After 6 years of helping newbie sellers and top brands make a ton of money on Amazon, I’ve analyzed a serious number of product listings. Below are the surprisingly common (and ugly) mistakes I see sellers make time and time again.
All features, no benefits
The technical features of a new product are hard enough for me to decipher when writing a new product listing for my Amazon clients – and I’m getting paid to do it! So expecting a customer to wade through a whole paragraph of technical specs is seriously anti-sales.
Your customer has one question – “What’s in it for me?”
To answer this question, you need to tell them in simple, user-friendly language how your product is going to improve their life.
CAPITALS EVERYWHERE!!
I get that you’re trying to draw attention to your product’s unique features and benefits, but really, YOU DON’T NEED TO SHOUT! Capitals come across as mega spammy, and if you’re trying to create a long-lasting brand, that is not the look you want.
There are exceptions if used sparingly, however. Like the start of key feature bullets, a header in your EBC section, a one-time bit of emphasis among rich marketing copy, or perhaps, your brand name. But other than that, please, keep it lower case.
Spammy SEO
Some sellers stuff so many keywords in the bullets that they don’t form coherent sentences. I’m not saying these listings don’t make sales. Sometimes the right product, at the right time, with a spattering of SEO can fly off the virtual shelves. Those sellers are insanely lucky.
But most sellers have the difficult job of standing out from the competition.
You need rich marketing copy that appeals to your customers’ emotions and builds trust to inform their purchasing decision. Your SEO keywords should be placed naturally throughout the listing (as much as possible) so that they don’t spoil your marketing copy.
Hire an experienced Amazon copywriter to help you create a rich product listing that stands out.
Crappy Images
In addition to outstanding copy, you also need great images. I see many sellers with fuzzy, low-resolution images that look like they have been shot by an amateur.
It’s not enough to put a crappy product shot on a white background.
To build trust, you need professional images. If your supplier can’t provide these for you, you should hire a product photographer. Alternatively, if you or someone you know has a snazzy camera, you could shoot your own product shots.
It’s not just beautiful product shots that convert sales. Lifestyle imagery can really set your brand apart. This is because customers like to imagine their life with your product in it, and lifestyle photography helps them do that. This can be costly, but you can find inspiration to set your brand apart on an image library like Shutterstock.
Bad English
There are many product listings with bad grammar on Amazon. In most instances, the seller has paid a paltry sum to a non-native speaker to write the listing and isn’t able to recognize the many mistakes.
My no.1 tip is to invest in an experienced copywriter. Your listing is the main touchpoint of your business, and to skimp in this area is sheer madness!
If you don’t have the budget to contract copywriting services, at least get an English native proofreader to weed out the mistakes in your copy. The trust and credibility you diminish with mistakes like these can be the deciding factor between ADD TO CART, or a bounce to your competitor.
There are plenty more uglies to add to this list, but I’ll save that for another post!
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WANT A KILLER PRODUCT LISTING
THAT STANDS OUT FROM YOUR COMPETITORS?
My creative copywriting service has helped many top Amazon sellers do just that.