Sales mean everything to small and medium-sized businesses. If you don’t sell, nothing else will matter. But generating sales isn’t always easy. You need to reach customers and motivate them to buy.
You’ll have to approach online sales much differently than a brick and mortar business. With so many potential customers, it’s harder to establish a relationship. What you can do is use effective words in your online communication with buyers that sets you apart from other businesses.
Start with your online product or service listings. One of the best ways to increase your online sales is by focusing your marketing strategy on writing listings that work and make an impact. There are a few basic rules that marketing experts agree on:
Selling is about consumers
Selling is all about the buyer. Building a connection can spur them on to purchase your product. Use psychology when writing listings by creating an emotional tie, providing facts about your product, and addressing why it solves a concern or problem. Another tactic is writing so that people feel positive emotions as they read about your product. Emotions play a big role in the buying behavior of consumers.
Use the power of words
The words that you use in your product and service descriptions have a big effect on influencing consumers to buy from you. But before consumers get to the description they need to be attracted by the headline – if it’s not captivating, most buyers won’t bother reading the rest of your listing. The two qualities a good headline should have are creating curiosity and conveying a tone of urgency that makes buyers think they need to have your product right now.
The description needs to be just as clear and purposeful. Write concise descriptions that make your product stand out. Always write with your target customer group in mind so they can relate to what you’re selling. Don’t just list the features of your product – what are the benefits to the buyer if they make a purchase? If there’s too much detail that can’t be condensed into short sentences and short paragraphs, use bullet points or numbered lists. This gives consumers all the information they need in a readable format.
Make listings easy for buyers to read
Writing a superb listing and choosing the right words that grab buyer attention won’t do you any good if your listing is hard to read. Consider the design and style when posting. Buyers need to easily read and scan through your listing, otherwise, they’ll just get frustrated and move on to another product or service listing that’s more appealing. Focus on text size, font style, use of color and white space, and high-quality visuals that underscore how great your product is.
You tailor your sales and marketing strategy specific to your business. Do the same with your online listings, using words that create power headlines and descriptions that get into the minds of your buyers. Take a look at the infographic below for more ideas on how to write top-notch online listings:
