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You’d like to have product texts written? Then you’ll have already discovered that there are a whole raft of copywriters out there. It can become an incredibly time-intensive exercise to find the right one for your project.
We’ll help you with this choice and give you tips about how to recognise a good copywriter, who is perfectly suited to you and your project.
A good copywriter is determined by the following criteria:
Linguistic competence
A suitable copywriter for your product descriptions is convincing with their linguistic competence. This isn’t just about mastering grammar and perfect spelling. A good text reads fluently and is well-rounded.
Every copywriter writes differently and has their own entirely personal style. As a client, you require a copywriter whose style suits you, your company and your products.
Brief your copywriter about what you’re aiming for with your texts in order to avoid misunderstandings. A briefing will explicitly inform your copywriter about your requirements and expectations. Expecting short, punchy sentences? And perhaps humorous copy? Can the texts use slang or is formal language more appropriate? This should all be clarified with your copywriter before they start.
Experience with similar projects
Whether it’s sales letters, website texts, product descriptions or press releases: copywriters work in a wide variety of areas. However, every type of text requires a different approach. Press releases are defined by their neutral style – sales letters, on the other hand, ideally speak to customers in an emotional way and can certainly be innovative with their use of language.
If your copywriter can provide a portfolio of previous work on similar projects, their product texts will come across more naturally, they will understand the tone and know which style works best to connect with your customers.
Unique texts that address your target audience
A good copywriter creates unique content which only appears on your website and no other but doesn’t lose sight of your target audience either. The golden rule in marketing is also relevant here: your product text copywriter can only write texts that speak to your readers if your target audience is clearly defined.
A target market analysis can be helpful in finding clients for your products. If your target market is already clear then a good copywriter will put themselves in this group’s shoes and create appropriate content.
Just like in translation, there is no single correct answer, rather there are countless possibilities to express the same idea. Rather than simply copying and pasting – be it a sentence or part of a sentence – a good copywriter will always think of something new.
In any case, copied texts damage your search engine ranking because search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing like to offer their users as much and as varied content as possible. Using texts for your internet presence that already appear in the same way in other places on your website or on other websites, has a negative effect on your ranking in search results.
Unique web content is the be all and end all and a good copywriter knows that.
Informative texts benefit your customers
Perfect product texts benefit those who visit your website. Therefore a good copywriter is not content with just listing facts, but instead sets out the advantages of each part of the product for the reader. This is particularly important for customers that don’t have specialist knowledge in the respective fields.
If you work in the pet food industry, you know that biotin in dog food contributes to healthy skin and fur. But does your customer know that?
Or in the fashion industry: you, as the expert, know which cuts and colours subtly attract attention away from undesired lumps and bumps and highlight beautiful figures. For your customers who aren’t as versed in your area of expertise, it is often very helpful to have this information in the product description. And this has a positive effect on the decision to buy.
Product texts that raise your profits
Good texts are not just there to decorate your website, instead they have a certain purpose: they raise your profits. On one hand, your online store gets more hits because your products are easier to find thanks to search-engine-optimised texts (SEO texts). On the other hand, product texts also contribute to convincing customers who are already on your online shop to make a purchase.
The ideal product descriptions appeal to the reader emotionally and inform them about all the important product elements at the same time. They actually have to do this. Because, as opposed to an offline purchase, whereby a customer can see the product for themselves, touch it and test it or try it on, this cannot be done online. It is here that the product texts have to replace your customer’s senses.
That doesn’t have to be a negative though: with product texts, you can direct your customers' attention to particular details that set your products aside from your competition.
Interpersonal skills
Last but not least, a good product copywriter will win you over with their interpersonal skills. They react promptly to your requests and projects and deliver the completed texts as agreed: on the correct date and in the agreed format.
Good communication is essential for a frictionless project process and perfect collaboration. When things are unclear, a good copywriter is not afraid to ask.
If you’d like to have product texts written, consider the above criteria. This way you’re guaranteed to find a product text copywriter that is able to convince your customers.
And a final tip: if you’ve already found the right product copywriter and are profiting from the advantages of appealing product descriptions, then you ought to consider translation. Because a translation of product texts can also open to door to further benefits.