How to write powerful e-commerce product descriptions
In the world of e-commerce, the seemingly humble product description is actually one of the most powerful tools you have to convince your browser to become a buyer.
And yet, many businesses don’t give them the time and attention they deserve. All too often I see poorly written, uninspiring and mistake-ridden product copy that’s more likely to send potential customers running for the hills (or the nearest competitor) than compel them to add your product to their basket.
It’s no exaggeration to say that product descriptions have the power to boost your sales and reduce your returns rate. In fact, my good friends and product-copy aficionados over at Siblinc did some research that showed a whopping 79% of online shoppers would only – I repeat, ONLY – buy a product online if it had a supporting description.
That’s a pretty 😮 stat, isn’t it?
But you need your product descriptions to do more than simply exist. You can’t just describe details that people can see for themselves in the photo and get on with your day. To achieve gold-standard product copy, you need to be ticking these all-important boxes:
⭐️ Deliver accurate information.
⭐️ Tell the reader how it might enhance their life or help them overcome a problem.
⭐️ Make it easy for readers to digest.
⭐️ Convey your brand personality.
⭐️ Include keywords for search engines.
Oh, and of course it needs to be free of errors and grammatical gaffes. (Dipping back into that Siblinc research, 91% of responders said a single typo would put them off buying a product!)
how to write product descriptions that sell
Ultimately, your goal is to write product copy that doesn’t just TELL people about your product, but SELLS it to them. It’s a really important distinction and one that you should always have at the front of your mind when you’re writing your product descriptions.
Here are my top five tips for creating piping-hot product descriptions:
1. Focus on benefits, not features
Not sure of the difference? Put simply, a feature is just a fact about your product. It TELLS your reader something about it.
A benefit, on the other hand, describes a positive outcome your product offers your customer. It SELLS it to them.
Consider these two product descriptions:
Option one – This all-in-one baby sleepsuit is made from pure cotton with a colourful all-over print and a zip through the centre front.
Option two – Featuring a colourful print that makes getting ready for bed fun, this cosy sleepsuit is crafted in soft and breathable cotton to keep your baby comfortable all night long. The front zip makes bleary-eyed nappy changes a breeze!
I know which of those options makes ME feel more inclined to snap up that sleepsuit!
Option two is selling more than a sleepsuit: it’s selling the the benefits of that sleepsuit. It’s selling the dream of a soundly sleeping baby and an end to those 3am popper fights. It’s emotive, it connects with the reader on an individual level (‘your baby’), acknowledges their pain points and offers solutions.
Always remember the old adage: features tell, benefits sell.
2. Write in your authentic voice
Throughout your website your customers should have a consistent brand experience in terms of the design and the way your copy sounds. Your brand voice is an engagement tool – it shows people your personality and plays a key role in their journey to getting to know, like and trust you.
Your product copy is no exception. It should sound exactly like your brand sounds everywhere else your customers hear from you.
If your usual style is playful and witty, be playful and witty in your product descriptions. If you’re chatty and conversational, be chatty and conversational. If you’re straight-talking and minimalist… you get the idea.
In a nutshell, make sure your product descriptions are written in your authentic voice, so that your ideal customer feels right at home when they read them.
3. tell a story
‘Storytelling’ has become a bit of a buzz word recently, but that doesn’t make the facts about it any less true. Telling stories in your marketing is what sets you apart, humanises your brand and makes you memorable.
And it also makes your product copy distinctive and compelling.
Perhaps the print on a garment was inspired by a place you visited? Or maybe the materials you use are unique in some way? Did you originally create your product to solve a problem for yourself? Does it take its design cues from a current trend? Is there a particular skill used in its manufacture? Does it have amazing eco credentials?
There are stories waiting to be told about your products, I promise you. Go forth and tell them!
4. Make them scannable
When it comes to the length of your product descriptions, there is no hard and fast rule. Your website template might dictate a word count, and you definitely want to keep them as concise as possible by focusing in on the most compelling benefits. But in general I think the right approach is ‘as long as it needs to be, but not a word longer’. Rather than worrying about sticking to a specific length, focus on making sure every word serves a purpose and genuinely adds something for your customer.
That said, if a product description looks like it’s going to be hard work to read, many people won’t bother. So it’s worth thinking about the techniques you can use to make your copy more visually palatable and help your customers digest the information you’re giving them.
Using short sentences and snappy paragraphs can work wonders. Having white space throughout a section of copy instantly makes it look easier to read.
If your descriptions are on the lengthy side, you definitely want to break it up into paragraphs and you could consider using subheadings to help readers navigate through it. This also helps out the people who prefer to scan a piece of copy and only read the bits they feel are most relevant to them. Try and make sure that if someone is the ultimate skim reader, they can still take away your key messages from the headings alone.
If you’re using subheadings, turning them into questions can be a really effective way of allaying any barriers to purchase right there in your product description. For example, if you’re selling baby toys made from sustainable materials, you could use a simple subheading like ‘Sustainable Materials’, or you could turn it into ‘What makes this toy sustainable?’. This is likely to be one of the questions the reader has in their head, and when you pre-empt and answer it you create a positive connection. You’ve read their mind, given them the info they want and they didn’t even have to look for it! (And from your point of view, you’ve kept that potential customer on your product page, temptingly close to the ‘buy it now’ button!)
Bullet points are another brilliant way to make life easier for your reader. Or (depending on the functionality of your website) you could break your content up into tabs to separate out technical info, such as ingredients or fabric compositions.
Your aim is to make your product description easily scannable for people who only want the headlines, while also covering everything your more studious reader could want.
5. use power words
The best product copy sounds like it was written by someone with genuine enthusiasm and excitement for the product they’re describing. And the best way to infuse your product descriptions with energy and emotion? Swap out lukewarm adjectives for power words that grab attention. Words like these:
⚡ Authentic
⚡ Essential
⚡ Fierce
⚡ Irresistible
⚡ New
⚡ Only
⚡ Surprising
⚡ Limited
⚡ Trusted
⚡ Unconventional
There are many more power words that work particularly well in product copy, and the key to coming up with them is to think about the kind of descriptive words that inspire action. Compare these sentences, for example:
Option one: These low-top trainers are made from genuine leather with a really nice texture.
Option two: These limited-edition low-top trainers are crafted in rich leather you’ll find irresistibly soft.
Does option one make you feel like adding those trainers to your cart? Me neither. But option two has me itching to find out just how irresistibly soft these trainers really are, before they sell out!
(A word of caution on scarcity tactics like ‘limited edition’: only use them if your product is genuinely in high demand and low supply. Not only is false scarcity unethical, but consumers are wise to it and it only serves to diminish trust and undermine the integrity of your brand.)
Lastly, don’t forget that ‘you’ and ‘because’ are two of the most powerful power words you can deploy in your product copy! Use them liberally to create connections and give your customers the reasons why they should snap up your products.