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How this brand doubled their sales by listening to their customers

Could asking two simple questions actually help double your sales?

Absolutely. Here’s a real-world case that proves it. And it just happens to be my favourite case of all.

It’s a story of a premium grill brand you most likely know – Weber Grills. In a period of just 3 years, they’ve doubled their sales. 

How did they do it? By adapting their marketing to their best customers’ PERCEPTION (even if it sounds illogical)

Check out the full story:

Tags: 
Stefan Kolle
NPS
customer strategy
Voice of the customer

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How To Write A Great Product Description Page

Every web-browsing human being reads a product description, almost every day. Most product descriptions are eye-bleeding horrors of lousy copy and unclear information. That means some of the most-read digital content is some of the worst.

We can do better.

This is my sort-of-system for better product descriptions. Use as you see fit.

Two Kinds Of Descriptions

You’re writing two product descriptions:

  • The SERP snippet, to improve rankings and generate clicks
  • The product description page, to generate sales

Both impact rankings. But writing just for rankings will kill sales, and vice-versa. You have to find the right balance.

I beg of you, please don’t go and rewrite 10,000 product descriptions to the exact formula I outline here. It’s a starting point. Be creative.

The Product Description Page

This is the classic “product description.” Folks read it when they’re making their buying decision. They’re looking at two things that your writing can impact:

  • Value
  • Features

If UX is solid and the product is good, a great description will explain features and establish value so well that the customer clicks buy.

I focus on three elements of the product description page:

  1. The on-page title
  2. The blurb
  3. The bullets
The Product Description Page
The Product Description Page

The Product Description Page

If you don’t have bullets, may I suggest adding them?

There’s lots of other stuff: Images, call to action, price, for example. I’m not writing about those here. I know my limitations.

Check For Duplication

If you’re rewriting an existing description, check for duplication.

  1. Copy two sentences from the blurb
  2. Put them in quotes
  3. Paste them into Google

Do these sentences appear on other sites? That might be OK. But for SEO, duplicate content is a problem. Also, ask yourself: If your product description matches one or more other sites, what reason do folks have to buy from you, instead of them? If you can’t answer, you need to rewrite.

Gahhh! Duplicates. This is a problem.
Gahhh! Duplicates. This is a problem.

Gahhh! Duplicates. This is a problem.

If you need to rewrite the description, don’t worry. Follow the rest of these recommendations, and it’ll happen naturally.

The On-Page Title

Note: Writing titles for Amazon is an entirely different discipline. Start with these recommendations, but you’ll need to include more product detail. It’s annoying, I know.

Your on-page product title starts as the product name:

Fast Roller TX 1000

But it must pass the Blank Sheet of Paper Test: The title, written on a blank sheet of paper, should make sense to a knowledgeable stranger. The Fast Roller is a road bicycle tire. Try this:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Bicycle Tire

That sounds like an SEO wrote it. When you’re wearing your SEO hat, though, you don’t write copy. You optimize it. Never optimize while you write.

I want something tighter. Remember, the blank sheet of paper test says a knowledgeable stranger. So this will work:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Tire

Maybe there are two TX 1000s, though: One for each valve type. Then I end up with:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Tire: Presta; and
Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Tire: Schrader

You want higher rankings, though, so you’re tempted to write a fifty-word title. Use your judgment. An overweight title won’t pass the blank sheet of paper test:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Bicycle Tire Flat Proof Presta 700C 150TPI Bike Rolling Thingie With A Valve And Tube And Stuff

The knowledgeable stranger will give up. Think before you start keyword stuffing.

The Blurb: Write An Appeal

Fill the blanks:

If [thing or need] then this is a perfect [product].

Example:

"If you [want puncture-resistance] then this is a perfect [road bike tire].”

That’s your appeal. It’s not the only way, but it’s a robust introduction.

You can combine multiple appeals:

“If you want puncture resistance and great handling, then this road bike tire is perfect.”

Or even:

“The TX 1000 provides puncture resistance without sacrificing weight, for a tire that delivers great handling and low rolling resistance.”

Again, I plead. I beg. I implore. Don’t use this as a formula.

The Blurb: Point Out Results

Something about this product makes it uniquely valuable. I hope.

