Most of my time is invested in copywriting – it’s my job – and most people who own a business are interested in learning more about how to write product descriptions.
Copywriting is the skill that helps you sell through words, and copywriting should also be used when you’re writing descriptions for the products you’re trying to sell.
Having in mind that content is king, every product that’s for sale on the Internet should have a description, and that description is one of the decisional factors when it comes to buying the product.
If you have an online store where you sell your products or if you’re helping companies sell their products, here are the things covered in this article:
- The importance of the product’s type.
- The structure of the product’s description.
- The benefits.
- Powerful adjectives and the better alternative.
- Questions that you should answer with your description.
Start with the type of product you want to sell
Whether you’re selling socks, washing machines, journals or anything else, you should be able to add that product into one of the two categories: technical or creative.
For example, if you’re writing descriptions for washing machines, then it’s going to be associated with the technical category. If you’re writing descriptions for journals, then it’s going to be associated with the creative category.
When you set the category, think of the customer who’s going to buy the product. If we’re talking about a smartphone, its category is technical because the people who are using a smartphone are more technical than creative.
It’s a generalization that will help you structure the description.
Want to learn how to write product descriptions? Structure your description!
The category previously chosen represents the first step when it comes to product descriptions.
To better understand it, here’s an example with a description I wrote for a product not so long ago.
Product name: UniCat Sweater
Product image:
Because there’s a funny picture on the product, we can associate it with the creative category and write a description in that direction.
Creative description:
It’s being said that the Borealis Aurora is a phenomenon of cats invading space. The leader of the space cats, Nyan Cat, leaves behind a rainbow trail on the Internet.
Over the last 8690 years, space cats have tried to communicate with the Earth. So far, they have only succeeded through their subjects, the people, printing messages with “Meow! Meow!” on the clothes. Recently, the technology has evolved so much that they have managed to send messages through a photograph that combines the earth with the alien: earth cats with the ice cream cone lost by Nyan Cat, while flying over the celestial vault.
He is clearly trying to communicate. All signs are favorable!
Further on, because we need to mention the technical details of the sweater, we’re going to write the technical description. Yes, you’ll have to write both creative and technical descriptions, but the one you’ll focus on will be decided by the type of the product.
Technical description:
• Soft synthetic wool
• Unisex
• Made in the EU
• Available on request
Or, written differently: Soft synthetic wool sweater, for both men and women, produced in the European Union, available on request.
More than that, whatever is the category you’ve firstly chosen for your product, there will always be a third description, where you present the benefits of the product. If the firstly chosen category is technical, then the benefits have to be connected to the product’s characteristics.
In my example, the firstly chosen category is creative, and we’re going to continue in this direction.
Benefits:
• Dress carefully, without distorting the communication between the two cat species.
• Ideal for picking up cat-loving girls, but also for picking up girl-loving cats.
For technical products, the list of benefits is required
In case you’re writing the description for a pair of shoes, the list of benefits is generating the most impact when it comes to the decision of buying the product.
Let’s take this shoe and write its technical description.
• The Angelfish captures classic boat shoe style in a feminine design.
• Genuine hand-sewn construction for durable comfort.
• Stain and water-resistant leather upper for durable and lasting wear.
• 360° lacing system with rust-proof eyelets for a secure fit.
• Molded EVA cushion midsole for all-day under-foot comfort.
It should be noted that none of the points listed above directly refer to the quality of the product, but each one gives an impression of its quality. Also, the bullet points are not written by me – just wanted to mention them – but I find them really well written.
Did you know that optimistic couples report 13% higher marital satisfaction?
Use strong adjectives without abusing them when you learn how to write product descriptions
Your product descriptions will need steroids to create impact and convey emotions. But I recommend that you use them with measure, possibly to be integrated into the list of benefits.
Here is a list with some of the adjectives and I immediately mention the disadvantages of their abuse:
| Free | Guaranteed | Incredible | Strong |
| New | Proven | Easy | Top |
| Instant | Comfortable | Improved | Superior |
| Interesting | Pleasant | Benefit | Trusted |
These are just a few of the adjectives that help you turn a visitor into a buyer more easily.
But these words used as such (especially when you abuse them) may lower sales rather than increase them.
Replace the adjective with a description to convey the desired impact
When you use words like “very good”, “useful” or “nicer” in your descriptions and abuse them, they will create the idea of IMPOSSIBLE around the product.
In the mind of the buyer, the idea of IMPOSSIBLE has several aspects:
- The buyer believes that the product has characteristics it doesn’t believe in or disagree with – skepticism.
- Since the vast majority of descriptions have adjectives such as “better”, the buyer will have the impression that they are purchasing the same product that anyone else can offer.
Thus, to avoid the excessive use of these adjectives, it is ideal to create your own descriptions.
For example, when you want to compliment a woman, you can tell her:
- You are really beautiful tonight.
- I like how you matched the shoes with the dress. It gives me the impression that you are a confident woman.
With the second compliment you will be more likely to impress because the vast majority of compliments use the word “nice” or synonyms.
The same principle can be applied when learning how to write product descriptions.
So, look at some examples in the direction of the adjectives chosen in the article.
- Instead of using “guaranteed” use “which doesn’t break” or “which lasts two years after first use”.
- Instead of using “comfortable” use “which makes you feel at home”.
- Instead of using “superior” use the name of the material (replace “superior material” with “velvet” or “crocodile skin”).
- Instead of using “easy” use “with reduced effort” or “in less than five minutes”.
- Instead of using “instant” use “immediately after you start wearing it”.
Don’t forget to answer the following questions
Once you’ve written the description for your product, there should be answers in your description for each of the questions below.
- Who is the product for?
The audience the product will reach can be a gender (male or female), an age range (students, employees or retirees), a lifestyle (fresh moms or car enthusiasts).
- What are the most important details of the product?
This includes features such as dimensions, materials, functions.
- Where and when would anyone use this product?
Define the product as indoor or outdoor, for the car or home, for special occasions, or for every day.
With love and optimism,
David
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