There’s a lot that goes into the decision to buy or not buy a product online – both conscious thoughts and subconscious ones. As a customer, I want to know enough about the product to make an informed decision, but a laundry list of a product’s features isn’t enough to make me push the button and move the item to my cart. What does it take to move potential customers from browsers to buyers? It starts and ends with images – the ones your customers can see and the ones you help them create in their mind’s eye.
Catch the Eye with High-Quality Images
In a brick-and-mortar store, you’re able to touch and see the product up-close. In a matter of seconds, you make judgements about the quality and value of the item, as well as your desire to own it. There’s an immediate connection made with the item that can’t be duplicated during an online transaction. However, high-quality images provide the next best option. In fact, you really can’t have a product page without them. High-quality images allow the online consumer to make some of the visual assessments made during an in-person transaction. Plus, the addition of a lifestyle image offers the advantage of showing customers how the item can improve their lives.
Paint a Picture with Your Product Descriptions
Customers, of course, want to know the various features of the products they are considering, especially if they are looking for particular bells and whistles. For instance, if a customer wants to wake up to fresh brewed coffee in the morning, he or she will want a coffeemaker that’s programmable. However, the purpose of your product description isn’t to tell the customer what features the product has. The functions can always be listed in a features section elsewhere on the page. The description is for showing customers how the product will make their lives easier, happier or more fulfilled. You can choose whatever desire you’re striving for with your product: cooler, better looking, thriftier. Your product descriptions should make an emotional connection to the wants and needs of your customers.
It can be hard to admit that our purchases are made, at least in part, because of an emotional reaction to the product. We’re thinking beings, and we like to think we act logically. But, emotions play an integral part in decision making. It’s well documented. If you’re looking for more reading on the topic, here are two articles to get you started: Do You Make Buying Decisions Based on Logic or Emotion? A Tale of Two Chickens and Purchase Decisions Rely Heavily on Emotions.
Just before we move an item into our shopping carts, it’s likely that we’re subconsciously asking some variation of the question, how do I feel about this product? To tap into this question and successfully get your customers to answer it positively, your product descriptions should paint a picture that allows the customer to see themselves as better off because of your product.
Consider the following descriptions of a coffeemaker:
This coffeemaker features a programmable timer, a permanent filter basket and water-level window to help make your morning routine run smoothly. A brew-strength button lets you choose your level of flavor.
vs.
Start your morning right with a delicious, freshly brewed cup of coffee. Thanks to this programmable coffeemaker’s brew-strength option, you can choose a dark, rich cup of joe or a delicate morning pick-me-up with a simple touch of a button.
The first description is a perfectly good list of functions, but it’s not particularly compelling. In the second description, it’s easier to see yourself sipping the perfectly made cup of coffee and having a great morning because this coffeemaker helped you manage it. Note that the second description isn’t overly saccharine. It is simply more descriptive. Sensory words, like delicious, rich and delicate, help consumers place themselves in the picture.
Show, Don’t Tell
The old writing adage, “show, don’t tell,” applies to your product content just as much as it does to a novel or short story. Whether it’s with an image or descriptive text, connect with your customers desires and watch them move from browser to buyer.
How do you speak to your customers’ rational and emotional sides? Let us know in the comments section.
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Data integrity, time to market and increased conversions are vital to all e-commerce retailers. Our product data management and unique content creation program ensures consistent product names, robust product descriptions, complete and accurate product attributes and an array of digital assets are at your disposal, providing time to market and quality improvements that will outpace your fiercest competition. Contact our team and get started with Virtucom Group today.