Tell me how you outperform:

“In testing, the TX 1000 showed greater flat-resistance than all major competitors.”

Describe unique features. Get specific!!!

“The TX 1000 is the only tire with an unobtainium valve for greater durability and easier inflation.”

I won’t call this the USP because the term’s so overused it makes me ill.

The Blurb: Find The Unnoticed Obvious

Find one important unnoticed feature related to the appeal. For example threads per inch (TPI) affect a road cycling tire’s puncture-resistance and handling. If no competitors talk about TPI, we should:

“150 TPI means a supple, flat-resistant sidewall.”

Now, I have:

“If you want to balance puncture resistance and performance, then this is a perfect road bike tire. 150 TPI means a really supple, flat-resistant sidewall that doesn’t sacrifice handling or increase rolling resistance. The TX 1000 is also the only tire with an unobtanium valve for greater durability and easier inflation.”

Progress.

The Blurb: Remove Words That Should Never Be Spoken

Plague words. Ew. Additionally, really, indeed, obviously. Shudder. Dump them all.

I’ve got a whole list of plague words right here. If you use ’em, delete ’em.

“If you want puncture resistance, then this is a perfect road bike tire. 150 TPI means a really supple, flat-resistant sidewall that doesn’t sacrifice handling or increase rolling resistance. The TX 1000 is also the only tire with an unobtanium valve for greater durability and easier inflation.”

I also dislike overuse of unrivaled, unmatched, best, fantastic, or any other phrase that doesn’t apply to your product or your category of product. If you’re Rolex, maybe you can say unrivaled. If you sell shoelaces, stop it.

The Blurb: Remove The Breathless

Avoid the painfully obvious. Without bicycle tires, I get sparks and hemorrhoids. And only an idiot wants a tire that combines high rolling resistance with vulnerability to sharp objects. I get it.

Don’t tell me I’ll love this product, either. You’re already implying that. Saying it out loud seems needy and pushes me away.

“In cycling, tires are important. Performance and flat resistance matter. If you want to balance puncture resistance and performance, then this is a perfect road bike tire. 150 TPI means a really supple, flat-resistant sidewall that doesn’t sacrifice handling or increase rolling resistance. The TX 1000 is also the only tire with an unobtanium valve for greater durability and easier inflation. You’ll love this tire!”

I know I need a bicycle tire. Tell me why I need this bicycle tire.

The Blurb, Resplendent

Here’s what we’ve got:

“If you want to balance puncture resistance and performance, then this is a perfect road bike tire. 150 TPI means a supple, flat-resistant sidewall that doesn’t sacrifice handling or increase rolling resistance. The TX 1000 is also the only tire with an unobtanium valve for greater durability and easier inflation.”

On to the bullets.

The Bullets: Find The Questions (And Answer Them)

Bullets are punchy little bits of information. Readers scan for them. Use them to dispel concerns and answer questions. Finding good bullet content is easy:

Go to Amazon.com. Search for your product, or a relevant one. Scroll down to “questions.”

Answers to questions make great bullets
Answers to questions make great bullets

Answers to questions make great bullets

If there are any, find the five most-read and most-asked. Write a brief response to each one. Keep those answers handy.

Do the same on other sites: Walmart, Jet, and vertical-specific sellers all have “questions” sections.

Those will become bullets in your product description. You might even repeat items from the blurb, like “150 TPI.” Use your judgment.

I found many questions about tire weight, tube versus tubeless, and sidewall color. So my bullets could be:

  • 10 grams (a guy can wish)
  • Requires a tube
  • Black sidewalls

You can skip bullets if you want. Maybe you don’t need them. That’s fine. I mean, who needs to answer all those pesky customer questions, right? That’s my over annoying parental way of saying you need bullets. Bribe the developer. Get the branding team drunk and ask for written approval. Whatever you have to do.

Destroy the FAQ

The FAQ is where copywriters go to die. If there are frequently asked questions about a product, write brief answers for those, too. Add them to your bullets, or the product description. Or add a separate section for related FAQ.

If you’re reselling someone else’s product, look at the manufacturer’s FAQ.

Those can become more bullets or part of the blurb.

Everyone wants to know if we guarantee this tire. We provided this answer, so I turned it into a bullet:

  • 10 grams (a guy can wish)
  • Requires a tube
  • Black sidewalls
  • Guaranteed rim fit and flat resistance against normal debris. No rampaging hippos

What About…?

