The Ultimate Guide To eCommerce Copywriting (2020 Edition)

April 9, 2020 Catalog Copywriting Services

eCommerce copywriting guide 2020

There is nothing new in selling products online. But with the dramatic rise of eCommerce stores over the last few years, the competition has become intense. Simply search for any product that comes in your mind, and you are likely to get hundreds of thousands of search results of retailers selling the same product.

When you are a customer, nothing could be better than this pleasant situation. You have a plethora of options to get exactly what you are looking for and at the best price. But what if you are a merchant selling online? Now, that’s a tough nut to crack. If selling online is your bread and butter, you either need a unique product or come up with some new ways to cut through the noise and stand out in the fierce competition. Fortunately, you don’t have to comb through a multitude of resources to find out how to keep your prospective customers hooked to your store. We have curated a complete guide on catalog product descriptions writing that will help you craft a laser-targeted product copy. Let us look at it without any further delay.

1 Define Your Buyer’s Persona

catalog copywriting services

Before you get down to writing a persuasive product copy for your eCommerce store, you must understand who your target audience is or who you are writing for. Once you have the buyers’ persona in mind, you can delve into the things that compel your target audience to make the buying decision in a jiffy. You can communicate your message in the language your potential customers use.

For example, if your target audience is stay-at-home moms, the tone of your product copy would be different than if you are serving business executives having high-net-worth. Wondering why so? Let us clear the air. Each group of customers has different expectations, hopes, dreams, and fears. In case of stay-at-home moms, saving money is more important than anything else, whereas in case of business executives saving time is more valuable. These subtle yet powerful differences influence the buying decisions of your customers. Ergo, it becomes important that you must have sound knowledge of what appeals to your target audience. In case, you struggle in understanding the buyer’s persona, you may seek help from a catalog copywriting services provider to craft a high-converting copy.

2 Use Actionable Words or Phrases

catalog product descriptions writing

When it comes to writing a killer product copy that drives sales, nothing could be better than using power words or phrases that trigger action. For example, if you are selling premium quality products, you can use power words like “lavish”, and “luxurious” or if you are emphasizing cost-effectiveness, you can use words like “budget-friendly” and “economical”. By sprinkling power words in your product copy uniformly, you can instantly turn your boring product descriptions into a high-converting copy that not only drives emotions but also converts your prospects into customers and customers into your brand advocates.

Here is a list of some power words and phrases that you can use to grab the attention:

  • Amazing
  • Authentic
  • You’re going to love it…
  • Treat yourself to…
  • Good news!
  • The first and only…
  • Running Out
  • Announcing
  • Hurry
  • Limited

While writing a product copy, always make sure that you are not misleading customers and providing them with accurate details and facts, not fluff. Also, try to limit using technical jargon and slang, unless you have provided enough information to entice customers to buy from you or your target audience is familiar with the terminologies. In short, keep your product copy as simple as possible. Another important thing that you need to remember when writing a product copy is that you should always address your audience with ‘you’ instead of third-person like “buyers” or “customers”.

Pro Tip: You can test different action words and phrases in your product copy or simply hire product description writers who know how to grab the attention of onlookers and convert them into your customers.

3 Always Use Magnetic Headlines

product title writing services

On average, 80% of people read a headline of a product copy, while just 20% read the body content. This clearly indicates that the headline of your product copy needs to be simple, coherent, and insanely specific. Always keep in mind that people decide whether or not to read a product copy by simply checking out the headline. So, when writing a product copy, always ensure that your headline arouses the curiosity of your prospective buyers in seconds, else they will move away. A well-written headline not only grabs the attention of your customers and tells them what the product is all about but also guides them to read the first line of your product copy.

For example, take a look at this bland headline:

Gain Competitive Edge Over Your Competitors With Our Catalog Processing Services.

Now, when you add a number to your headline, it becomes insanely specific and magnetic.

90% of eCommerce Merchants Have Gained Competitive Edge With Our Catalog Processing Services.

According to a study conducted by Moz, it has been found that the headlines having numbers in it receive 327% more clicks than headlines with questions.

Product Headline Importance

Pro Tip: If you want to craft magnetic headlines that drive traffic, sales, and conversions, we suggest you evaluate your headline using popular Free Headline Analyzer tools like Coschedule, Advanced Marketing Institute, and more. When you run your headline through these tools, you’ll get a score out of 100 along with some suggestions on how to make your headline more compelling.

4 Tell Benefits Over Features

Probably, you have noticed that successful brands don’t just sell products, in fact, they sell benefits in the form of stories and experiences. Benefits talk about the value your product adds to your customers’ life. Let us say, you are selling running shoes. Its features might be TPR sole, thick insole, etc. However, the benefits would be like extra-thick insoles for added flexibility, durability, and comfort. Or, constructed with premium quality material, so that it can last for years. Those benefits are strong enough to compel visitors to buy from you. Here is a brilliant example of how a company that introduced a new piece of software into the market turn the boring features into tangible benefits:

eCommerce product description writing services

5 Add Social Proof

eCommerce copywriting - use of social metrics

Whatever you write in your product copy would be taken with a grain of salt, since customers know your end goal is to drive sales. Ergo, it becomes important that you testify to all the claims made in your product copy by adding social proof. You can earn the trust of your potential buyers by adding testimonials, customer reviews, and ratings, case studies, trust badges during the checkout process. You can also hire a micro-influencer of your niche who can vouch for your product and encourage customers to try out your product by sharing it on the popular social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and more. Third-party brand endorsements carry a strong impact and can take your sales to a whole new level.

Adding profile pictures of customers against their reviews and ratings will add credibility to their feedback. Even better, you can add a video testimonial of a customer sharing their personal experience about the product. Remember, customers are more likely to buy your product if they find people talking about your product and it is popular. Adding social proof is one of the most effective ways to showcase that your product is popular among customers.

Pro Tip: If you have received testimonials from customers that are a bit long or poorly written, you may seek help from an experienced copywriter and get them short, clear, and refined.

6 Make Your Product Copy Scannable

scannable product copies

Another simple yet powerful trick that can make your product copy high-converting is using the right formatting. Wondering why so? On average, users read only 20% of the content available on a webpage, rest they scan. Furthermore, people read the content available on the web in an F-shaped pattern, according to a study conducted by Nielsen.

From the heat map, we can draw an inference that people first look to the left column, then they move their eyes to the right and finally drag down to the bottom. This clearly indicates that people won’t read your product copy no matter how engaging it is unless it is formatted correctly.

Here are simple tricks that can make your product copy look more visually appealing:

  • Bold text – Grab the attention and make your headlines and subheads stand out
  • Bullet pointers – Break down big chunks of text and add variety to your body content
  • Short paragraphs – Easy to scan
  • Images and graphics – Complement your support text
  • Icons — Let you present information in a crisp manner

Over To You

To stand out in the competitive eCommerce world, you must pay attention to crafting a laser-targeted product copy that drives your sales, conversions, and profits. In this post, we have discussed some simple yet powerful tips and tricks that will help you come up with a high-converting copy. In case you feel you need an expert on your side to write a killer product copy, we recommend you hire experienced eCommerce content writing professionals and copywriting experts from QuikTek Info. Connect with our talented professionals by dropping a line to mail@quiktekinfo.com.

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