Guide to Writing the Perfect Product Descriptions

Gone are the days when people would commute from shop to shop looking for what they wanted. The advent of a digital era has paved the way for hassle-free shopping right from the comfortable confines of your home. 

Now that everyone has a smartphone, online shopping has become a mainstay for the new-age user. As we transition from physical to online shopping, what’s the first thing businesses and sellers must focus on?

Product descriptions!

Having a product and service description is a crucial element of e-commerce. Since the product isn’t in front of the user, they heavily rely on the description that comes with it. 

According to a Salsify report, 87% of consumers rate product content as extremely important in making a purchase decision. Featuring expertly crafted product descriptions is a major factor in ensuring your success on e-commerce platforms, so let’s take a look at how you can create product descriptions that attract consumers.

Features of the Perfect Product Description

Before discussing the blog post’s main topic, we should mention what constitutes the perfect product description.

In essence, a product description is your sales pitch. A well-worded product description introduces and explains the product (and your brand) and its value to the buyer in a compelling way.

Ideally, a product description should answer the following:

• What is the product or service?
• What are its key features/details/dimensions?
• What problems does the product solve for customers?
• What sets your product apart from competitors?

Of course, this is the basic mold. You will elaborate on the product description based on your product type and target market to ensure it makes an excellent first impression.

If you thought product descriptions are just for optics, remember that out of the 90% of consumers who abandon their online shopping cart, one-third of the loss is attributed to poor product descriptions. Such is the power of effective product description writing!

The Importance of a Product Description

We’re all aware of the sales funnel. With such high competition, brands are vying to ensure their customers go through the entire sales funnel and complete the customer journey from awareness to making a purchase.

Now, you might be wondering where the product description comes in here.

The product description is the last piece of information a potential customer will read before they make a choice; to either ‘add to cart’ or abandon the website.

Using a product description writing service could have several benefits for your business as they can be used to:

• Increase conversions
• Help consumers develop familiarity with the products
• Strengthen the brand voice
• Rank higher on organic search engines through SEO product descriptions
• Highlight your product’s value to set it apart from the competition
• Make product information more accessible

How to Write Product Descriptions That Convince Audiences

To master the art of product description writing, you must know their ultimate goal.

So, why do you need to write a product description?

To answer this very simply, we write product descriptions to sell a product or service.

Selling requires persuading customers that the product will fulfill a specific need. Product descriptions are discreet marketing efforts that adopt a persuasive tone without being too aggressive or overbearing.

Does this sound like a tall order? We’ll break it down for you.

Here are some tips you should keep in mind.

1. Visualize Your Audience

All good product descriptions keep the buyer as the focal point. There is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to product descriptions. You need to change and tweak the template according to your target market. One great way to do that is by putting yourself in the shoes of the people who will buy your product.

When we speak of the ideal buyer, we want you to narrow down your target market as much as possible. Writing a product description for a large, generalized audience will sound vague, and the customer will fail to relate to it.

A perfect product description is written as if directly talking to the customer. For more effective product descriptions, you must keep a few questions in mind:

• What is the target audience’s demographic?
• What kind of language would they relate to?
• What humor would they appreciate?
• What are some major problems they face, and how can your product be of service?

A conversational yet not overtly informal tone (once again, depending on the product) will make the visitor stay to at least give the product a chance.

2. Create a Sensory Experience

In recent years, marketers have started to realize the importance of sensory marketing. The art of deploying cues in your text can appeal to the audience much more than a lackluster, boring copy. Whether you’re writing engaging, high-quality blog posts or product descriptions, keep this in mind to enrapture the reader’s attention.

Using words and phrases that appeal to the user’s senses will intensify your brand’s perception. For example, “Your teeth sinking into the velvety enclave of a chocolate bar” and “the dazzling red lipstick with a brilliant sheen.”

Your choice of words would vary depending on the product you’re marketing. If it’s a food item, bring the experience to life. How would the reader feel when they bite into those chips? Or take the first sip of icy cold soda on a hot summer day?

Seduce the reader with words that titillate their auditory, olfactory and other senses. A great product description will allow the reader to smell, see, hear and feel the product through your words.

Make them want to eat those crunchy chips

Make them want to see that glossy foundation finish

Make them want to hear the hissing sound of gas bubbles rushing up as you pop open a fizzy drink

Make them want to feel the feathery soft pillow against their cheek as they slumber

3. Use the Problem and Solution Formula

Most people only focus on the ‘description’ part of a product description. While important, the description is not the only thing you need to boost conversions.

