Writing Product Descriptions that Sell

One of the biggest problems that companies with e-commerce sites has is writing descriptions that sell.  People go to your website, look at a photo and bland description and leave.  The description that you write is one of your best ways to sell.

Here are some tips to think about the next time you are writing a description for that new gift listing:

Tell a Story

Every gift or gift basket has a story to tell.  That story can help create the trust your customer needs in order to click that Buy Now button.  That story could be the inspiration behind the gift, how it was made, the many different ways it can be used, etc.

An example of this is the story I wrote for the college survival gifts categ,ory page on my own website:

“When my daughters were in college, I learned how hard it can be to find time to bake cookies or pick up little gifts . . .and then pack them in a box, take it to the post office and stand in line. You don’t have to! We can do it for you. We create the kind of college survival kits, birthday gifts, get well gifts, and care packages that make the other students say “Wow! Your Mom must really think you’re special!”

We’ve all read descriptions that use those tired phrases like “quality products,” “tastes good,” “beautiful basket,” etc. Instead of using a trite phrase, share why it tastes good or what makes it beautiful.   Appeal to your potential customers senses to make them create a visual picture in their mind and want to buy your product.  If you’re selling freshly-baked cookies, make them smell that tantalizing smell as they come out of the oven.

Make Your Sales Page Easily Scanned

Most of us include a list of the products in a gift basket.  Don’t just write them in a long sentence but make it easy for the customer to scan through the list by using bullet points.

Make your paragraphs short.  Look at this blog post and see how short each paragraph is.  That makes it easier for you to scan through the page and read.

Sell the Benefits as Well as the Features

This can easily be included in the story that you are telling.

Note that in the description for the care packages that I included above, a benefit is “care packages that make the other students say “Wow! Your Mom must really think you’re special!”

Your customers need to know the features — such as what is inside the gift basket — but that isn’t what is going to make them buy.  They want to know what this gift basket is going to do for them.  Is it going to impress a potential client?  Make a sick person smile or feel better?  Save them time or money?  Keep them from standing in line at the post office?

Have a Call to Action

Encourage your customer to buy by telling them what you want them to do next.  Your “buy now” or “add to cart” button is a call to action but you can do even more by adding a call to action directly within your description of the gift.

An example would be:  “Order this for that new client today.”

The next time you’re looking to buy something on the internet, think about what makes you want to buy from one company over another.  By adding this simple dimension to your own buying process, you will have a better idea of what you can do to make your potential customers want to buy from you.

Take the time to read through your own gift and gift basket descriptions on your product pages and see what you can add to make them better.  Your sales will improve.

 

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