Category: content marketing

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How you can write product descriptions that sell

Product descriptions
Photo by Ylanite Koppens from Pexels

When you sell products online you might think that the images you use are the most important thing. Of course, if your images are rubbish you won’t sell much. Your customers need to be able to see what they’re buying and imagine themselves using it. The thing is, the photos are only one part of that. Your product descriptions take it to the next level. The words you use allow your customers to create their own mental images. They take the photos you’ve used and imagine themselves using your products or handing them over as a gift. It doesn’t just show them what they could have, it allows them to see themselves as if they’ve got it already. When you use product descriptions that conjure up the feelings your customers will experience when they’ve bought something from you, that’s the magic that persuades them to buy. Here’s how to do it.

Include the basics

I shouldn’t need to say this, but a high street retailer recently lost an online sale because their kids’ shoe sizing didn’t tell me whether the shoes would fit my child. I know. Don’t let that happen to you. Include basics like price, size and the materials or ingredients used. Some customers will message you to ask, but most won’t. They’ll just go somewhere that has clearer information.

Talk about benefits

Pretty much every sale ever made happens because the person buying the product can see how it will solve a problem or improve their life. Think about how each product will help your customer. It could give them a tidier house, entertain their children or save them time when they’re trying to get out of the house in the morning. Show them what it would be like if they had this product in their life and they’ll bite your hands off to buy.

Engage their senses

This can be a tricky one, but it’s another element that engages your customer’s imagination. Help them to experience a physical sensation or an emotion. How will that gorgeously soft scarf feel when they wrap it around their neck? Let them imagine the joy on their child’s face when they open the perfect gift on Christmas morning. (Or possibly the early hours if we’re honest.) Letting people see what life will be like when they’ve bought a product increases the chance that they’ll actually buy.

Make it scannable

Some bits of your product descriptions work best as a short paragraph. For others, make a list. If your products have features that are likely to be really important to your customers, make them easy to spot.  You might want to highlight safety features, eco-friendly credentials or high quality ingredients. It also makes your product descriptions shorter and easier to read. No-one wants ‘War and Peace’ when they’re just doing a bit of shopping.

Tell a mini story

Telling a mini story isn’t essential to good product descriptions, but it can work really well. For example, if you use materials that have an interesting back story, why not mention it? Talk about the tweed you bought from a family who’ve been making it for a hundred years and how you brought it home to create a handcrafted bag that will hold every working day essential. Tell your customers about the people who create your favourite wine or that extra special cheese. If it taps into something your audience cares about it can work really well.

Do you need help writing your product descriptions? For a limited time only, I’ll write them for you! Get ready for Christmas with brilliant product descriptions that you can use on your website, in your social media posts, emails… pretty much anywhere you like. Click here to book your discovery call to find out more. Or sign up to my mailing list for hints and tips straight to your inbox every month.

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Are you taking your customers on a journey?

Take your customers on a journey.

I know, I know, I sound like I’m about to start banging on about the X Factor or something. Not a chance. My Saturday nights are currently spent watching the Marvel movies with the kids. (There’s also the fact that watching Chris Hemsworth unleash lightning is much more my idea of fun.) When I say journey I mean the one that takes new people from finding out about your business to becoming a customer. It’s always important to get this right, but when your customers are already gearing up to buy their Christmas presents it’s absolutely essential. So, here’s my guide to getting it right.

Are they ready to buy?

The first time someone lands on your website they’re probably not going to be ready to hand over their hard earned cash. There could be any number of reasons for that. They might be in the research phase, looking for ideas so they’ve got a few options to consider. Maybe it’s not a decision they can make on their own or perhaps they’re just waiting for payday.

Your website copy needs to tell them they’re in the right place, but what then? How do you prevent them from wandering off and never returning? Encouraging them to sign up to your email list or follow you on social media means you get to stay in touch.

What if they have questions?

So, you have a potential customer looking at a product they really like but they need to know more before they buy. Put as much information as you possibly can in your product descriptions (along with a bit of personality). Don’t be the person that loses a sale because you didn’t display the price or because you were vague about sizing. (That sounds obvious, but even major retailers get it wrong.)

