. For example, if we’re sticking with the vacuum cleaner example, we could say something like ‘2-hour battery life for cable-free cleaning of your whole house in one charge’.
2. Tell your story
Your website probably has a section telling the story of your brand – where you started, what you stand for, and what customers can expect from you. If they’re coming across you for the first time in a shop, however, they’re unlikely to know any of this. So, if you can, try to tell your story on your packaging, or on something like a roller banner or a poster. Research shows that customers are more likely to make a purchase if you spark emotion through your brand – it means they can relate to you more easily – so this is one way of achieving that.
the bottom line
If you’re serious about levelling up your product descriptions, the best advice we can give you is to include as much detail as possible and sell the benefits, not just the features. If you’re not seeing results from your current product descriptions, it might be worth calling in the professionals. At Sell it with Science, we’re experts at writing descriptions that get people adding your products to their baskets – get in touch today for a free, no-obligation quote.