Hey Etstians!
I wanted to put together something super cool and decided to share some Etsy tips within an entire series. For the next 12 days, I will be sharing tips to help you grow your Etsy shop.
Day 1 | 4 Insanely Simple Steps To Start An Etsy Shop
Day 2 | How to Achieve Stellar Photos For Your Etsy Shop
Day 3 | What You Need to Know About Etsy Branding
Day 4 | An Easy Way to Write Listing Descriptions
Day 5 | What is SEO And How Does It Apply To Your Etsy Shop?
Day 6 | Google SEO for Etsy
Day 7 | How Adding New Items Gets You More Sales
Day 8 | How To Use Social Media to Promote Your Etsy Shop
Day 9 | 5 Ways to Market Your Etsy Shop
Day 10 | 10 Epic Tips For Selling On Etsy
Day 11 | 3 Major Mistakes Etsy Sellers Are Making
Day 12 | 5 Tools To Help You Grow Your Etsy Shop
It’s
Day 4 my friend, and today we are going to whip up some product descriptions.
Product descriptions play a major roll in selling your products. Next to your product photos, descriptions persuade shoppers to purchase your items.
Does your product description make you want to buy right away or is it simply describing your product?
Do you want to know one of the top mistakes sellers make when drafting product descriptions? Detailing too much of the features and less of how your product can benefit the buyer. (I’m guilty of this.)
That’s a big no-no.
Let’s look at five easy steps to craft product descriptions that entice shoppers to buy.
But first...
1 | Define Your Ideal Customer
Okay, hear me out…I know what you’re thinking.
Why does she always bring this up? Rolls eye.
I know. I know.
But I have to tell ya’, knowing my ideal customer was a true eye-opener for me. It gave me so much clarity about my business and what direction I wanted to take it. So much so, I was compelled to write an entire lesson about it in my eBook,
Etsy Playbook.
So, yeah…I will forever harp about focusing on your target audience as it is the ultimate foundation of your business. It’s the only way you can truly close a sale.
Understood? Wonderful, let’s continue…
Your ideal customer is a direct extension of your target audience. A representative of sorts.
Your ideal customer is the very person you created your products for. You need to know everything about your ideal customer. What she eats, how she sleeps – no just kidding. But seriously, you do need to know your ideal customer well enough to understand how she shops and what drives her to make a purchase.
Before you begin writing your descriptions you need to nail down who your ideal customer is. But of course, you know who he or she is because you have
read my previous post from Day 3.
But in case you are having trouble, answer these questions…
- What does she read?
- What questions would she ask?
- How does she make decisions?
- What websites would she visit?
Take those answers and think about how you would talk to your ideal customer if you were interacting with her in person. How would that conversation go? Now use that conversation and translate into your descriptions so that it speaks to her.
Got it? Good.
2 | List Features and Benefits
Sure, you love your products and excited about sharing it with the world. (No kidding!) And because you can’t stop gushing about your products you go on a complete tangent about how awesome it is.
You detail every single feature and specification…
…You go on and on and on.
Enough already.
Newsflash, shoppers don’t want to know what your product is or even what it does. They really care about what’s in it for them. How can your product make their life better? What problem does it solve?
The last thing you want to do is bore a shopper because you’re so enamored with your product.
Before you begin, list all the features and specs of your product. Features are facts about your product, such as color and size.
Next, you will complement your features with benefits. Benefits explain what that the feature does for your customer in a positive manner. Such as, it saves you time or reduces stress. List benefits that bring pleasure and that solves a problem.
I have found brainstorming before I begin helps me to write better descriptions without stressing out about what to say.
3 | Add Keywords
Having keywords within your product descriptions doesn't affect your Etsy rank (possibly in the near future), but it sure does with Google. So why not add them in.
Key rule of thumb -- only use keywords that relate to your product. Also, avoid sprinkling them all over the place for the sake of it – keep it natural. Want to learn my keyword strategy? In
Etsy Playbook, I teach you how to launch your Etsy shop, perfect your listing photos, define your keyword strategy to get found in search, and much more.
4 | Tell A Story
Include a brief story to your descriptions. No, you shouldn’t include your life story. But rather, a mini story of why a shopper needs this product. Or if you are feeling a little creative, add a little something that is entertaining about your product that lures the shopper in.
5 | Scannable Format
People are busy. They are always on the move. Most of the time people tend to skim through your page. To encourage shoppers to read your descriptions you should make it easy to read.
A few things you can do to attract attention to your descriptions:
- Add a headline to peak interest
- Use a short paragraph, no more than two sentences
- Include bullet points
- Ensure there is enough white space
What Next?
Now it is go time.
When implementing these tips, remember your end goal is to always think about your ideal customer. You want to make her life easier, better, more enjoyable.
What you
should do…
- Tell a story
- Explain details
- Educate about your product
What you
shouldn’t do…
- Bore shoppers
- Don’t create value
- Don’t engage and connect
Enough with the endless chattering about your product features and more of the alluring benefits that no shopper could resist.
Is there anything else you’d like to know about descriptions? Let me know in the comments below.
