How to Write Winning Product Descriptions
To help you create product descriptions that drive sales, we've gathered insights from 13 industry experts, including founders, CEOs, and marketing managers. From crafting succinct, compelling descriptions to matching your audience to a features-benefits list, these professionals share their top tips for writing product descriptions that boost conversions.
Craft Succinct, Compelling Descriptions
Organize with Bullet Points
Emphasize Brevity and Keywords
Incorporate Testimonials
Connect with Your Audience
Evoke Emotions
Present Features and Prompt Action
Embrace Powerful Storytelling
Paint a Picture With Visualization
Use Clear Language and Avoid Jargon
Address Objections, Utilize Feedback
Meet Customer Needs
Match a Features-Benefits List to Target Audience
Craft Succinct, Compelling Descriptions
My advice is to write easy-to-scan product descriptions that provide all the valuable information a potential customer needs. Online users don't actually read, they skim. A succinct, compelling product description will provide a quick final boost of encouragement to a customer who is considering making a purchase. A long and too complicated description may deter a customer from converting.
Start by listing the best features of your product in bullet points. Then, turn those points into short sentences. Finally, give your product some personality by glamming it up with compelling words. Writing in this manner is great for SEO as well because Google favors original content.
Nikola Baldikov, Founder, InBound Blogging LTD
Organize with Bullet Points
When writing product descriptions, you can use bullet points to separate unique features of your product. Bullet points are an easy way to organize your content and make it more scannable for online shoppers. In addition, using bullet points can help you add more images to your product descriptions.
Each bullet point should be a distinct feature of your product. For example, if you are selling a pair of shoes, you could have a bullet point for "Color", "Material", "Fit", etc.
By separating your features into different bullet points, you can easily add more images to each section. For example, if you have a "color" bullet point, you can add an image of the shoes in that color. This helps shoppers better understand what they are buying and can increase conversions.
Luciano Colos, Founder and CEO, PitchGrade
Emphasize Brevity and Keywords
As a marketing manager, I often try to strike the right balance when writing product descriptions. By right balance, I mean incorporating keywords into the product description but keeping the copy readable for humans. Not a block of text filled with your ranking keywords, making no sense at all.
The appreciation that we're always getting from our website visitors and customers is them getting complete information in brief during the Google search. If you're keeping your product description short & crisp, it would help the viewer make an instant decision. So if you're including top keywords along with vital information about the product, the customers may decide to either click or pass based on the meta-description alone.
So my golden tip would be to make your product description short but still cover all the information. For diverse and multiple products listed on your website, any product description shouldn't take more than a minute to read.
Sean Coffey, Marketing Manager, Regency Fire
Incorporate Testimonials
You can include customer reviews and feedback in your descriptions that showcase their positive experiences with the product. Testimonials not only provide potential customers with an unbiased perspective on the product but also add a personal touch to the product description.
This helps customers feel more connected to the product, increasing their likelihood of a successful purchase. You can incorporate testimonials into any product description, whether it's a short blurb for an online store listing, a longer blog post about a new item, or a social media post.
Effie Asafu-Adjaye, Founder, Beautiful Sparks
Connect with Your Audience
It's important to speak the lingo of the audience you're targeting. It shows that you are familiar with their world and that you're not just a distant company trying to make a sale. Rather, you're showing that you are part of their community and that you understand their needs.
This gives your campaign a sense of relatability that taps into their emotions, which is a motivator for conversions. Remember, emotional connections play a significant role in purchasing decisions.
Garrett Smith, Head of Local SEO, GMB Gorilla
Evoke Emotions
The more appealing, attractive, and interesting your product description is, the more chances you have of boosting conversions and encouraging your potential consumers to take a leap of faith and try out your products.
By using the right keywords along with smart, witty, and excellent storytelling skills that appeal to consumers and make them feel an emotion, whether it is to make them laugh, cry, get emotional, or desire, you're more likely to boost conversions when you use emotion.
Max Wesman, Chief Operating Officer, GoodHire
Present Features and Prompt Action
Allow your customer to be 'in the moment' the minute they read your product description, no matter how brief this may be. Be confident in presenting product features and delight your customers by detailing why it is beneficial to them through good copywriting.
Include compelling facts like data when you are introducing a new product to help boost consumer awareness. Meanwhile, for in-demand to household names, you may simplify them and highlight what makes them distinct. Considering the right keywords in the copy is highly recommended for search engines to strongly support your product listing.