There will always be customers with questions so make it easy for them to ask. Have a contact form on every page or make sure your Messenger button is clearly displayed. Part of a successful journey is making it simple to answer queries.

Making it easy

This might sound obvious, but if you want customers to buy you need to make it as simple as possible. The last thing you want is for their customer journey to end because they can’t find the ‘add to cart’ button or don’t understand how to order. If you offer a standard product, this should be relatively easy. Where there are different options on a single product you can include a drop down menu on the order form. If it’s something truly bespoke, is it simple for customers to start a conversation?

It’s simple really. If it’s easy for your customers to place an order, you’ll get more customers.

What next?

Once people have bought from you, what then? Do you want them to wander off into the ether, never to be seen again? The truth is that it’s easier to convince someone who’s already bought from you to do it again than it is to find a whole new customer. You’ve already taken them on the journey, built the trust, wowed them with your service and sent them a product they love. If they’ve already signed up to your mailing list or follow you on social it’s easy to stay in touch. Tell them about other stuff you think they’ll like. (How to do that without being cheesy is a whole other conversation, but if you need help with it get in touch.)

Is your website ready for Christmas? If your product descriptions could do with some extra shine book your discovery call to find out how I can help. Or sign up to my mailing list for writing hints and tips straight to your inbox every month.

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Why your website copy matters

Getting started writing website copy.
Image by Bongkarn Thanyakij via Pexels

Creating a website for your small business can be pretty daunting. If you’re doing it yourself you need to decide which platform to use and how to make it all look great. If you’re not, there are loads of different professionals out there who will build it for you, but which do you choose? Even businesses who employ web designers to create their site for them often decide to write the website copy themselves. After all, how hard can it be? Or how important is it really? Here’s why your website copy matters and why you need to get it right.

You need to talk to your ideal customers

When a new visitor lands on your site you have less than 15 seconds to show them they’re in the right place because you have what they need. That means it isn’t about you. It also means that you need to use language and images that speak directly to the kind of customer you can help. I know that small business owners are sometimes reluctant to do this. They worry that they’re excluding people. The truth is, if your website tries to talk to everyone you don’t hit the mark with anyone. When you’re specific about who your products and services are for you’ll get customers who love what you do and that you’ll enjoy working with.

You need to sound like you

Your website copy will work better if it’s in your voice. OK, maybe a polished version of your voice. Your personality might be the difference between a website visitor choosing you or someone else. The way you do this in practice depends on how you work. You might want to sound professional and approachable, completely down to earth or a total eccentric. It all depends on your brand and how you want to come across. It’s especially important if your service means they’ll deal with you one to one. If there’s a massive disconnect between how you come across on your website and the way you are in person you can lose the trust you’ve spent time building.

Using keywords well

I know we’ve all heard about SEO and the importance of targeting the right keywords so you get found in searches. The thing is, the way you use keywords in your writing is really important. There’s no point using all the right keywords to bring people to your website if the site itself is unreadable twaddle. There used to be a school of thought that website traffic was the only important thing. It resulted in lots of blog posts and website pages that made no sense. Thankfully, times have changed and Google now prioritises content that’s actually useful. Your website copy should include keywords but the most important thing is that it’s easy to read and helpful.

Focus on what’s important

As I said before, your website isn’t about you. It’s really about your customers. You might be incredibly excited about the new product or service you’ve created and want to tell everyone. That’s great, but you need to pause. Ask yourself what your customer will get out of this. What are the benefits? How will it help them go from having a problem to an easy life? Your copy needs to show them that. It needs to take their aspirations, values and beliefs about themselves and wrap it all up in one clear message. When you can do that, you show them that you understand them on a personal level. That’s what turns them into customers.

Does that sound complicated? If you need some help, get in touch. I can help you edit what you already have or write your website copy for you. Alternatively, sign up to my mailing list for handy hints and tips straight to your inbox every month.

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Christmas in September? Are you kidding me?!

The adventure begins - Christmas in September
Photo by Simon Migaj from Pexels

I know you probably don’t want to think about Christmas and believe me, I’m with you. All the major retailers can do one until after Halloween. But we can’t do that. When you’re a small business owner the best time to think about Christmas is July. Or April. Or maybe even January. Certainly any time other than December. Yet that’s what so many of us do. Here’s why you need to need to resist the urge to say ‘bah, humbug’ and get into the Christmas spirit as soon as possible.

