I remember when I had my Etsy shop, I didn’t really think much about my product listings. For the most part, I made sure to have a few photos of my product, have text about the material and dimensions and a suggestion of who my product is ideal for. In fact, here’s an example of one:
DETAILS:
- Title: Jellyfish
- Size: 4"x6"
- Border: Clean White Border Cropped
- Paper: Fujicolor Archival Professional Paper
- Finish: Matte
Now I wasn’t having sales rolling in whatsoever with these types of descriptions. In fact it's kind of embarrassing sharing this with you, but we all start somewhere, right? While this description gets the basics across, it sounds pretty boring, right?
A product photo of my "Jellyfish" print
You could be like me and just provide some basic info in your product listings when you create yours, but I think it’s important to have some insight into what customers might be looking for when they come across your shop and what motivates them to buy.
Some customers focus on making sure a product meets specific needs (size, quality, material, etc.) and once they find it, they’ll buy it. But what about those who aren’t driven by a particular need?
That’s where understanding 2 types of buyers comes in!
Understanding these types of 2 buyers will not only help you create better product descriptions, but help you to make sure you’re meeting the needs of your customer whether they’re shopping to buy or shopping just to browse.
So let’s dive in!
The Emotional Buyer
I usually consider this person as someone who makes purchases based on how something makes them feel. They’re probably more influenced to make purchases based on what friends and family say or by something they see online, especially by social media. Their motivation to buy isn’t necessarily driven by a need, but more of a desire to fulfill an emotion. They’re more likely to purchase impulsively rather than purchase on a specific need.
The Logical Buyer
Next, we have the logical buyer. This is the kind of person that I’d imagine does a bunch of research when looking to buy something. They want to get all the technical specs, know what something is made out of, the durability, the different color and size options, the best price and so on. They want to make sure they’re making the right decision before purchasing. They tend to purchase because of a specific need.
So let’s look at how you can incorporate these two buyers into your listings to make sure you’re not just speaking to one vs. the other. Great product descriptions will do a great job in covering both the needs of a logical buyer and the emotional buyer.
Creating your descriptions
The emotional buyer ...
- Wants to envision what your product will look like in their life
- Wants to know how your product is going make them feel
- Loves seeing products out in the wild (aka lifestyle type photos or customer photos)
- Wants to learn more about you and your story
Beautiful product photos, especially lifestyle ones, catch this customer’s eye. Seeing photos of a product styled in a way that shows a vision of what your product would look like in their life is appealing. For instance, Instagram is a perfect example of how powerful storytelling can be through images. Imagine coming across an ad from a swimsuit brand where a person is lounging by the pool in a tropical setting with a colorful cocktail drink. After a second or 2, you might suddenly having the desire to buy the swimsuit, pack your summer clothes and purchase a ticket to the nearest tropical getaway.
Storytelling through photos can be incredibly influential.
While photos are super powerful, don’t forget to tell the story in your description. Describe to them how your product smells, feels, tastes, etc. Get into all the senses so it brings your product to life.
The logical buyer …
- Wants to know the dimensions of your product
- What the product is made from (materials, ingredients, etc.)
- How the product is sourced
- What’s the quality like
- How to care for the product
- Is the price good
- How is the product packaged
- What are the size and color options
Include the specs of your product to make sure you’re speaking to the logical buyer. Do your best to make sure you include everything a customer may inquire about your product.
Product photos are really important so don’t forget to include photos that inform the different needs they may have about your product. Be sure to use photos that show the scale of your product, different color and sizes options, detailed photos, etc. If you think about it, Amazon does a good job of catering to the logical buyer. They keep it simple and focused on the details of a product and don’t use storytelling to sell products.
Customers buy on emotion
Now let’s be honest, people buy on emotion whether they want to admit it or not. Yes, some people will do lots of research and may take longer to make a decision to buy a product (think about the people who to add to cart but take a long time to actually check out).
But at the end of the day our emotions drive us to make decisions. I also believe that people may find they’re an emotional buyer when purchasing certain things and be more logical in other instances, especially if the products are higher priced.
Speak to both buyers in your listings
Makers often focus a lot on logical buyers and talk a lot about the product specs, like I did in my example above.
It makes sense too because it’s pretty easy to list out the dimensions of a product, the colors, etc. But let's face it, focusing on just the technical aspects of your product doesn't make for an interesting read. There's not much personality which I think is really important when selling handmade products online.
While there’s nothing “wrong” with focusing on just the logical buyer or the emotional buyer, you could run the risk of losing sales because you’re not meeting the needs of the other buyer.
For instance, you may sell an amazing facial serum and have beautiful product photos, talk about how it’s going to fix your customer’s uneven skin tone, but you leave out listing the ingredients and specifying what size bottle the product is.The logical buyer may see your listing and decide not to purchase because knowing how large the bottle is and what your product is made of is important to know before buying a product.
On the flip side, you might list out all the serum ingredients, share how to use the product, but completely leave out showing what serum looks like when applied, what the benefits are of using the product and so on. Leaving out that information might not convince the emotional buyer to purchase your product.
Next time you’re working on your product listings, review them to make sure you’re working to meet the needs and desires of both buyers. Not only will it make your products look and sound more attractive and informative to customers, but it may also boost your online sales.