The product description is one of those things that play a critical role in the customer experience and sales realization of an online store.
A good product description helps the customer understand the key features of the product and convinces them of the benefits and value they will receive, which increases the likelihood of purchase. A good and convincing, or selling, product description not only gives the customer reasons to buy but also dispels doubts related to the product and the purchase itself.
We have compiled four valuable tips for you to create product descriptions for your online store that will convince your customers to buy.
1. Put yourself in your customer's shoes
The first step in writing product descriptions is knowing and deeply understanding the target audience or audiences of the online store.
This matter is surely reiterated enough, but the fact is that if you don't know exactly who you're selling to, selling will be difficult and inefficient. The same applies to product descriptions.
To convince your customers to buy, you need to know them thoroughly. However, if you try to sell or, in this case, write a product description for everyone, you will not convince anyone.
Therefore, writing a good product description requires stepping into your customer's shoes.
Before writing the product description, you should consider your product from the customer's perspective and draft the description through questions such as the following:
What interests my customer and what does he/she want or need from the product? How does my product offer these to him/her?
What advantages does the product have, what benefits does it provide to the customer? Does it solve a problem or otherwise make the customer's life easier?
How does the product work? How easy (or difficult) is it to use? What features does the product have?
What expectations arise from the product? Will the product meet the customer's expectations or perhaps exceed them?
Is the product unique or rare? If so, highlight it. Otherwise, consider how your product differs from competitors' products and why the customer should purchase your product from your online store.
What questions or doubts might the customer have about the product and purchase? How do you plan to address these questions in the product description?
2. Create an irresistible story for the product
A good and convincing e-commerce product description illustrates the product's features and benefits and tells a story about how the product will impact the customer's life.
A well-written story can also help create an emotional connection and engage customers with the product and the company.
Once you have answered the questions listed earlier, you already have a foundation for the product story. If you also have positive experiences related to the product, it is definitely worth incorporating your own story into the product description.
When you start writing a story and product description, remember to choose the perspective, writing language, and tone that are most likely to interest your customers.
For example, it is not advisable to describe the product in the same way to an expert and a consumer, the latter of whom may not necessarily care about every technical detail or understand academic vocabulary.
When writing a story, it is advisable to imagine speaking face-to-face with the target audience just as in a brick-and-mortar store and to use the terms that customers themselves use.
Describe the features that your customers care about the most, and use a personal touch and language in the product description. Often, for example, in consumer sales, the tone of the product description is considerably more playful and humorous, although no one forbids using the same approach in B2B sales.
3. Utilize customer reviews in the product description
The advice of a friend is always trusted more than a company, which is why personal recommendation remains the most powerful way to sell.
According to statistics, an impressive 95% of customers read reviews online before making a purchase decision and nearly 50% of consumers trust them as much as personal recommendations.
Product reviews are an effective way to increase sales, as they provide information about the product, enhance credibility, and build trust in your company.
Customer reviews play a particularly important role online, where the product cannot be physically seen or touched. It is often through the experiences shared by others that one can best understand what is truly thought of the product and how well or poorly it actually functions.
Product reviews should be utilized in creating product descriptions and definitely also as a separate section on the product page in a place where the customer will surely see them.
If for some reason negative reviews dominate your product and you don't want to show them, it might be wise to start considering why this is happening – is it the product itself, long delivery times, the practices of your online store, or perhaps the unrealistic expectations of the customer that you have painted with your advertising?
You can quickly influence the latter with a well-written product description.
A dissatisfied customer is more likely to leave a product or Google review, so it is also possible that you simply haven't encouraged your satisfied customers enough to share their experiences. It is advisable to automate the collection of product reviews in an online store, and respond to any potential negative reviews.
If the bad reviews are due to a poor product and you know it, nothing prevents you from being honest and also mentioning the drawbacks in the product description.
This way, the customer avoids disappointments, your online store's reputation avoids dents, and your company avoids product returns. By being transparent about the situation, the customer may ultimately be even more satisfied with the order, especially if the initially communicated conditions have been compensated, for example, with a price adjustment.
4. Use images and videos to assist the product description
In an online store, words alone are not enough to describe a product. To make your product descriptions as effective as possible, you also need high-quality product images and videos.
The customer cannot try or test the product from the online store, which naturally complicates the purchasing decision.
Without the necessary information, the customer is unlikely to want to purchase the product, and incorrect, incomplete, or miscommunicated information increases the risk of misunderstandings, disappointments, and product returns. Online, the customer needs much more information and encouragement than in a brick-and-mortar store.
With high-quality product images and videos, you present both a visually appealing and realistic picture of the product and its details, such as appearance, color, and material. Good product images also enhance the perception of the product's quality and a reliable online store.
Since images are the first thing that catches attention on a product page, it's really worth investing in them. If the images are somehow poor, the customer will likely leave very quickly for a competitor's online store.
Here we have gathered tips for you who take your own e-commerce product photos.
Also consider these things when creating a product description:
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Focus on the title on the product page that captures the customer's interest and encourages them to continue reading the product description. Like images, the title is one of the first things a potential customer sees when arriving at your product page, for example, from Google. If you don't immediately offer something interesting, you lose potential. Therefore, create a short and concise title for the product and product description that conveys the essentials and grabs attention.
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Optimize product descriptions for search engines. Use terms in the title and product description that your customers use in everyday life, with which they search for your product online, and with which your online store can rank high in Google's search results. Note that the product description is always primarily made for the customer, not the search engine, as its goal is, of course, to sell the product, not just to find it. It may be sensible to optimize the product description only after it is completed to avoid over-optimization. Regarding search engine optimization, remember to add an informative and customer-click-attracting meta title and description to the product page.
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Optimize your online store for conversions. The title and images are, of course, not the only factors affecting the bounce rate and actual sales of an online store. Additionally, other aspects such as usability, visuals, and the checkout process must be refined. Product descriptions alone are not enough to increase sales if you have not first ensured that the experience your customers receive is seamless and that any potential purchasing barriers have been removed from your online store. To increase the conversion (sales) of your online store, read more about conversion optimization or leave the optimization to a professional in the field (like us).
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Test and update the product description. Refining the product description can continue indefinitely, but it is, of course, not profitable. Instead, it is advisable to boldly test a somewhat ready product description, analyze its performance, and make changes to the description over time through testing. Try changing, for example, titles, images, videos, or the content of the text, perspective, and tone of voice to find the combination that most effectively appeals to your own customers.
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SEM or Search Engine Marketing clearly explained
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