This year needn’t be a write off

There’s no denying it, 2020 has been monumentally crap. I don’t normally use even the mildest swearwords in my blog so you can tell it’s bad just by that. We’ve all struggled in different ways. Yet there have also been bright spots. I’m not going to rehearse them all here – for one thing, I’ve no desire to create something that could be used on the BBC with some inspiring music behind it. I’m highly tempted just to pull the duvet over my head and wait it out until spring. The trouble is, I’d miss the chance to make the best of the last bit of the year. We don’t know what’s going to happen next but we can still make a plan to end the year on a high. If the plan needs to change, that’s OK. We’ve spent the year practising for that.

If thinking about Christmas is taking you back to early lockdown, don’t worry. There were lots of businesses worrying about being seen to profit when others were struggling. Selling Christmas gifts could bring those feelings out again, but it shouldn’t. You’re helping to make people happy and putting food on your family’s Christmas table. There’s nothing wrong with that.

You can share some Christmas cheer

The other good thing about planning for Christmas is that it will make people happy. There’s been a whole heap of doom and gloom but I’m starting to hear people get cautiously excited about Christmas. We’ll almost certainly have to adapt to whatever the rules turn out to be. Our expectations have probably already been lowered but we can still have some fun. The days leading up to Christmas feel different from the rest of the year. They’re just a bit more sparkly. That’s true even if you’re stressed out with kids, shopping and running a business.

There won’t be Christmas fairs and school plays this year. I’ve no idea whether Santa will have a socially distanced grotto. But the lights and Christmas trees can still go up and you can make your social media feed a winter wonderland. (If you feel like it.) We’ll all be looking for new and different ways to find our Christmas spirit and your business can contribute to that.

You don’t have to have a Christmassy business

If you’re reading this thinking ‘hang on, my business doesn’t sell anything to do with Christmas’, don’t worry. You can still have some fun. Show people what you’re up to, even if it’s only with photos of Christmas jumper day or the office tree. There are even ways to create a Christmas blog post that will give your audience something to think about or make them chuckle.

Of course, you could even turn the whole thing on its head and say ‘bah humbug’. There would be plenty of people agreeing with you and you might even make them laugh. If it reflects your sense of humour you could find yourself with a whole new audience.

If you need some help with your Christmas marketing I’ve got two useful things for you. If you don’t have the time to plan and write your own Christmas marketing, I can do it for you. I’ll write 24 social media posts to take you from 1st December to Christmas Eve, along with a Christmas themed blog post tailored to your business. You supply the images and I’ll do the rest. If you’d like to find out more book your no obligation discovery call here.

If you’d rather do it yourself you can buy my eBook with ideas for posts from 1st December to Christmas Eve, here. Or sign up to my mailing list for hints and tips straight to your inbox.

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Why small businesses shouldn’t do clickbait

Why small businesses shouldn't use clickbait
Photo by Lisa Fotios via Pexels

You’ve seen clickbait even if you’ve never heard the word before. You might even have clicked through. They’re those posts with headlines like “you won’t believe what this 80s soap star looks like now” and “the groom burst into tears on his wedding day – the reason will shock you”. The dictionary definition talks about content that’s designed to attract attention and encourage people to click through. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? As small business owners we’re all trying to create content that will bring engagement to our social media platforms and visitors to our website. But if you’re tempted to attract visitors with clickbait, don’t. Here are just a few reasons why.

Your business depends on trust

One of the biggest problems with clickbait is that the preview that persuades you to click rarely matches the content. Plenty of stories are emotional but it’s rare for something to be genuinely shocking – if it was it would probably be headline news. The trouble with clickbait is that it gets plenty of traffic by promising something sensational but usually doesn’t deliver. That’s fine if your business generates revenue by having lots of channels and plenty of people who want some mindless fun and are willing to click through to get it. Small business owners don’t work that way. We have limited time and resources and our marketing needs to build trust. Throwaway articles just don’t do that.

