Amazon sellers that are serious about growth need real strategies. To start, think twice about what you have taken for granted. Here are three content practices that most sellers are doing wrong:
MYTH ONE: The main purpose of a listing’s content is to inform the buyer
Humans are visual creatures. Today, we spend less time reading carefully and more time scanning. Sometimes we only look at the pictures. What this means for Amazon sellers is that listing content is not primarily for the customers.
Before continuing, note that buyers do need the information in the content. This point is emphasized later on in the article. Buyers want to know about the product. Product photos and infographics play a big role here, but they can’t stand alone.
Most sellers know this basic fact. They also understand that buyers don’t like to read too much. Hence, most listings have simple bullet points and four-sentence product descriptions.
Search Engine Optimization
The problem with skimpy content is that it’s useless to write a listing if the customer never sees it. Therefore, the first priority of listing content should always be to reach the customer. Then, you can sell them.
To do this, you must increase your searchability using keywords. As you describe your product, your listing is scanned for features. Then, Amazon is able to give customers helpful search results. So, if your keywords are strong, you will get more face-time with relevant potential buyers.
Changing the focus of your content will set you apart from other sellers. Initially, most sellers carefully perfect their content. However, if buyers are searching Amazon with lazy punctuation and common misspellings, their efforts are counterproductive.
For example, customers would search the term “80s jacket” instead of “80’s jacket.” Note the missing apostrophe. Likewise, they will search “flag pole” instead of “flagpole,” a commonly mistaken spelling. Plan ahead for these variations so that your listing ranks for what the customers type in.
Furthermore, let’s say your product is a school backpack. You will obviously write about its ability to hold school supplies. But you should also include terms like “bag,” “travel,” “duffle,” “hiking,” and “office.”These terms will help you reach any customer that may need your product outside of its core purpose.
In summary, simple listings with perfect grammar may be more customer friendly. But, customer laziness ultimately makes SEO more important. So, allow your content to have common mistakes and use as much of the character limit as possible to maximize your keywords.
MYTH TWO: Buyers need as much information as possible to decide
OK, the customers don’t like to read, yet you’re supposed to write a lot? It seems like an impossible task. However, you find the balance by including the right kind of information. You win by writing about what the customer actually wants to know.
The customer cares about a very specific set of details. The possibilities of product details are endless. Here are some examples:
- Colors
- Materials and Fabrics
- Credentials or certifications
- Location of manufacturing
- Dimensions or sizing measurements
- Warnings
- Setup, usage, and disposal instructions
- Return, warranty, and guarantee policies
- Brand image and values
- Social cause contributions
- Tips and tricks/ different usage situations
- Effects and results
- Ingredients
- Accessories, batteries, or hardware included
- Other products needed for usage
- Compatibility with other products
- Washing and cleaning instructions
- Special components and features
- Weight or quantity
- New or used/ condition
- Production method
Unfortunately, there’s no universal list of details you should include that works for every product or category. However, here’s an example of how to use relevant information:
DON’T: “Our phone case is 5.6 x 2.8 x 0.3 inches.”
DO: “Our phone cases fit the iPhone 6 and are slim enough to slide easily into your pocket.”
The customer doesn’t care about the actual measurements. They want to know the relative size for daily use, like whether it will fit on their phone. Including the product dimensions in the listing is a waste of valuable space. There are better ways to include keywords that aren’t irritating and irrelevant to the buyer.
MYTH THREE: You want the buyers to read the description paragraph
Hand-in-hand with information filtering is information placement. This concept completes the content strategy. First, you directed traffic. Then, you picked the right information. Last, you have to put the information in the right place.
Like reading, customers also lazy about scrolling. They want easy results. Luckily, you can use this distaste to your benefit by strategically placing your content.
Consider this scenario: You don’t include the right product features in the bullet points. Consequently, the customer goes searching for the description. Great! The customer is interested enough to scroll and read more, right? Absolutely not. The customer will pass through competitor listings in the process. Distracted by other options, the customer will likely switch pages.
On the other hand, if your bullet list includes the top product details (and keywords!), then the buyer will look no further than the “Add to cart” button.
Leaving your customer “wanting more” will lead them straight into your rival’s hands. Many sellers fall into this trap by putting product warranties and mission statements in the bullet points. This pushes the essential details out of sight. While background information can add value, it fits better in the description paragraph. Plus, these topics are easy to write with lots of keywords where the content isn’t as visible.
The last thing you want is for your interested customer to go searching for deal-breaker information, only to find another product that puts what they want front and center.
Application
To tie it all together, use all of the content space you have, even if it looks bulky. This space is your asset; fill it with keywords to lead customers to your page. Then, give the customer the information they want. Avoid frustrating the buyer and leave out irrelevant information. Finally, move the info the buyer wants most to the top of each bullet point. Consequently, the buyer won’t go scrolling into your competitor’s’ listings. Any moderately relevant information can go in the description paragraph. That way, the information is there if they want it, but doesn’t distract them from making a purchase.
Appealing to the customer is the whole reason any business is successful. However, Amazon changes the game. When the technological factors come into play, you need to pivot your strategy accordingly. Everything you do in the e-Commerce market should focus first on the search process. Second, comes the focus on the final sale. If you use these principles, you are sure to outsmart the competition.
About the author
Marie Ferguson, Director of Marketing at Nozani
With a degree in Business Strategy, Marie loves creating solutions to abstract problems, which is what brought her to Nozani. As e-Commerce experts, Nozani navigates all the intricacies of online selling. They research keywords, optimize content, and shoot product photography Above all, Nozani delivers sales results to e-Commerce retailers at an affordable price.
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