E-commerce copywriting is the art of persuading people to part with their hard-earned cash through the power of the written word and is the secret weapon in the battle for online sales.
Think about it – you could sell the most amazing products in the world, but if your copy is weak, it’s like showing up to a gunfight with a squirt gun filled with Jello.
On the other hand, with some killer e-commerce copywriting skills, you can turn even the most run-of-the-mill products into must-haves.
It’s simple — if you want to make it big in the world of online retail, fine-tune your e-commerce copywriting skills – or risk getting thrashed by the competition.
- Is Stellar E-Commerce Copywriting That Important?
- What Types Of E-Commerce Copywriting Are There?
- Important Guidelines For E-Commerce Copywriting
- Common Mistakes Of E-Commerce Copywriting
- Wrapping Up
Is Stellar E-Commerce Copywriting That Important?
Yup – it really is…
Take a moment and imagine you’re shopping for a particular item, there are plenty of online stores you could purchase from, but you narrow it down to two.
The first store has wonderful, easy-to-read product descriptions in an engaging tone, and the second is a picture of the item and a price – that’s all.
Nine times out of ten, you’re buying from the first guy — no question.
E-commerce copywriting is the invisible hand that guides the online shopping experience. It’s the voice in the customer’s ear, whispering sweet nothings about why they should buy this product, instead of that product.
Without solid e-commerce copywriting, the online shopping experience would be a cold, empty wasteland, devoid of emotion and excitement. It would be like shopping in a giant warehouse with endless rows of products, all begging to be ignored.
So, don’t skimp on your e-commerce copywriting — it’s the glue that holds the online shopping experience together!
Recommended: How Does a Marketing Copywriter Get Pages to Rank in SERPs?
What Types Of E-Commerce Copywriting Are There?
Any piece of written material that guides the customer through the buyer journey is considered e-commerce copywriting.
Here are some of the various types of e-commerce copywriting with tips on how to master each one.
1. Landing Pages
The landing pages are the first thing that a potential customer will see, and they have to make a positive impression. Most people are going to find the product they’re looking for via search engines, landing them right in your proverbial lap.
Solid copy on all of your landing pages can be the difference between a customer clicking “add to cart” or clicking away to never be seen again. You must create an emotional connection with your customers.
Tell a story.
Be empathic.
Let your website visitors know your product will buy them a beer and wipe away their tears.
This next part is important, so listen up! — Always be sure to carry your brand voice across all pages of your site.
- Your home page is the window into what your store is all about, it’s a great opportunity to share your brand story, and the lifestyle your site can offer.
- If you have categories of different products, there is always a bit of room available to pump people up on a category page, a short and descriptive blurb about what makes that category great.
- Let’s not forget about an about page. A look into the eyes of your company is crucial these days to lend to a customer’s feelings of trust in your company – people want to relate to you.
Check out this landing page example from Dollar Shave Club, they are masters of cutting through the B.S. and getting right down to business.
Landing page copy isn’t necessarily about selling products – instead, it’s about selling a “lifestyle.”
Don’t tell your whole life story. I hate to be harsh, but no one cares.
Explain to your target audience what your mission is and why they should choose to do business with you.
Connect with your customers in an emotional, more personal way that is relevant to the pain points you solve, and they’ll come back to you time after time.
2. Product Descriptions
Once people have browsed around on your site a bit, and their pump has been primed, they’ll land on a product that catches their eye. What we need to do here is use your brand voice to eloquently describe each item.
But, there’s a caveat to this…
While you should always strive to use emotional words and phrases, make sure the words you choose bring about feelings of joy, relief, or nostalgia.
Avoid using too many negative emotional words when referencing the customer’s pain points. Because, whether you intend to or not, the customer will begin associating these negative terms and phrases with your products.
Keep the pain points brief, and spend more energy expanding on the warm and fuzzies your products will bring them.
Don’t just state the product features, specs, and dimensions. This is another great opportunity to flex your storytelling abilities.
What do other customers love about this product?
What are some unique benefits of the item?
