If you’re reading this, I assume you’re either looking for an explanation of what product copywriting is, or you’re already doing some level of product copywriting and need help figuring out the next step.
Put yourself in the shoes of a potential customer, and ask yourself:
“What do I need to know about this product or service to convince myself to buy it?”
That’s the question. In other words, “How can I convince someone to buy my product/service?”
The answer is generally straightforward: You need to learn how to write copy that persuades people to buy your product.
What Is Product Copywriting?
We’ll tell you what copywriting is not:
“Creative writing” is not copywriting. Sometimes, the two functions are bundled together (i.e., you’ll get an assignment that requires you to write both a brief creative piece and a marketing piece for a product).
However, creative writing is not necessarily “marketing”. The former is often treated as a “get-out-of-jail-free” card for the latter.
While the two functions can and often are combined, they’re still two distinctly different roles. In the case of product copywriting, you’ll need to persuade someone to buy your product. That could mean creating content to make them more interested in your product, or it could mean creating content to get them to act on a purchase or sign up for your newsletter.
Regardless of whether you’re aiming to create interest or action, you need to keep in mind that the person reading your copy is not necessarily a potential customer. They could be any type of audience you’re trying to reach—be it existing customers, journalists, bloggers, or someone else.
Since you’re presumably not writing this for your mother, it’s safe to assume that you’re aiming to reach someone who’s both informed and interested in your product or service—someone whose opinion you value and who has the money to spend on what you’re selling.
Why Product Copywriting?
In the case of a sales-oriented product or service (e.g., a digital marketing agency, a software as a service, or a web hosting company), you’ll inevitably be faced with the challenge of converting website traffic into paying subscribers, members, or customers.
If you’re looking for a product to help you promote your online store, you can’t necessarily rely on having millions of potential customers just waiting to buy your product. If you want to be able to sell a certain product, you need to be able to convince people to buy it. That means you’ll have to write compelling product copy to do so.
Writing compelling product copy is not a new phenomenon. In fact, if you’ve ever read a Forbes magazine article, you may have stumbled across the adage “People don’t buy products, they buy reasons to buy a product.” As a copywriter, your job is to provide those reasons. Here’s how you can do that:
Step one: Define the desired behavior
Before you start writing, it’s important to determine exactly what behavior you’re trying to induce in your target audience. You have two choices here: You can either define the behavior you want to encourage (e.g., purchasing the product), or you can define the behavior you want to avoid (e.g., signing up for a newsletter).
By defining the desired behavior, you’ll be able to craft language that triggers the desired behavior. For example, if you’re trying to encourage someone to make a purchase from your online store, you could write:
“If you’ve ever shopped at [redacted] before, you know how convenient it is to have this functionality. [redacted]’s [redacted] makes shopping convenient by providing a search bar that allows you to look up the items you’re interested in while browsing the online store. [redacted] makes shopping easier by offering a search bar that allows you to search for the products you’re interested in. So much easier.”
Keep in mind that what you’re writing here is likely to appear several times throughout the copy. Because this is important information to drive back to the beginning, you don’t want it to seem like a chaotic jumble at the end. You can use a tool like [redacted] to help you keep track of what you’ve written.
Step two: Craft the hook
A hook is a nugget of information that makes the reader click, or in other words, interested in the content that follows. To encourage a purchase from your online store, you could write:
“If you’ve ever shopped at [redacted] before, you know how convenient it is to have this functionality. [redacted]’s [redacted] makes shopping convenient by providing a search bar that allows you to look up the items you’re interested in while browsing the online store. [redacted] makes shopping easier by offering a search bar that allows you to search for the products you’re interested in. So much easier. In addition to saving you time, [redacted] is also a [redacted] that [redacted].’
A [redacted] is a payment method that has all the perks associated with paying with a credit card. If you’re aiming to avoid a certain behavior (e.g., signing up for a newsletter), you could write:
“You may have heard of [redacted] before. It’s a popular payment method that provides users with many perks, including [redacted]. Since [redacted] was founded in Germany over a century ago, you know that its customer base tends to be very loyal. While it’s not always possible to get out of receiving emails from [redacted], you can always unsubscribe with one click.”
Depending on the product or service, you may need to do a bit of research to find the [redacted] that will resonate most with your target audience. Keep in mind that older generations may not be as familiar with newer payment methods as you are (e.g., cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin and Ethereum).
Step three: Propose a solution
If you’re looking to encourage someone to make a purchase from your online store, you could propose a solution as follows:
“If you’ve ever shopped at [redacted]’s [redacted] before, you know how convenient it is to have this functionality. [redacted]’s [redacted] makes shopping convenient by providing a search bar that allows you to look up the items you’re interested in while browsing the online store. [redacted] makes shopping easier by offering a search bar that allows you to search for the products you’re interested in. So much easier. In addition to saving you time, [redacted] is also a [redacted] that [redacted].’
It may seem obvious, but you must provide a reason for the person reading your copy to pick up and action. To induce an interest to sign up for your newsletter, you could write:
“If you’ve ever shopped at [redacted] before, you know how convenient it is to have this functionality. [redacted]’s [redacted] makes shopping convenient by providing a search bar that allows you to look up the items you’re interested in while browsing the online store. [redacted] makes shopping easier by offering a search bar that allows you to search for the products you’re interested in. So much easier. In addition to saving you time, [redacted] is also a [redacted] that [redacted].’
To summarize: As a copywriter, you’re responsible for crafting compelling content that will make your target audience interested in or convinced of the merits of your product or service. Ideally, you’ll want to create a substantial lead-in article that will engage an interested audience and draw them into the body of the article (i.e., the argument), where you present the facts and figures that support your case.