Product specifications? Your call. I don’t think you need specs for a capybara plushie. You might if you sell roofing shingles.

Product ingredients? I like to put them after the bullets, but it depends on the product. A bag of popsicle sticks doesn’t need a list of ingredients. I hope.

Just Get To The SEO, Ian

If you did all of the above, you’ve got an optimized product description page. If you want to take it further:

  • Make sure you don’t avoid your keyword. You sell bicycle tires, not inflatable wheel support.
  • Start with the important stuff. Ingredients rarely belong in the first paragraph. Your appeal does.
  • Do some smart internal linking.

And, you need to work on your SERP snippet:

The SERP Snippet

The product description page is your pitch. The snippet is about search visibility and clickthru.

I’m going to focus on the title element and meta description. They’re usually the bulk of the snippet:

Title element and meta description tag, in a SERP
Title element and meta description tag, in a SERP

Title element and meta description tag, in a SERP

It may include reviews and other bits, too. That’ll be another post.

The Title Element

If you don’t know what a title element/tag (same thing, different names) is, here’s a primer.

First, follow the Blank Sheet Of Paper Test. I like to start with the product description page title:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Tire: Presta

But I probably need to include “bike” or “bicycle” to separate me from motorcycles and cars:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Bicycle Tire: Presta

Now, use a keyword research tool like Moz, SEMRush or Merchantwords to find the most-researched product features. I found these:

  • Flat-resistant bicycle tires
  • Fast bicycle tires
  • Bicycle tires weight
  • Road tire vs. mountain bike tire

I also found a lot of folks search for quantitative features:

  • Size (700c)
  • Inflation pressure (110psi)

I might add these to my description:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Bicycle Tire – Presta – 700c – 110psi

Remember to check the current maximum title element length. We have a nifty SERP preview tool that can help.

Turns out my title is too long, so I have to get ruthless. I remove the less-important feature:

Fast Roller TX 1000 Road Bicycle Tire – Presta – 700c – 110psi

OK. Title complete.

The Meta Description

If you’re not sure what a meta description tag is, read this.

The meta description has zero direct impact on rankings. It does, however, impact clickthru. These are a few things I try to do:

First: Include the features for which you believe people will search. Those get bolded. Their presence will reinforce that this is the right product. If someone searches for “rolling resistance,” “presta,” and “schrader,” and I have that word in my meta description, the search snippet will look like this:

A SERP snippet with bolded words
A SERP snippet with bolded words

A SERP snippet with bolded words

The searcher is more likely to click.

Second: Use the highest-performing ad text. A few years ago, Wil Reynolds made this recommendation. It blew my mind: Use the highest-performing PPC ad text as your description tag. You’ve already tested that text. You know it gets high clickthru from a SERP. Blew. My. Mind.

I don’t recommend doing this for the on-page, visible product description. Ad text is optimized for search results, not a product page.

Finally: If it’s relevant, include differentiators: Shipping time, available colors/sizes, genuine original, etc. Anything that matters to your audience. On the other hand, don’t tell me you have genuine original socks. I care exactly not at all.

Try to use all available characters. As I write this, the accepted maximum is 300 characters. It changes all the time. Do your research.

Done! Or Not.

You’ve written a great product description page. You’ve got a great SERP snippet. Nice!

Keep an eye on page performance. Look at clickthru rates. Revise. Keep trying to beat previous performance.

Writing descriptions can be tedious, but it’s a solid conversion win with SEO implications. Done right, it can strengthen your brand.

What’s not to like?

Questions? Comments?

Ask me questions in the comments, or hit me up on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Just please, don’t ask me how many times to repeat a keyword.

The post How To Write A Great Product Description Page appeared first on Portent.

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A Marketer’s Intro to Advertising on Amazon

Part of my role as a Client Partner at Portent is to stay up-to-date with marketing platforms and channels so I may determine which ones to recommend to my clients. Recently, I’ve focused on learning as much as I can about advertising through Amazon.