Why should your target audience choose to buy this product from you?
After that would be an appropriate space to provide specs or dimensions, but that doesn’t mean they have to bore the reader’s pants off or leave them with more questions than answers.
If space allows, expand on each detail as much as possible (ie – Office Chair Armrest Height: 27.5” max, easily slides under most standard-height desktops).
I’m going to pick on DSC again for this example because they know how to sell products in a way that people can remember.
Notice the description, how does it make you feel? I bought a stick just now!
The product title is equally crucial to the equation. CopyBlogger shares that an average of 80% of people will read a headline (in this case a product title), and 20% of that same group will read the rest of the copy.
Those aren’t great numbers, but they prove just how important the headline copy or title can be.
The whole point is to entice readers to continue reading, if they’re immediately bored, your goose is already cooked.
3. Email Campaigns
Something that gets frequently overlooked, and is a huge missed opportunity to connect on a deeper level with your customer base, is email campaigns.
Email campaigns are a way to keep in touch with your customers and promote your products, but if you’re not careful, they can quickly become annoying and spammy. That’s where your stellar e-commerce copywriting skills come in.
Good e-commerce copywriting tactics in email campaigns can be the difference between a customer opening your email and clicking through to your site, or sending it straight to the trash.
It’s a delicate balancing act – you have to be informative and persuasive, but not pushy. You have to be interesting and relevant, but not overwhelming. Most of all, you have to be respectful of your customer’s time and attention.
This is most likely what keeps a lot of online store owners from following through with any type of email campaign — they don’t want to be viewed as spammy.
We’ve all had bad experiences with giving out our email and having our inbox filled to the brim daily — it’s off-putting, to say the least.
Above all else, the key to a successful campaign is to ask permission. If you load up a customer’s inbox without getting that permission, they may never return.
If they say it’s ok to send them emails, ask a few questions:
- What are you most interested in? (Show product options relevant to your brand)
- Would you like us to keep you up to date on new arrivals of [product type chosen above]?
- Would you like to receive our monthly newsletter? (Yes or No)
- Would you like us to inform you of any future sales or promotions? (Yes or No)
These questions will help zero in on which email sequence to use for each customer, and they’ll be receiving the emails they have a genuine interest in.
Just remember, “no means no.” If they don’t want to receive emails from you, don’t take that personally. If you’ve done a bang-up job with the rest of the copy on your site, they’ll be back regardless.
4. Social Media Copy
Social media is where e-commerce copywriting can be a bit like the wild west; it is an ever-evolving and mostly unregulated space. With new social media platforms and features constantly emerging, it can be difficult to keep up with best practices and stay on top of the latest trends.
Copywriting for social media requires a certain level of adaptability and experimentation to be successful, and even then, there are no guarantees. But, if you can master the art of crafting compelling content, the rewards can be great.
Remember, when you represent your business on social media, always speak in your brand voice and to the correct audience. For example, many tools on Facebook can help you narrow down the demographic that sees your advertisements.
Yet another ace in the hole for DSC, this is an advertisement they posted on Facebook some time ago. It sticks to their brand voice, and as a reader, you get the intended message loud and clear.
Another awesome thing about business social media pages is that they’re visited by your customers voluntarily. No one is forcing them to follow you. So, if they do, then it’s pretty fair to assume they have a real interest in your business and your products.
Engage with these people regularly and keep it relevant. As soon as you know it, you’ll have a cult following! (Not the arsenic Kool-Aid kind… the nice kind.)
Important Guidelines For E-Commerce Copywriting
While every type of e-commerce copywriting above needs to be treated differently, there are some umbrella guidelines to follow no matter where the copy is being placed.
1. Read the Room
In other words, know your audience and learn everything you can about who wants to buy your stuff.
- What age demographic is most interested?
- What do they enjoy doing?
- Where do most of this group of people live?
- What are their purchasing habits?
Essentially, what makes your target audience tick…
Once you’ve nailed this down, speak only to them. Write everything in a way that makes them feel like it’s just you and them, make it personal. This is what makes a dedicated, loyal customer.
