When a customer has to rely on a picture and a few words to make a buying decision, product descriptions become crucial. It’s no longer enough to just describe the product’s features. That short description needs to engage, connect, and sell. Consider these five strategies when developing your ecommerce product descriptions:
1) Know your buyer persona.
Developing a buyer persona, or profile of your target customer, results in more cost effective and stronger marketing. Rather than targeting everyone in general but no one in particular, gather as much information as possible about the customer who buys your product. Knowing the buyer persona allows you to use language they’re used to, place marketing efforts where they’re likely to see them, and provide solutions that seem tailor-made to fill their needs.
2) Combine benefits with the features.
A feature is a factual statement about your product. A benefit answers your customer’s question: “What’s in it for me?” Be careful that the benefit isn’t just an elaboration on a feature. For example, maintaining a consistent speed may well be a benefit of cruise control in a car, but what your customer really wants to know is, “How does this help me?” The answer could be: by maintaining a consistent speed, you’ll save on fuel costs. Think about your customer’s needs. How does your product help fill them?
3) Seduce with sensory words.
This is particularly important for ecommerce sites. Research has shown that touching a product increases the desire to own it. Seduce the customer to buy from you by using sensory words. An aromatic candle, a dreamy plush blanket, soft stretch-denim jeans all convey sensory aspects of the product to let the customer imagine smelling, feeling, wearing the product.
4) Create a readable format.
People rarely read every single word on a Web page. They scan the text, picking out individual words and phrases. Make sure your description is easy to read by highlighting keywords, use bullet points, increase the font (particularly if your buyer persona is in an older demographic!), use video or photography, and give the reader lots of white space.
5) Use effective keywords for Search engine Optimization (SEO).
Finding the right balance between using effective keywords and keeping the product description readable for your customer is never easy. People have a tendency to be pretty specific in their keyword searches, so try to avoid overly general keywords. Search engines dislike duplicate content. Use unique content rather than duplicating the manufacturer’s description, which might even have the result of sending people over to another website!
Your product descriptions may be short, but they need to pack a punch. Know your buyer and try to anticipate the ways your product can help them. Above all, make it easy for customers to find you and buy.