So our perfect product page has got as much content as possible, great photography and testimonials or case studies to establish the product’s credentials. What’s left to consider? Oddly enough, it’s something quite fundamental to the process: the sales story.
Many product pages fall down simply by not bothering to persuade the prospect that there’s something here worth buying. Unlike a brochure, which is normally all hard sell, most marketing managers seem almost embarrassed to take the same approach on a product page. This is a mistake. You have a few seconds to hook any visitors, and the best way to do it is by hitting them between the eyes with your sales pitch.
So the headline which just consists of a label (the product name) is a terribly wasted opportunity. Why make the first element on the page just “The Blue Widget” when it could say: “The Blue Widget: saving you money with faster setup”?
Having interested the visitor, you need to get straight into the pitch. Some great copywriting should be sufficient, although I’m really impressed with a few pages I’ve seen recently which offer up a video – effectively a short Powerpoint presentation – taking the prospect through the main benefits. Our own One Minute Videos have already been used by one company for just this task.
Remember, the job of the product page is to get the potential customer into the relevant stage of the buying cycle. Your best salesman wouldn’t present “just the facts” to do this, and nor should the product page.