Peter Pru on How to Write Product Descriptions That Sell

Philadelphia PA

15 April, 2021

4:47 PM

Description

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but even a product photo isn't always enough to convince someone to buy your product. What you need is a great product description. Creative, compelling copy is what moves your customers through your sales funnel and persuades them to buy whatever it is that you're selling. Your product descriptions hold a lot of power, but they can be difficult to write. What do some ecommerce customers do wrong? According to Peter Pru, Founder and CEO of Ecommerce Empire Builders, the most common mistake many sellers make is copying and pasting descriptions straight from AliExpress. "This isn't only going to look unprofessional, but it's pointless," says Peter Pru. "AliExpress just stuffs a bunch of keywords in their descriptions for the consumer, which is fine for their use, but these descriptions aren't worthwhile for the seller's needs." How do you write copy that sells? Peter Pru shares his insights below. Start with a 'big benefit' headline Before you start writing your description, you need to perfect your headline. Peter Pru recommends that sellers ask themselves two questions: What problem does my product solve? What benefit will this product give to consumers? In an oversaturated market, you need to set yourself apart from the competition. Say you're selling a dog brush, for example. It may be tempting to make your headline "dog fur brush" so that your product will come up when someone searches for that item. But you're just telling customers what the product is; there's no implied benefit and nothing to differentiate your item from the hundreds of other dog brushes on the market. To enhance the perceived value, think about how you could add benefit to the headline. One example could be "no more mats — dog fur brush." You're still telling consumers what your product is, but now you're also telling them the problem your product will help solve. Know your target audience Once you have a good headline, it's time for the meat of the product description. Every good description consists of features and benefits. A feature is about what you're selling, and the benefits are what the customer can enjoy from your product. In your description, there should be some crossover. Whenever you talk about a feature, you have to tie it back into why it should matter to the person, so you have to understand what's important to your target audience. Let's say your customers care about environmental preservation. Using the dog brush example, one of the features and benefits you could touch on is using the brush to collect pet hair without affecting the environment. "By appealing to their interests, you are now building up their confidence to make a purchase," says Peter Pru. Research real customer reviews Part of knowing your audience is listening to what actual people are saying about a product, whether it's about your products or reviews on a competitor's page. You can learn a lot about what customers want from a product based on their complaints and praise. Are there a handful of negative reviews that talk about the same thing? Take that feedback and work it into your description, letting customers know that your product can help solve the issues they've had with similar products in the past. You can do the same thing with positive reviews. By letting customers know how they can benefit from your product, you can make more sales. Appeal to customers' emotions When someone is online shopping, they're in an emotional state of mind. That's because people buy based on emotion and then use logic to justify the purchase. Let your customers know what worry or pain your product could remove from their life. According to Peter Pru, the best way to think about this is selling customers on a solution. "At the end of the day, there's an itch being scratched or a benefit being gained with every product someone buys," says Peter Pru. "People don't just buy stuff to lay around. It's all emotionally-driven. So appeal to these emotions as you write descriptions." Give a clear call to action We expect people to draw the conclusions we have in our heads, but this isn't how it works. You can't assume someone will think the way you do. You have to give them a clear call to action. Do you want them to click on a link? Let them know, and provide the link. Do you want people to hit 'buy now'? Tell them to click on the button at the bottom or top of the page. Because buyers don’t always think logically when shopping, you need to poke them with more clear-cut directions. Write your descriptions as if you were having a direct conversation with someone right in front of you. Adding in that human-to-human connection will help you start seeing more success. Ecommerce entrepreneurs are often intimidated by the thought of writing copy. Peter Pru's biggest advice: don't overcomplicate it and don't second guess yourself.