9 Quick Tips on How to Write eCommerce Product Descriptions to Convert Consumers

Even those adept at writing copy and content marketing can be out of their depths on eCommerce product descriptions. Capturing the nuances of a product without being overly sales-y about it is a skill. Provide enough detail and structured in just the right way, and you may take someone on the fence converting them to becoming a full-fledged customer. Here’s the writing handbook on how to do just that, using the basics.

Tone

Tone of writing eCommerce content should suit the product and buyer persona. Think about if you’re buying this same product and what sort of mindset you’d be in. Tone can either make or break a sale.

Features or benefits

There’s differences between features and benefits. Features can be dull and direct. Benefits are what a feature accomplishes. Products that sell well on eCommerce based on the description are tied to directness in the list of features and effectiveness of communication of the benefits.

eCommerce product research

If you don’t know what you’re writing about, learn. Research is a necessity for effective product descriptions. Investigate how it’s used, consider the different angles a customer may see it from, identify the benefits, and see whether there’s an interesting story behind a product or brand possibly to be used in the description or elsewhere on an eCommerce site.

SEO

Before we get going with a lot of the inner workings of structure in eCommerce product descriptions, let’s not forget to optimize for SEO. Include keywords in the headline. Use the keywords in the meta data for any image included. Don’t sacrifice readability. No eCommerce writing should be choppy and boring. Just don’t forget that there are some technical SEO eCommerce content elements that need to be in their right place before continuing.

Action-oriented language

When writing out benefits, tie those benefits to an action. Action-oriented tone works well. Instead of saying, “a coat to keep you warm,” you can say “slip into a warm jacket to comfort and soothe through the harsh Canadian winter.” Action-oriented language with a little detail is an excellent recipe.

Who’s buying it?

Ask yourself some key questions about the customer you’re writing for. Identify whose interested in buying it, what’s motivating them to purchase, what is the core need that this product would solve for said buyer, and does the buyer have any pain points you can press on to push them closer to making a purchase.

Storytelling

It’s all about telling a story in eCommerce content marketing and yes, product descriptions become content marketing when they’re used to sell product. Stories bring in more revenue because they humanize brands and products, engage audiences, and incorporate a human element into the mix. Instead of going 100% sell, sell, sell, take it back and engage in storytelling.

Buy-in

The product description may be the end of the sales funnel for your eCommerce site but you might want to consider specific selling points to add in, such as special offers, a time-centric discount, or a ‘free shipping’ coupon.

Simplicity

When in doubt, go simple, clear, and uncomplicated. There’s merit in being to the point and not wasting any words. Create a simple story the customer can relate to and follow, with only the pertinent product details. Oftentimes, this will be all you need to wrap up a prospect and move them over from ‘lead’ to ‘customer’.

eCommerce product description writing takes time but you’ll be glad you made the effort to research, write, and optimize. It will pay off big-time and you will no doubt see it in your next analytics report. A good strategy’s a good strategy, plain and simple. Contact us for more info!