When you’re selling physical products online, your copy will take on a special significance. This is like being a door?to?door salesman, except you’re not going to be there in person. This is not to say that your writing can’t still be just as persuasive though and that’s why it’s so important to write something compelling that will draw people in and make them really want to buy from you.
But what you also need to consider, is that the product isn’t there in person either. Your customer can’t pick up the object and rotate it, give it a go… they’re entirely dependent on your words to know what your item is all about and why they should be interested.
So how do you write great content that will shift items? Here are some tips…
Make Them Imagine the Product
One important pointer is to make your audience imagine the product. You need to make it tangible and you need to make up for the fact that they aren’t there in person.
At the same time, this makes the item seem more real and more desirable – especially if you’re using the right type of descriptive language. Watch Steve Jobs give a presentation on old Apple devices and you’ll notice that he often uses this trick himself – telling the audience how the products feel in the hand and what they’re like to touch.
Consider the Value Proposition
What’s also important is to get your audience to consider the value proposition. A value proposition is simply the way in which you are claiming to offer value through your product. That is to say that what you’re selling should be worth more than the sum of its parts and should in some way have a real impact on the lives of your customers.
For example, if you’re selling clothing, then it’s not really about the look or feel of the clothes: it’s about how they make the reader feel. That means that you should talk about how much more confident they’ll be, how much sexier they’ll feel and how much more attention they’ll get from the opposite sex!
Use Social Proof and Stats
People are very easily swayed by social proof. Not only does this act like evidence to back up what you’re saying but it also creates the impression that ‘everyone is talking about’ your product. People want what
other people have and they also like things that they believe in. Reviews and testimonials will help with that.
The same also goes for statistics (9/10 people said they loved our new fabric softener…) and for authority figures.
Create Pressure
Finally, try to create pressure for your reader to buy right away. Recognize that people tend to buy based on emotions and not logic and they’re more likely to do this if there is pressure for them to act fast. You can do this by talking about how your offer is ‘limited time only’, or by making it sound like there are only a few left.