When all is said, do not forget to prompt, or better yet, excite, your customers to a clear and visible call-to-action.
Tristan Harris, Demand Generation Senior Marketing Manager, Thrive Agency
Embrace Powerful Storytelling
One essential tip is to highlight the product's unique benefits and features. Instead of simply listing technical specifications, emphasize how the product solves a problem or fulfills the customer's needs. By showcasing the value and advantages of the product, you can effectively capture the attention and interest of potential buyers.
To achieve this, research your target audience thoroughly to understand their pain points and motivations. Tailor your product descriptions to resonate with their needs and desires, using persuasive language that evokes emotions and paints a vivid picture of how the product can improve their lives.
Incorporate storytelling techniques to create a compelling narrative around the product, showcasing its practical applications and real-life benefits. Additionally, ensure that your product descriptions are concise, clear, and easy to read. Use subheadings and bullet points to break down information into digestible chunks, making it skimmable for readers.
Shane McEvoy, MD, Flycast Media
Paint a Picture With Visualization
When writing product descriptions, it's essential to make them benefit-oriented/value-oriented rather than feature-oriented. Instead of just listing the technical specifications of the product, explain the real-world use of the products.
Help users understand how they can leverage the product in their lives. Help them visualize the practical implementation of the product. How the product will solve a common pain point for them or how the product will make their life easier. These are the things that users are going to care about and eventually use as a factor to convert into buying customers.
Shivani Maheshwari, Content Specialist, WrittenlyHub
Use Clear Language and Avoid Jargon
Avoid jargon and instead focus on attracting and enticing customers using the benefits of the product. Many customers are not familiar with technical terms or industry-specific jargon, so it's important to communicate the value and advantages of the product in clear and relatable language.
Highlight the specific benefits and outcomes that the product offers, emphasizing how it can solve the customer's problems or improve their life. Use persuasive and engaging language to create a compelling story around the product, showing customers how it can fulfill their needs and desires.
By focusing on benefits and avoiding jargon, you can effectively communicate the value of the product and motivate customers to take action, ultimately boosting conversions.
Ryan Flannagan, CEO and Founder, Nuanced Media
Address Objections, Utilize Feedback
Answering customers' objections is an underrated way of writing conversion-optimized product descriptions.
Discover why your target audience might want to avoid purchasing your products. You may start your research by looking at negative reviews on competitors' product pages (say, Amazon, Walmart, etc.).
Next, you must address these product-related concerns in your product copy and highlight the pain points. You can turn these objections into headings or key benefits of your product. Even better if you use the actual words used by the customers to connect with them on a deeper level. By reducing common friction for your target audience, you are likely to increase the conversion rate.
For example, an online store selling mattresses can improve its product description by using real people's concerns as headings or benefits. If a common complaint is about “durability,” then it can use a benefits-oriented heading such as “durable mattress with warranty protection.”
Govind Chandak, Business Head and Product Growth, GrowthAcad
Meet Customer Needs
Always make sure your product description conveys the incentive. Focus on the benefits with surgical precision. Instead of merely listing features, highlight the specific advantages your product offers. Put yourself in your customers' shoes and tailor your descriptions accordingly.
For instance, if selling a website template, emphasize how it helps businesses establish a professional online presence effortlessly, saving time and money. By showcasing benefits, you engage customers on a personal level and tap into their emotions. Help them envision the positive impact your product will have on their lives, making it easier for them to justify the purchase.
Remember, prioritizing benefits over features creates persuasive descriptions that drive conversions and business growth. Craft compelling, customer-centric product descriptions that demonstrate how your product can address their needs and bring positive change to their lives.
Richard Kennedy, Managing Director, Arken Digital
Match a Features-Benefits List to Target Audience
As a seasoned SEO and CRO expert, I can tell you that one of the most effective strategies for writing conversion-boosting product descriptions is to craft a compelling features-benefits list.
But don't just stop there. Make sure that each benefit directly addresses the needs of your target audience and preempts any potential objections. Remember, you're not just selling a product - you're selling a solution that improves your customer's life. This isn't just a tip, it's a strategy that, when executed right, can transform your product descriptions from simple narratives into powerful conversion tools. Give it a shot next time, you'll be surprised by the results!
Ian Dukleth, Entrepreneur - SEO and Content Strategy