Amazon’s expansion and transformation are intriguing. The twenty-year-old company’s growth from an online bookstore to a publicly traded empire currently valued at over $995 billion is fascinating. Since Amazon’s CEO and founder, Jeff Bezos, announced Amazon’s  IPO in 1997, the company has expanded its portfolio to include: cloud computing (AWS), a crowdsourcing API (Amazon Mechanical Turk), eBooks (Amazon Kindle), tablet computers (Amazon Kindle Fire HD), streaming services (Amazon Music and Amazon Instant Video), wireless smart speakers (Amazon Echo) and more.

Not to mention, the giant has further diversified its investments with the purchase of multiple high-earning businesses (ex. Zappos, IMDb, and Audible). And that isn’t even the half of it. In fact, Amazon recently surprised the market when it acquired Whole Foods (August 2017).

Amazon’s empire not only offers marketers reach but also access to a broad wealth of data.

And, as you know, data is the sexiest commodity in digital marketing.  

Amazon is so appealing that CNBC reported earlier this month that notable advertisers are moving half of their search budget from Google to Amazon.

In short, B2Cs who are not selling or advertising through Amazon may be losing out on an opportunity to diversify their marketing channel portfolio, and as a result, reach fewer potential customers – especially if they are a small to mid-sized business.

Do I Have to Sell on Amazon to Advertise on Amazon?

No, you do not have to be a seller on Amazon to advertise through Amazon. However, it does limit the amount of Amazon advertising channels which will be available to you. For instance, you will be unable to build a Store or Sponsored Ads (these two options are only available for sellers and vendors).

Why Should I Advertise with Amazon?

Amazon advertising offers a broad reach and unique data set.

WordStream recently reported Amazon.com has over 300 million Amazon users. And according to Amazon.com,150 million unique visitors per month come directly from the United States.

These millions of users are interacting with Amazon.com on a daily basis – purchasing, discovering, learning. By placing your ads on this platform, your company will be uniquely positioned to capture their attention.

Not only that but as an Amazon advertiser, you’ll be able to harness the user data behind these experiences to smartly build and optimize your advertising campaigns.

This is a significant reason why Amazon is now on pace to become the 3rd-largest digital ad platform by the end of the year (behind Google and Facebook).

What Advertising Channels are Available Through Amazon?

There are currently five marketing channels available to advertisers through with Amazon:

Sponsored Ads

Promote your products and brand through Sponsored Ads – Sponsored Product, Sponsored Brand (formerly Headline Search Ads), Product Display Ads – which appear within the Amazon search engine pages (SERPs) and on relevant product pages. Users who click on these ads will be sent directly to your Amazon product listing page. As such, this advertising feature is only available to those who have their products listed on Amazon. Sponsored ads are budget friendly as marketers are only charged when a customer clicks on the ad.

Display Ads

Amazon Display Ads are formatted similarly to Google Search and Display Ads. For instance, you’re able to customize the audiences you advertise to based on Amazon shopping insights. The most significant difference is that Amazon Display Ads only appear within the Amazon network: on Amazon.com, Amazon owned and operated sites, Amazon devices, and across the Amazon network. You do not need to sell on Amazon to advertise using Amazon Display Ads. However, you must have a budget of $35k or more in the United States to run Amazon Display Ads.

Video Ads

As marketers, we know video is essential to our content marketing strategy. For instance, Hubspot reported that 81% of businesses now use video as a marketing tool and 76% of marketers saw an increase in sales from using video. Harness this power for yourself using Amazon video ads. Easily tell a story about your product and/or your brand and capture your audience’s attention. Your Amazon video ads may appear on both Amazon.com, across the Amazon network, and on Amazon devices, like Fire TV. As with Display Ads, you must have a budget of $35k or more in the United States to run Amazon Display Ads.

Stores

Amazon Sellers, vendors, and vendor agents are eligible to build free multi-page sites, otherwise known as Amazon Stores, within Amazon.com to feature their brand and products. Amazon Stores are easy to assemble (no coding necessary) and feature custom URLs. Think of Amazon Stores as a landing page hosted on Amazon.com which you can directly drive Amazon advertising traffic to, to offer a unique customer experience.

DSP

The Amazon DSP is a programmatic platform which employs Amazon shopping data to reach customers on Amazon.com, Amazon Apps, and through third-party partners.

How Do I Measure My Amazon Campaigns?