You won’t get the visitors you want

How do you build trust with your customers? You post useful content that helps them solve problems and demonstrates your expertise. An important part of that is making sure that your blog’s headline tells them what to expect. Imagine if the headline to this post had been ‘doing this will DESTROY your business’. Then you click through and find out it’s about clickbait and think ‘I’d never do that anyway.’ The contents of this post aren’t going to be useful to you at all. With the current headline you might have clicked through because you’d considered trying some clickbait or because you’d never thought about what the issues could be. Either way, I hope you’re learning something. Being upfront in your headlines mean that you get the visitors you can actually help.

Google hates clickbait

If you’re writing a blog because you want to make it easier for people to find you in a search, getting lots of traffic really helps. It would be easy to think of clickbait as a great way to do this. Unfortunately, it’s the wrong kind of traffic. When Google sends its spiders out to rank your site, it doesn’t just look at the number of visitors you get. It also looks at bounce rate* and visiting times. If someone lands on your site, looks at one page and leaves, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. They might just have been looking for your contact details. But if lots of people do it? It tells Google that visitors aren’t spending time reading your content so it’s much less likely to be authoritative and useful. You really want people who spend a few minutes reading and maybe clicking through to look at other things.

Do you want to know what really works? Writing useful content that helps your audience. That way you can demonstrate your expertise so your readers start to trust you enough to become customers.

*The number of visitors who only look at one page on your site before leaving.

If you need any help with that, get in touch to see how I can help you write content that speaks your customers’ language. Or sign up to my mailing list for hints and tips straight to your inbox every month.

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Case study – Graeme and Charlotte’s blog

Blog case study - holiday park

If you’ve ever wondered what writing a blog can do for your business, here’s a great example.

The Challenge

Graeme and Charlotte run a holiday park in a gorgeous location (I wish I could tell you where, but I’m not allowed). This wasn’t somewhere you could just book for a week like you can with some of the bigger chains. This was a family business where everyone who visited owned their own caravan and came for weekends as well as for longer holidays. The owners might lend their vans out to friends and family but it was mostly just for them. The business was ticking over but there was no growth, so they got some help with their marketing to try and change things.

Their blog had got a bit samey. There was lots of news about what was happening on the site but they really wanted to talk about the area, to show people what was special about their location and encourage them to visit. I came up with some new ideas and started writing their blog for them.

The results

Over the next 9 months they increased their enquiries by 150% and got more revenue from their existing customers.

Why did it work so well? Because we love a good story. When they read the blog, new customers could picture themselves in their own bolthole, looking out over some incredible views. Current owners felt looked after because we included things that would help them to enjoy their time there. Some paid to upgrade their accommodation. They even started spending more time in the bar or at the shop because they felt like part of a community.

Could writing a business blog do that for you? Get in touch and let’s find out. I write the words that speak your customers’ language.

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Do you need great ideas for your blog?

Ideas for your blog
Photo by Cottonbro from Pexels

One of the most common questions I hear when I suggest business owners start a blog is “but what will I write about?” Coming up with ideas for your blog (or any of your social media posts for that matter) can feel like a massive task at first. It’s also entirely possible that you think you’ve covered everything you can write about already. The truth is, there are ideas all around you – you just have to know where to find them. Here are 5 simple ways that you can find new ideas for your blog.

Keep it simple

I talk to a lot of business owners who don’t write about really obvious things in their blog. They think that because they think something’s boring and routine their customers will too. Truth is, your customers need you because they don’t know what you know. If your strength is making beautiful jewellery your weakness could be keeping your accounts in order. If you’re the accountant who can give them a simple way to keep everything organised, talk about it! It isn’t too obvious, it’s really helpful. A list of your FAQs = an instant list of blog topics.

How do you help?

You’re in business because you offer something people need, so if you want customers you need to tell them how you help them. What are the benefits of working with you? I talk about things like coming up with ideas, writing in a way your customers will understand and turning lacklustre words into something better. You can also think about all of the different things that people might be Googling that you can help with. Say you offer massage – there are loads of different ways that someone might benefit and you can write about them all.