Of course, you must mention the product’s basic features like dimensions, functions, color, material, care details, etc., but a great product description will entice the customer with the benefits of the said product too. The crux of the matter is customers aren’t too interested in the mundane details, as a hundred other products tell them the same thing.

Why should they buy from you?

Think about it. Online marketplaces have several products in the same category. Well-crafted Shopify product descriptions could be the difference between a sale and a return. Instead of simply mentioning a product’s feature, mention how this feature will benefit the customer.

For example, instead of saying this shampoo has a hydrating formula, get creative!

‘Dry hair is the root of all evil. It leads to brittle hair and the dreaded occurrence of hair fall. If you’re battling dry hair thanks to hot winter showers, use this hydrating shampoo for replenished hair with X% less hair fall!’

This product description highlights why dry hair is a problem. Then it goes on to engage the customer by creating a familiar situation, i.e., the problem of dry hair in winter. Finally, it entices the customer with a solution, the hydrating formula that results in less hair fall, preferably with credible facts and figures.

Product Description Writing Service

Writing a seemingly simple product description requires work and creativity. If you don’t have the time or penchant for writing, partner with a professional product description writing service to increase your product’s appeal and sales.

4. Avoid Fluff

Fluff is the enemy of articulate product descriptions. In an attempt to persuade the customer, it is easy to fall prey to generic statements, like ‘excellent product quality’ and ‘best product for…’ that don’t garner a strong response from the audience. Expect such generic statements to be met with apathy.

Think about it. As a seller, you’re bound to say your product is the best, and so on. But does this convince the buyer? No!

It only takes away space from focusing on other, more important things like relevant and specific product information, which could prove detrimental to your brand!

Statements that are generic and have no facts backing them also damage the brand’s credibility. They cause the customer to think the brand does not have anything of value to say about its product.

Be as specific as possible when it comes to product description writing. You don’t just want to fill the space provided for your product descriptions.

Instead, you must provide substantial information that convinces the reader to turn into a paying customer. How do you do that?

Read our next tip.

5. Augment With Facts and Figures

When you have space to write, you can say anything. As a seller, why would you not? If you read Shopify product descriptions commonly found on sites for small and large businesses, many of them will describe their product to be of the highest quality.

Does that mean it’s true?

To readers, using extra statements can seem a tad unnecessary and exaggerated. It does not make a good impression. Filling space when you have nothing specific to say about the product wastes your efforts and the audience’s time.

We have a simple piece of advice: back up everything you say with facts and figures that a customer can verify.

If you say your TV has the finest quality, mention why that is by sharing its resolution or other technological specifications. This way, you provide the reader with details to make an informed decision and you’re bound to see an increase in sales if your facts appeal to your audience.

If your product really is the best in its category, you must provide proof to support your claim. Otherwise, the statement is reduced to just your opinion, not a fact.

If you don’t have any real numbers or figures, tone down your product description and provide any other viable proof, like reviews from real people! We would even go as far as saying that reviews may fare even better than numbers!

A whopping 95% of consumers read online reviews before shopping. Add a snippet of a great review or explain your product as a popular customer choice with a high Google or Amazon rating. This way, you convince the reader that you have satisfied buyers, which is ultimately the most important factor for potential customers’ buying decisions.

6. Make it Reader-Friendly

The new-age digital user has an attention span of merely 8 seconds! They don’t have the time to read lengthy product descriptions and scavenge for useful information. If they don’t find what they’re looking for in their initial run-through of the description, they will move on to another brand and product where the product information is more accessible.

When you write product descriptions, take their layout into consideration. The goal is to make the product description scannable and easier to read. A potential buyer shouldn’t have to make any effort to locate the information.

Design a product description keeping the following tips in mind:

• Use headlines! No one likes endless text
• Use bullet points to make the text scannable
• Use a legible font and font size
• Use white space so as not to overwhelm the reader with text and visuals
• Use high-quality images

Expert Product Description Writing Service

With so much riding on product descriptions, for both in-store and e-commerce sales, a considerable amount of time and consideration must be dedicated to the task. After all, an appealing product description could be the single deciding factor between a hit and miss.

Once a customer reaches the shopping cart, you don’t want a product description mistake to derail the sale.

You don’t have to anymore!

Content Development Pros have the experience and expertise to create custom product descriptions for businesses across various industries. Our product description writing service creates compelling product descriptions for the largest e-commerce store. Enjoy a significant increase in conversions with product descriptions that are geared to sell.