You know that your success as an ecommerce seller is to make sure everything is working. Your site has to work, your fulfillment has to work. But you may be wondering:
- Is your copy working hard enough?
- Is your content compelling enough?
You will need to put on a critic’s hat and give your site’s content a tough review because your success, at least in part, depends on it.
- Too much product focus is one of the easiest mistakes made. Even experienced copywriters make it. Try the 80/20 rule. A product feature is a fact about your product, while a benefit explains what’s in it for the buyer. A benefit explains how your product increases pleasure or takes away pain. And that’s exactly what your customers are most interested in. So, make it 80% benefits and 20% product features.
- Avoid fluff or filler words like “world-class”, “market-leading”, and “innovative”. They do not add meaning. Put on your devil’s advocate hat, and ask yourself if the words on your site work to persuade you to buy your product? If not, cut or rephrase until your text is concrete and relevant.
- Take it easy on product facts. Although facts increase the credibility of your product description, they don’t make your content persuasive. Facts are cold and lack personality. Tell your brand’s story instead. Stories make your content meaningful as they help your readers visualize using your product. A simple, relevant story can help potential buyers visualize the benefits of your products and they also add personality. You can add a story about the development, testing, or sourcing of your products to increase the perception of quality. The most persuasive product descriptions include both story and fact.
- Dull, boring content. Many ecommerce sites don’t connect, they don’t engage, they hardly sell the value of their products. Customers want a human connection. To connect with your readers, you need a dash of personality on your ecommerce site. Think about your tone of voice—if your website was a real salesperson, determine how you would like him or her to sound? This is particularly important on your home or landing page.
Make sure that your site content does not have these easy to fix marketing content errors, regardless of who is writing your site’s content. Always remember who you are selling to. The content should be fun, helpful and engaging. Customers will appreciate and reward you for it.