Talk to people

Taking a genuine interest in your customers’ lives is just basic human decency. It also helps you to come up with ideas. I get a lot of ideas from conversations I have with other business owners. You discover what they’re struggling with and about the misconceptions they have about your industry. That doesn’t just come from business networking. Your customers could be the people you chat to on in the local shop (albeit through your mask just now). The key is to listen to what people need – then you can write about ways you can help.

Read other blogs

I’m not suggesting you steal other people’s work. Plagiarism is bad. However, reading other blogs and marketing content within your industry helps you to keep up to date. This can also sometimes apply to reading the news too. Writing a blog post about something that’s changing will be really useful to your customers. The obvious example at the moment is Covid-19. There is so much change going on my head’s spinning. If you can help your customers understand what’s happening in businesses like yours it helps us all deal with the stress that little bit better.

Use some tech

There are lots of techy ways that you can come up with ideas for your blog. I like Answer the Public, where you can type in a keyword and it gives you loads of different questions that people have asked around that word. There are also some great keyword research tools. My favourite is Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest. Buzzsumo is also a great tool if you want to find out what kind of content does well in your industry.

I hope that’s given you food for thought – if you want a whole heap of topic ideas for your blog that are ready to go, my new eBook is out now. It’s called ’50 blog post ideas for your business’ and does just what it says on the tin.

50 blog post ideas for your business

Further resources

For even more ways to come up with new ideas, this great post from Orbit Media is well worth a read.

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Are your future customers scared of you?

Are your customers scared of your business?

Does it ever feel as if some people might be a bit scared of your business? You might think of yourself as a perfectly pleasant person, not an ogre or a troll. Yet you haven’t had a steady stream of new customers beating a path to your door. Or maybe you’ve introduced an exciting new product or service and its fallen completely flat.

It’s not because you’re terrifying. (Probably – if you are actually really scary I can’t help you.) The truth is, people like to know what they’re getting into. Trying something new takes a bit of a leap of faith. If you want your customers to have confidence there are a few things you can do to help them.

Tell them about your business

If you have a business that might be considered ‘unusual’, this is for you. There are a whole load of businesses in the world that do exactly what they say on the tin. If you’re a hairdresser on the local high street, people will get it. But what if people wrinkle their noses and say ‘what’s that?’ when you tell them what you do? Your future customers might be doing the same. You could be the solution to a problem that’s really holding them back, but they’ll never find you if you don’t teach them how you can help.

It’s also possible that they’ve got completely the wrong idea about what you offer. They’ve read something somewhere that was completely inaccurate. It might have been sensationalised or just phrased in a way that made them think it wasn’t for them. Never be afraid to bust a few myths if you need to.

Do your customers know about your services?

Of course, there’s another possibility. Maybe you offer a range of services and most of them are perfectly ordinary. Like a beauty therapist offering facials and massage. Then you bring in something new, like Hopi ear candling. No-one books. You’ve told people you’re offering it, it’s there on the menu but no-one’s buying. That’s probably a sign that they don’t know what it is or why they need it.

Explaining the benefits of a product or service is a great idea no matter what you offer. Even if you think something is mainstream, there are bound to be people who’ve never heard of it. Or maybe they have heard of it but they’re not exactly sure why they’d want it. Saying things like ‘this is a great treatment for hayfever sufferers’ or ‘this will save you time doing x job’ demystifies your services and encourages people to try them out.

Cover the basics

Sometimes people worry about simple things. Signing up for a class or an appointment with a professional is a big commitment. You can’t just run out if you don’t like the look of it. (Well, you could, but you’d probably feel pretty silly.) People protect themselves by not making the booking in the first place.

The concerns your potential customers have will depend on what you offer. If they’re in a group setting they might wonder what the other people will be like. They might worry about what you’re like or whether they’ll be safe visiting you. Going to see a solicitor or financial adviser runs the risk that they’ll be blinded with science. Telling people what to expect gives them certainty and reassurance. It tells them that you’re friendly and will look after them. That could mean the difference between a new customer and one that never gets in touch.

If you need help speaking your customers’ language and demystifying your business, just get in touch. Or sign up to my mailing list for regular marketing and writing tips.

