9 Mistakes to Avoid When Writing A Product Description Copy

Product Description

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Mistakes to Avoid When Writing A Product Description Copy

It’s a hot summer afternoon and you’ve set out to your favourite coffee shop for a cup of watermelon and pineapple smoothie. You arrive at the shop but have a change of mind.

You tell the salesperson

“Surprise me”

He gives you a confused look because it’s his first week. He’s still getting the hang of things.

“Ummmm…. We’ve got a banana and avocado smoothie that tastes great. Want to try it?”

But you hate avocado. Your face concocts in disgust at the thought of drinking it.

You look through the display board, searching for something delicious that excites your taste buds.

A picture of the blueberry banana and coconut smoothie grabs your attention. The enticing product description listing the benefits of each fruit in the cup of smoothie amplifies your desire for the tasty drink.

That display board worked wonders to entice a purchase when the salesperson was ineffective. it included an attractive image of the smoothie and product description of the benefits.

As an e-commerce business owner, your product description differentiates you from the rest of your competitors. It’s the meat of your website. The content that convinces your ideal buyer to convert. A product copy is not just words. Its’ images and everything that sells a product.

If product description copy isn’t up to snuff, you won’t get the results you desire. Here are some mistakes you make when writing a product description copy.

1. Writing a Lengthy Product Description

Fluff, wordiness and meaningless words muddle your message. They prevent your prospect from taking your desired action. Your product description is not an essay or thesis. Write as succinctly as possible.

Communicate your message in as few words as possible. Make it scannable, not dense. Break lengthy descriptions into bullet points. When you can’t create skimmable content, use bullet points to make your copy digestible.

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Amazon uses this technique in all their product copy. The example above is the product page for Amazon Echo. From the bullet points, it’s clear to see the benefits of the product. Hands-free call, on-screen lyrics, multi-room music play, control wireless devices throughout your home and noise cancellation technology.

2. Failing to Personalise Your Product Description

Your product description should target one person, not a broad audience. When writing a product description copy, your favourite words should be “you” and “your”.

Picture your ideal buyer and write in words they are used to. Prior research of your target audience helps you to avoid this mistake.

3. Inconsistent Brand Tone

Trust me. You don’t want to be packed in with the crowd.

Duplicate content affects your SEO score. Do not use the same text from the supplier’s site on your own website. Google ranks the original site where the content appeared first. You also lose credibility with your prospects who see your site as identical to everyone else.

Set a tone of voice and writing style for your product description copy and apply it to all your e-commerce products.

Hire a product description copywriter from Zenith Copy to craft compelling product copy that aligns with your brand tone of voice.

4. Not Using the Right Keywords

SEO is essential to the success of your e-commerce store. If you don’t include keywords in your product description, your ideal buyer can’t find you.

It’s like going to the store without knowing where it’s located or having a map to guide you. Search engines are the maps that drive traffic to your store.

As a product description writer, you’re tasked with making it very easy for consumers to find the product. Do keyword research. Find low competitive long-tail keywords your target audience uses when searching for similar products. Optimize your copy with these keywords.

Ideal locations to place your keyword include

  • The product image alt tag
  • Title tag
  • Meta description
  • The body of copy

5. Talking too much about the product and not the solution

Remember, you’re writing for an audience. They must connect with your words, else they won’t convert. If you focus too much on the product and not the customers, the copy appears boring. No one wants to read boring product description.

Humans are emotional beings who seek gratification in a product. Tell them how the product makes their lives easier and pain-free.

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Lonely Planet is a good example. They don’t sell bookings, maps and guides. They sell experiences. As I read this copy, I had a sudden desire to pack up and visit Amsterdam. I wanted to see the museums filled with treasure and vintage shop. They sold Amsterdam as a historic city with urban exploration.

Humans are emotional beings who seek gratification in a product. Tell them how the product makes their lives easier and pain-free. Click To Tweet

6. Exaggerating the Solution

Don’t exaggerate the benefits or promise what the product cannot do. Your customers find out and give you bad reviews that ultimately ruin your sales and brand reputation.

Talk about the features and benefits to the extent of what the product actually does. Be 100% sure before making a claim.

7. Not Proofreading Your Copy

Research by Disruptive Communications shows that grammar mistake is the major cause of damaged brand reputation. Bad spelling detracts from a great product copy.

Read it out loud. Does it sound like something your customer would say or words that convince you to buy if you were on the other side of the table?

Hire an editor to proofread your product description copy before you publish it. Sometimes, you might miss visible errors. Replace passive words with actionable words that persuade the reader to buy. This article on Grammar Mistakes is a great resource to explore.

Grammar mistake is the major cause of damaged brand reputation. Bad spelling detracts from a great product copy. Click To Tweet

8. Using Templates Exclusively

This is also called the boilerplate copy. You download a product copy template and fill it out for all the products in your catalogue.

The result?

A bunch of product copy that looks and sound the same. Monotonous and boring.

Do you want to evoke desire in your prospect? Make them feel a strong connection to the brand. That won’t happen with a boilerplate copy.

Hire Zenith Copywriters to create unique and persuasive product copy that trigger your desired action in your target audience.

9. Using Tired Buzzwords

Avoid buzzwords when writing a product description Copy

Buzzwords such as “statement pieces”, “world-renowned”, “market-leading” and “top-notch” are cliched. Avoid words that are overused and have lost their meaning. Readers are over-exposed to them. It boxes you in with your competitors when you should be standing apart.

Instead of buzzwords, use influential words to boost persuasiveness. Examples from Neil Patel include

  • Now
  • Suddenly
  • Quick
  • Hurry
  • Sensational
  • Revolutionary
Readers are over-exposed to buzzwords. Use influential words to motivate a purchase. Click To Tweet

Conclusion

It’s easy to lose sight of your customer when writing a product copy. Use your buyer persona to ensure you’re writing a benefit-driven product copy that targets a specific pain-point your ideal customer has. These tips listed above should help you avoid common mistakes when writing a product description copy.

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