A Guide for Writing Product Descriptions

Do you have a truly amazing product that you wish to market to the general public? Perhaps one of the services which your firm offers is set to revolutionize a specific industry. In either of these cases, providing detailed descriptions is one of the best ways to encourage individuals to take a closer look. This is also the reason why product descriptions are just as important as images, videos and infographics.

So, what defines a “great” product description? What questions should one of these descriptions answer? Are there any professional techniques to keep in mind during the initial creation process? These are some of the issues that we will address throughout the remainder of this article. However, it is first prudent to appreciate why these descriptions can often make or brea

The Right Information at the Right Time

Online consumers are extremely intelligent in this day and age. They are no longer fooled by a handful of snappy images placed alongside text snippets such as “for a limited time only” or “buy now before it’s too late”. They instead require a great deal of ancillary information before making an informed decision. For example, a recent survey conducted by eMarketer found that a staggering 82 percent of buyers considered product descriptions to represent the most important factors when deciding upon whether or not to make a purchase.

So, it is clear that content remains king within the world of e-commerce. Not only will written material keep the average consumer informed, but it also illustrates that the firm in question is quite familiar with what it is marketing to the general public. This brings us to the main point of this article. How can you curate a informative and engaging product description?

Initial Questions to Address

The main intention of a product description is to increase your current conversion rates. However, simply regurgitating facts is hardly effective in this sense. You first need to appreciate the answers to a handful of basic questions including:

• What type of language will resonate most with the reader?
• What is your typical buyer persona?
• Why will this product/service benefit the customer?
• Are there any unique attributes which allow your product to stand out?
• What will clients expect from this item?

Answering these and similar questions will provide you with a much clearer “road map” during the curation process itself. You can therefore remain confident that you are providing the most relevant information to the reader.

Know Your Audience

What type of individual would you consider to represent the “ideal” customer? This is known as your buyer persona (mentioned within a previous section of this article). Understanding the habits of your client base is the best way to create more personalized content.

The pivotal role of personalized content has come up frequently within contemporary marketing blogs, and for good reason. Consumers now wish to be provided with a more customized experience in relation to their past spending habits. Simply stated, generic approaches will no longer work if you wish to increase levels of engagement. Here are two examples of descriptions which have been written for the same product:

• Adjustable headphones with wireless capabilities.
• Adjustable wireless headphones to take your gaming experience to the next level and beyond.

Although the first observation provides basic information, the second is much more engaging thanks to its tone of voice. Furthermore, it is written for a discrete target audience (in this case, online gaming enthusiasts). Not only does this offer a much more personal approach, but it is crucial from an SEO point of view. Those who enter in a search query such as “online gaming headphones” are more likely to be presented with what it is that you have to offer. In other words, speak the language of your audience.

What Makes the Product Stand Out?

In this sense, we are referring to benefits more than features. It is quite easy to rattle off a list of features associated with a specific item. While this is indeed valuable information, it hardly entices the reader to take further action. This is why highlighting what consumers can expect to enjoy is just as relevant.

A bit of creativity will often be required when discussing the associated benefits of a product. Highly descriptive words such as “elegant”, “streamlined” and “user-friendly” will frequently be employed to convey the uniqueness of the item in question. The main takeaway point is to encourage the reader to remain interested and to learn more about the product itself.

For instance, you can first entice the visitor with a series of high-definition images. Clicking upon each image will thereafter take the reader to a new page which highlights the primary benefits of the product. Extended descriptions (such as those which contain bullet points) can also be used, as the relevant keywords found throughout the text will help your site to rank higher in terms of search engine optimization.

Tap into the Emotions of the Reader

Try to relate the product or service to its ability to solve real-world problems. This is often accomplished by adopting the role of a storyteller. Simply stated, audiences like to be entertained. This is sometimes referred to as the “motion-and-emotion” approach.

Taking the reader on a journey and placing him or her within a fictional scenario when the product itself will be useful is one of the best ways to encourage further action (such as making a purchase or requesting additional information). Readers do not wish to feel as if they are being sold a product, as this approach tends to fall upon deaf years in these modern times. On the contrary, it is much better if they become captivated with what they are reading and they begin to feel as if they are being provided with information that resonates with their personal situation. 

Visual Aesthetics

One of the most predominant marketing trends involves the notion of user-generated content. Those who read descriptions that have been written by previous buyers are much more likely to purchase a product. However, this text should not simply be lumped together in a handful of paragraphs.

Bullet points are one way of segmenting the content in such a manner as to make it more palatable to the reader. In fact, sites such as Amazon actively encourage sellers to adopt this method. Bullet points enable you to emphasise the main qualities of the item and they serve as a quick reference point before making a final decision. These are also extremely useful when we remember that a growing number of consumers are now utilising smartphones to access the Internet. Content that is easy to read is much more likely to result in a conversion.

Writing a quality product description is deceptively challenging if you are new to this type of marketing. However, all of the suggestions outlined above will enable you to generate further interest and hopefully, to convert a visitor into a paying customer.

This is an article by Leslie Vincent. She is our Gardening expert at Atkins. Atkins is one of Ireland’s biggest garden centres advising gardening enthusiasts and professional landscapers on all their gardening needs.