2. Keep It Simple, Stupid.
I’m not calling you or your readers dumb by any means, but K.I.S.S. should be applied to all e-commerce writing.
Everything you write for e-commerce should be easy to read. A good rule of thumb is to try and keep it to around a 9th-grade reading level.
It helps me to read the copy I’m writing out loud. If I find that difficult, then it’s a good indication that some people may have trouble following along.
Keep the critical copy under 300 words, on any page. No soul on earth’s going to read a full-blown novel trying to learn about your company or your products. So, get to the point quickly and slow it down!
Check out what Barkbox did with this section of their homepage, it’s clear, concise, humorous, 100% relatable to their target audience, and includes a clear CTA.
If you must write lengthy page content, front-load it and keep the most important info above the fold – including your CTAs.
Many sites (just look at Amazon), show tons of text on product pages, namely, review content. But, successful sellers make it easy to convert within the first 300 words of text on a page.
3. Make ‘Em Feel The Right Feels
Words are powerful. Along with painting a picture in the minds of your customers, they can also trigger some epic emotional responses – both positive and negative.
What we want to do here is trigger positives toward your brand, and negatives toward the pain points you can help solve.
This is a fairly delicate balancing act, as I mentioned before, using too many negative emotional trigger words can, while unintentional, cause customers to associate these feelings toward your brand or products. That’s not what anyone is going for.
But the opposite is also true, stuffing too many fluffy, positive-feeling words can make the copy both difficult to read and feel desperate.
Use words that evoke feelings of anticipation and joy, these types of words are historically linked to higher conversion rates.
For more info on the power of words, check out this Instagram post:
4. A.B.S. – Always Be Slangin’
You feel me?
Every aspect of e-commerce copywriting should have a singular common goal – to lead the customer toward a purchase. There should be plenty of opportunities for your customers to skip the reading (or learn more), and get right down to the nitty-gritty.
I’m more specifically referring to CTA buttons and their placement on your site. Create little escape hatches that lead directly to the customer’s desired end-point. Buttons such as “learn more,” “subscribe now,” and of course, the coveted “add to cart” button are both helping the customer navigate through your site, and nudge them toward the checkout process.
Common Mistakes Of E-Commerce Copywriting
- Failing to research the target audience: As an e-commerce copywriter it’s vital to gain a good understanding of who your target audience is and what they are looking for. If you fail to do the necessary research, your writing will miss the mark and fail to resonate with the intended audience.
- Being too “salesy“: Customers know when they are being aggressively sold to, and it will turn them off. As an e-commerce copywriter, you should strive for a balance between persuasion and credibility. If the copy comes across as too pushy or inauthentic, you’re shooting yourself in the foot.
- Neglecting SEO: E-commerce copywriting should not only be compelling to human readers but also optimized for search engines. If you don’t use SEO best practices, such as including relevant keywords and meta descriptions, it will negatively impact the visibility and search rankings of the website as a whole.
Wrapping Up
Great e-commerce copywriting is the cherry on top of your online retail sundae – it’s the final touch that makes all the difference. Without it, you’re just a boring old dollop of ice cream, sitting there all naked and weird-looking.
But, with killer e-commerce copywriting skills, you can turn even the most mediocre products into irresistible. Just be sure to avoid common mistakes like being too “salesy” or neglecting SEO. You don’t want to end up like that tub of butter pecan at the bottom of the ice cream shop freezer – forgotten and unloved.
So, if you want your online retail business to be something that everyone craves, make sure you’re serving up some top-notch e-commerce copywriting.
If you’re ready to skip learning a whole new skill set, and work with an e-commerce copywriting pro, request a quote today!
Chad Jensen is the founder of Jensen Copy and a seasoned freelance copywriter specializing in eCommerce, SaaS, technology, and travel. With hands-on experience in data center network maintenance, underwater repair, and CDL driving, Chad brings a unique perspective to his writing. Known for his engaging and no-nonsense style, his work resonates with a wildly diverse audience.