Advertisers on Amazon have access to Amazon’s Advertising measurement solutions – a platform built and maintained by Amazon to measure the performance of advertisements. Amazon’s first-party data will provide your team with the insights they need to understand the impact of Amazon ads on your brand’s reach and conversions. In addition, third-party data is available to provide a holistic view of how your ads are performing.   

Should I Advertise Through Amazon?

Yes, if you’re a B2C e-commerce site, you should consider advertising through Amazon.

What are the Cons to Advertising Through Amazon?

Amazon does not (yet) have the reach of Google.

For context, Google – the largest search engine – processes an average of 3.5 billion daily searches worldwide (Smart Insights). In comparison, Amazon.com has an average of five million visits per day from the United States.

  • Amazon’s Advertising Console is not yet as granular as other platforms (such as Google AdWords).
  • The ad infrastructure
    with Amazon is clunkier and more manual than those of competitors like Facebook and Google.

How Can I Start Advertising Through Amazon?  

Start advertising with Amazon today by visiting the Amazon advertising registration page.

If you’re already a registered Amazon seller, vendor, or vendor agent, you’ll be easily able to set-up a Store or advertise with Sponsored Ads. Otherwise, you’ll only be able to promote through the Amazon DSP, Display and Video ads until you set-up an Amazon Brand Registry account.

 

Amazon advertising is not a fit for every brand and product. Reach out to Portent to learn more about advertising with Amazon and determine whether or not it fits in with your company’s overall goal and digital marketing strategy.

The post A Marketer’s Intro to Advertising on Amazon appeared first on Portent.

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4 SEO Writing Tips You Must Follow

Are you looking for tips to write content for a company? Before we get into the details, you must understand the importance of SEO based writing. Without the SEO services, no company can survive in the market. The importance of SEO can never be ignored. Several advantages are associated with it. However, you must know that there are several factors that combine with each other. One of the most important factors is the writing of the effective content. Without proper processes, there is no use of the all the content you have written. It may get lost between several sites of the search engine. What will be the point of putting in so much effort then?

There is a need to go through proper processing in order to make sure that the content is being effectively used for the SEO purposes. The content written in any form may play a major role in increasing your ranking as it is an effective way to transfer information to the customers. For getting maximum benefits from the content, you need to hire the best SEO Company. Only they will help you out in getting maximum benefits.

Also Read
Internet Marketing Tips – Latest Trends Deciding Success
What You Must Do to Get the Best Out of an Online Marketing Agency

Now that you know that a lot of attention must be paid to the content you are writing for your website, here are some tips that can be beneficial for you:

Focus on the audience: 
The first and the most important thing to do is to focus on the preferences of the audiences. They are the ones who will play a major role in increasing the rank of your website. All the content you are planning to write must be informative and effective for the concerned people. You need to make sure that they get answers to all their questions without even putting a lot of effort. You can also get the best SEO services in order to make sure that you are dealing with the right content. There are several top Digital Marketing Services provider, you need to select the one that best suits your requirements.

Use attractive headline: 
What is the point of writing a lot of content when no one will be willing to read it? There are tons of articles present on the search engines. No one will specifically search for your name and read the content. From all that crowd, you need to stand out. The only way to do that is to use the headlines that will get the attention of the people easily. If they find something unique, they will definitely come to explore it.

Effective keyword usage: 
Another important aspect that must be considered while writing the content for SEO purpose is to focus on the effective use of keywords. No matter how many keywords you are focusing on and what their nature is, you need to make sure that they are being used effectively. There is a need to include as many keywords as possible into the content so that the search engines focus on it.

Proper Organization: 
Informative content is the first requirement but the second one is to properly organize it. For best results, it is essential to organize all the content in a way that the reader finds it easy to get information from it. It is better to get the services if you hire an SEO content writer. With their expert guidance, it will be easier for you to achieve a proper organization of the content.
All these tips are essential to follow in order to make sure that the content is effective enough for SEO. Only the SEO content writer & services provider will help you in making the right decisions. There are several companies offering services to their customers but you need to go for the top digital marketing services provider.

Author Bio:

Grey Stone is a professional SEO writer, covered many topics now working with a digital marketing company named as Grey Media Group LLC specialized in providing best SEO services New York. In this write-up Grey Stone explain the importance of content writing for the success of any business

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