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Case study – We Are Bostin’s lockdown adaptation

We Are Bostin lockdown case study

We’ve all heard about businesses pivoting during the pandemic. Here’s one that did it in style. Lake Contracts provide high quality shop fitting services so when lockdown came their business went quiet. After all, who’s going to pay for shop fitting when all the pubs and most of the shops are shut?

They adapted with style, setting up a new business using their existing skills. We Are Bostin was created to provide new windows, doors and shop fronts to both residential and commercial customers. I don’t know about you, but our time at home has left me with a long list of home improvements. A new front door and some brand new windows are definitely on there somewhere!

The Challenge

Their web designer set to work and recommended that they add a blog to show their expertise. I’d got to know Andreea Lake, one of the management team, thanks to my networking habit and she got in touch. There was one big challenge – we only had three days to act before the web developer went on holiday for a month. Thankfully Andreea had loads of great ideas for the kind of posts they needed and their branding and customer knowledge was strong.

All of this meant that I was able to get to work quickly, turning the finished post around in just over 24 hours. (That’s officially a record for me – I’m pretty quick but it usually takes a smidgen longer than that.)

The result? One happy client with a gorgeous new blog. All that remains is to find out how many hits they get now the site is live. If you’d like to read the first two blogs and find out more about We Are Bostin’s services, here’s the link.

If you need high quality content on a schedule that works for you, or that helps you adapt now lockdown is starting to ease, get in touch. I write the words that speak your customers’ language.

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The top 5 marketing tools you need for your small business

Marketing tools - image shows a smartphone, laptop, glasses and coffee.
Image by Dominika Roseclay via Pexels.com

One of the biggest challenges a lot of us face as small business owners is knowing where to spend money. You might have some cash to invest in essential resources. Maybe your business depends on buying stock or equipment. But when it comes to marketing the choices can get a bit trickier. Do you pay someone to do it for you or buy some tools and take the DIY option? If there’s a free and a paid option which is worth having? (I’ll be talking about that one in another post.)

I take the view that it’s always worth doing your own marketing to start with, so you can get a feel for what works. Here are some of my favourite marketing tools to get you started.

Creating graphics

Great images will help your posts stand out on social media as well as making your website look good. I use Canva to put my brand colours and logo on my images as well as creating quotes, memes and all manner of other stuff. The free version is fab and there’s a premium option if you need more features.

It’s worth paying for your own photos but I supplement mine with copyright free images from Pexels and Unsplash.

Email marketing tools

I’m with Mailchimp, even though the recent changes mean that some of the features that used to be free to new subscribers aren’t any more. I’ve heard a lot of recommendations for Mailerlite’s free account and also for Active Campaign as a paid option.

When you choose, look at the advanced features too. You might not need them yet but it’s much easier to move to a paid version of something you already know than to shift to a whole new platform further down the line.

Know your numbers

You might not think of analytics platforms as marketing tools, but they are. Being able to see where your customers and enquiries are coming from means that you can focus your marketing there. You can track which pages get the most traffic and what people visited on their way to your contact page. Your business social media accounts have their own analytics functions to tell you which posts were the most popular.

Of course, this doesn’t rule out the possibility that you get a message from someone who hasn’t interacted at all, but it’s still a good guide.

Planning and scheduling

Planning your marketing stops you from winging it and creating social media posts in a panic. I have a marketing planner from The Girls Mean Business where I can map out what I’m promoting at any given time and what posts I’m going to create to tell people about it. Then I tick each post off when I’ve created and scheduled it.

Ah yes, scheduling. Scheduling platforms are great marketing tools as they allow you to spend a few hours creating posts to go out later. Then you know it’s all done and you can move on to something else. I use the inbuilt Facebook scheduler and Hootsuite for everything else.

Get some help

There is tons of information out there to teach you how to market your business. It ranges from completely free to really expensive, with the cost often depending on how much the person selling it does for you. Free is great but you might have to spend time wading through information that doesn’t help you that much before you find something useful.

Alternatively, you might want to buy a book or sign up for a course that organises the information for you and offers a bit of support as well. That way you spend less time searching and more getting organised.

50 blog post ideas ebook

Further reading

There are loads of useful marketing tools out there – this great blog from Hubspot has a few more.

For more on knowing your numbers read this.