Product Descriptions
Product descriptions are not shopping lists. This might appear to be a fairly obvious statement to many, but a remarkable number of product descriptions, for anything from mobile phones to software, are written as though simply bombarding the customer with a huge list of features will result in them meekly giving in to the insurmountable pressure of evidence.
To write a good product description it is important to approach the project from the point of view of your prospective customer. Too often these documents are written from the point of view of the seller or manufacturer. Some product descriptions almost read like a CV, or an end of term grade report to which you are invited to respond by congratulating them on their remarkable achievements.
Most customers are interested in only the barest details and basic advantages or features to begin with. Hurling a stack of statistics, options, features or functions at a customer is only going to result in burying the salient points which might otherwise have caught someone's attention.
In many cases, a brief description of even just one of the product's main features is not always going to be successful. Customers tend to be very self centred. For this reason it is important to make each customer who reads your product description feel that this product has been designed with them in mind, and that they will benefit from this product in a personal, individual way.
Think about how your product will make life easier, cheaper, safer or more reliable. Approach your product description from this angle and you are more likely to attract the attention of the reader.
Consider the following two versions of the same product description for an energy saving light bulb:
- "Our new energy saving light bulbs have a life span which is up to ten times that of a standard filament bulb."
- "With our new energy saving light bulbs, you can save the cost of 90% of replacement bulbs in the future."
The first version is clearly seller-centred, whereas the second version puts the customer first, and points out a distinct advantage.
Which version do you think is likely to appeal more?
This can still be improved considerably, however. One way in which this can be achieved is by starting the product description by asking a question The previous paragraph contained a question, and almost certainly you answered it in your mind, even without thinking. That is because we all feel a psychological need to respond to a question.
By asking a question, you involve your customer, whether they mean to be involved or not. Once you have involved them, you have turned a sale pitch into a dialogue - and more than this - it is a dialogue that focuses on the customer, rather than the product.
Our example sales pitch could be developed this way perhaps:
- "Would you like to be able to change light bulbs less frequently? With these new energy saving bulbs you can wait ten times as long before having to change the next one."
It's improving, isn't it? There - another question. I bet you answered it. Did you?
Got you again.
Of course, any little trick like this can be overdone - the art of product descriptions, sales pitches and promotional web pages is to make sure that you use a few subtle tricks to catch the customer's attention, and get them reading. Then the approach has to adapt to the fact that the customer is now in your confidence. If you shout at someone in the street to get their attention, once you have it, you don't need to keep shouting.