Online shopping has become the shopping method of choice, with consumers finding it much easier to shop from the comfort of their own home with more selection than they would find in brick and mortar stores. But this means that competition is your biggest concern.
Whatever product or service you’re selling, your sales growth depends on the success of your online listings. It’s these listings that are going to reach a huge number of people who shop online. Competition is fierce in any market, so in order to achieve growth in your sales you need to know how to create listings that quickly grab the attention of consumers and make you stand out from other sellers.
One of the ways to accomplish this is by writing listings that keep in mind the psychology behind selling and use targeted selling techniques and strategies to motivate people to buy. Many times consumers are this close to buying but they still can’t make a final decision. They just need that last bit of convincing to decide which seller has what they need — make sure your listing is the one they the one that closes the deal.
Below are tips to help you create listings that convert into sales.
The Psychology of a Successful Listing
Consumers base their decision to make a purchase on some finely tuned psychology. It comes down to how they feel, what they think, and how they see your product stand out from the rest. Once you know how to write listings that make use of consumer psychology, you should start to see your sales grow.
The words in your listings and how you present them can have a significant impact in convincing people to buy. Every listing should demonstrate how your product or service fills a need that the consumer has. It’s also important to build a relationship of trust and connection throughout every step of the sales funnel. One of the ways to do this is by building that psychological connection with your buyers.
1. Find ways to connect emotionally with people.
Consumers make purchasing decisions based on their emotions instead of logically thinking through the process of buying. If you can connect with them on an emotional level, you’ll be able to persuade them that they can’t do without your product or service.
Write listings to trigger emotions that tie in with your product. One of the ways to do this is through storytelling, using stories that connect with your brand. Use words that bring out positive feelings and speak to consumers about how good your product is for them physically, spiritually, and emotionally. The better people feel about themselves, the more likely they are to feel positive about completing an online purchase.
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2. Validate buying decisions with facts.
Consumers are more likely to make a purchase if there are facts and data that support the product claims. This includes technical information about a product as well as detailed facts. These facts should answer specific questions about your product, especially questions that other buyers have previously asked. When a buyer can justify their purchase it’s easier for them to get to the sale that much quicker.
3. Focus on customer concerns.
Include information in your listing that talks about your customer’s concerns. Always keep in mind that rather than selling a product, you’re solving a problem. If your listing is written to meet the buyers’ needs, they’ll likely have a more positive customer experience. This is something that will also keep them coming back to buy from you in the future.
4. Customize and optimize pricing.
No matter where you’re listing online, you want to customize your pricing, so the perception of cost is favorable to your buyers. There are three main ways that you can do this:
● Use “charm” pricing or luxury pricing – With the charm pricing strategy, prices end in a “9.” When the brain sees a price such as $10.99, it rounds it down to $10, which is cheaper than $11. If your brand relies on its exclusivity and premium feel, end prices in zero and stay away from charm pricing tactics.
● Make price drops stand out – People are quicker to buy if they think you’re giving them a deal. If you’re lowering your prices or have a special price, make it show up clearly by using a standout font. This can mean font that is a different color and size than the other font in your listing.
● Comparative pricing – One of the most effective pricing strategies is to compare prices. When you offer three products that are similar, but you make one more attractive to buyers with a middle price and great quality, the average consumer will choose this based on value.
Additional Listing Techniques and Tips
The effectiveness of a compelling online listing comes down to more than just writing it well and including words that sell. Use the techniques below to make your listing stand out and win over your existing and new customers.
1. Schedule when you post
To get the most out of your listing, focus on posting at peak times so that you engage as much of your target audience as possible. The best times are after 5 pm during the week and on weekends when more users are online.
2. Write catchy, eye-popping headlines
The first thing that consumers see and read are listing headlines. Don’t miss the opportunity to grab their attention. Your headlines need to quickly let buyers know what you’re all about. Rules to follow include creating complementary titles that are between 40 and 80 characters long with no unnecessary filler words or punctuation.
3. Create knockout descriptions
Accurately describe your product, highlighting and focusing on what makes it unique and great for consumers. Descriptions should be over 160 characters so there’s enough room to go into just the right amount of detail. Use bullet points when possible so people can scan through and pull out the information they need.
When writing listings, use adjectives that sell. Instead of using boring words, such as “bargain” and “nice” use power adjectives like “luxurious” and “reasonably priced.” This is your opportunity to be creative and provide buyers with an attractive picture of your product.
4. Images sell
Visuals are imperative to sales. Without a good idea of what your product looks like, consumers will move on to your competition. Research shows that 92.6% of buyers feel an image helps them perceive your product in a positive way.
5. Video adds confidence
Visuals such as video and other interactive elements, such as graphs and charts, give another level of credibility to what you’re selling. In fact, 80% of consumers feel that video makes them feel more confident when purchasing online.
6. Be open to inspiration and new ideas
Always be ready and open to improve your online listings. You can draw inspiration within your own industry and from other fields. There’s more than one way to sell any product or service so be prepared to change things up when you’re not seeing the results you need to boost your sales growth.
Look at competitor listings. What are they doing differently than you? Are they achieving better results? Can you take what they’re doing, put a spin on it, and make it better?
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Font and Text Matters
You can create incredible listings that have a great headlining title and dynamic descriptions – but you could be killing your sales growth by using font and text that don’t stand out and that are difficult to read.
Your fantastic content needs to be presented in a way that encourages potential buyers to read your listing from start to finish. Otherwise, they’ll give up and move on to your competition.
It’s also helpful to remember that readers scan through listings and pick out the important points that are relevant to the product and making the sale. So text must be both scannable and readable.
Here’s what you can do to improve the readability of your listings, so they boost your sales growth:
● Choose a professional and easy to read font. Good choices are Gotham, Verdana, and Arial. Both font styles add to your listings and make them look expert and proficient.
● Use sans serif font, which doesn’t have the small lines attached to the ends of each letter. Instead, the ends are clean and sharp. While serif font is commonly used for print, sans serif is best for digital print. This is because, on lower resolution screens, san serif displays better and is easy for the eye to follow.
● Use a 10–14-point font for the body text of your listing. This is the ideal size for readers to easily see the text.
● Use a larger font for headlines. 16 to 20-point font makes the text of titles stand out and catch the attention of online shoppers.
● Keep paragraphs short. To make text scannable, stick to shorter paragraphs. Large blocks of text are hard to focus on and most users will give up before they reach the end.
Final Thoughts about Creating Listings that Convert into Sales
If you want to see sales growth and increase your online sales, your listings need to stand out. Using the techniques and strategies here you can create listings with words that pop off the screen and immediately catch the attention of consumers. In addition, implementing the sales maximization theory to your listings will help you boost your revenue even more. Combining the psychology of buying with posting techniques and writing text that’s easy to read, you’ll be able to reach consumers and influence their buying motivation.
Growth Hackers is a cutting-edge data analytics agency helping clients with brand awareness, lead generation, conversion rate optimization and sales. We use cutting-edge growth marketing strategies to do so. We’re coupling traditional digital marketing channels like SEO, blogging or emails with unique, exclusive growth tactics so we can deliver great results to our clients.
