Product descriptions that work by triggering the right buyer emotions

Lesson Details:

I: Introduction

Today’s buyers are driven by emotions and make decisions faster than ever before. This is why companies like Amazon, Apple, and Google have succeeded in the marketplace. For these companies, the experience they provide is more important than the product they sell. They understand that we buy with our hearts and justify it with our heads.

II: Body

Although most small businesses know that creating a great customer experience is essential for success, they don’t always understand how to execute on this concept. Let’s look at some simple ways they can improve their marketing strategy to create an experience that is both beneficial and emotionally charged.

A: Product descriptions that work by triggering the right buyer emotions

Most websites today use product descriptions to describe their products, but most fail to realize that these descriptions need to trigger emotional responses from the reader. If we use the same boring copy we’ve used for years, we can do nothing but lower engagement and conversions. Emotions drive almost every decision we make in business and in life, and we need to use them to our advantage when writing product descriptions that will get people to click “Buy”.

Here are some examples of how you can use emotions to write great product descriptions:

Imagine you are describing a backpack for school. You could write something like this:

This lightweight backpack has enough space for your books, notebooks, pen case, water bottle, etc. It also has a waterproof cover so you stay dry even in heavy rain.

Instead, try using an emotional trigger. Here are two examples:

Imagine you are trying to decide between this backpack and another one. Which one would you choose?

The first backpack makes you feel like a student who just got out of class. You’re carrying it on your way home after a long day at school. Your books are weighing heavily on your back, but you are looking forward to relaxing at home with your laptop watching Netflix. When you get home, you throw your backpack on the floor and collapse on the couch while your tired toes wiggle in your fuzzy slippers.

The second backpack makes you feel like an adventurer climbing mountains with your friends. The sun is shining brightly, warm air is blowing through your hair, and snow is falling all around you. You look ahead to find your friend sitting cross-legged in front of an inviting fire pit at the base camp where dinner is cooking over the open flame. You grab your backpack and rush down the mountain to join him in celebration! Once there, you take off your backpack and sit beside the fire enjoying the warmth. Sparks fly up into the dark night sky as you enjoy a glass of lemonade. Soon, the night falls and stars pop out in full glory above you. Suddenly, you look up at the bright full moon in awe of its beauty. You suddenly feel alive in this moment; you feel like you could conquer anything! So, you take out your camera phone and snap a photo capturing the beauty around you. Then, you put away your phone and begin to finally relax in this moment of awe and wonder—the backpack makes you feel alive!

See how these emotional triggers affect us? We all want to feel alive, connected with others, and beautiful in our own right! These descriptions offer customers an experience unlike any other—one that allows them to forget about their daily troubles and problems for awhile and focus on the positive things in life. Remember this when writing product descriptions—it is much more effective at bringing customers to your brand than just listing features or specs on a website.

B: Product descriptions that deliver on social proofing

Social proofing is a technique used by many companies on social media websites such as Facebook and Instagram, but it is also very effective on websites as well. Social proofing helps consumers feel secure about a purchase by demonstrating that other people have found value from it as well. It is very similar to those reviews at Amazon or those thumbs up & thumbs down symbols at Facebook—they reassure us that what we are about to purchase will be worth our hard-earned money!

So how do we use social proofing effectively? Let’s take a look at an example of social proofing from Amazon:

Notice how Amazon provided three reviews from actual users of this product? These reviews make us feel better about our purchase based on how similar experiences these other users went through with the same product! Now imagine if they had not provided reviews from past users—how do you think this would affect us? We may very well have been turned off from buying this product! By seeing reviews from real people who have purchased this backpack, we feel confident that it will help us through our daily lives as well. This is one powerful way of using social proofing to increase conversions of your own eCommerce website!

III: Conclusion