Among many factors that can make a difference between a sale and a loss is the product description. In case of t-shirts, the impact is even more! An ideal t-shirt product description answers your customer’s informational needs.
It makes them excited about the design. It makes them curious about the fabric. Simply put, this is where your story of sales starts. A well-crafted product description can even convert your customers. But how does a winning product description look like?
As complicated as the rhetoric might sound, in reality, a product description is not all that complex. Just some tips and tricks applied with proper marketing knowledge and copywriting expertise.
In general, there are three stages of writing apparel, in our case, t-shirt product description.
1) A technical or informative description.
2) A consumer-friendly description.
3) Finally, a legal description (You probably don’t need to worry about this aspect).
The first stage is a technical description. Technical descriptions are mostly useful to the people in operations and manufacturing. These descriptions also come in handy while sorting the t-shirts. Hence, you don’t have to worry much about this information if you happen to be the copywriter. These are ideally passed on by the manufacturing team.
A Technical Description must include
To put it into perspective, here is how a technical t-shirt product description looks like according to Kathleen Fasanella.
Women handwoven rayon fully lined jacket with contrasting silk/rayon velvet notched collar and cuffs. Side seam pockets with 4-bone button closure and polyester lining. XS-XL. Made in the USA.
However, such a t-shirt product description works as a mere information dispenser. Sadly, most writers don’t get past this technical stage. However, it is crucial that the brands furnish the technical descriptions into consumer-friendly copies. This is where the marketing stage comes in.
In this stage, you fit the technical terms under your marketing canopy. Because your product description needs to be beyond a list of features only. It should not only describe the t-shirt. Rather, it should tell a compelling story about why the t-shirt is worth buying.
As with stories, your t-shirt product description must have an attention hook, a climax, and an impact. Besides, it should not only amuse but also empower the customers to make informed decisions. In a nutshell, an ideal t-shirt description should push your sales. If it’s not, you need to redo your copies.
What’s the first step in any marketing campaign ever? Knowing your target audiences. Here is a simple equation I always stay true.
If you write a product description for everybody, you write it for nobody.
A well-crafted description should address the core needs and desires of the target audiences. Hence, your first task comes into play. Instead of eyeballing, be sure whom you are writing for. A good way is to start with crafting buyer personas.
Once done, write as if you were talking to your ideal customers in person. Writing product descriptions in the second person pays off more than you think. So, bring the YOU in the conversation. For a more precise copy, brainstorm on the following questions.
What are the information needs of your customers? In seeking those needs, what pain points do they come across? How can I help them overcome those tensions? Or how can I make people go “WOAH”?
Let us simplify the pep talks with an example from I Love Apparel. Below is an example of a men's t-shirt. New grandpas, to be more precise.
And here is the product description they came up with.
Hey there, Dad. Looks like you're up for a promotion! You should be very proud, because only the great dads get promoted to Grandpa! Congratulations to you! Now you can feel free to show off your excitement about being promoted to Grandpa with this simple and classic t-shirt and hoodie!
Combining raw emotions and an innate desire to “show-off” the great news with added personalization. Give the copywriter a raise already!
How do you stand out among myriads of generic t-shirt brands? You compose a riveting story like Johnny Cupcakes did. The brand calls itself World’s First T-Shirt Bakery. So, how is it relevant to our discussion on how to craft an amazing t-shirt product description?
It is important because having a brand allows you to distinguish your products. Eventually, it provides you with the flexibility you seek. Besides, you know clearly who you are talking to. Finally, you can also maintain a consistent theme to generate compelling product descriptions.
For instance, notice this product description by Johnny Cupcakes. You will instantly recognize a theme. A story built around communities and good vibes. Words carefully chosen to convey the brand’s ‘sweet’ nature. In short, a remarkable t-shirt product description.
If ‘cotton-made’ is a feature, then ‘comfort’ is the provided benefit. A list of features makes up the product. Conversely, benefits are what render the product useful in customers’ eyes.
Merely listing features is an error often made in writing product descriptions. Instead, a copy that converts features into benefits can help your customers understand why they need your t-shirts in the first place. As usual, let’s resort to an example from Zazzle.
For better clarification, we will refer to the bold-lettered words as features, whereas the underlined words as the respective benefits. This simple, yet effective copy can be described by the “X because of Y” formula. Here X is the benefit, and Y is the feature.
Comfortable, casual, and loose-fitting, our heavyweight dark color t-shirt will quickly become one of your favorites. Made from 100% cotton, it wears well on anyone. We’ve double-needle stitched the bottom and sleeve hems for extra durability. Select a design from our marketplace or customize it to make it uniquely yours!
The t-shirt-
is comfortable and casual because it is loose-fitting.
is People’s favorite because of dark colors.
wears well on anyone because of 100% cotton.
is extra durable because of double-needle stitches and hems.
is unique because customizable.
The easiest and efficient way to write a product description is to address your customer’s pain points. For instance, what is the single problem with your printed t-shirt that you absolutely hate?
According to Yizzam, men complained about prints that peel off or crack within a few days. So, the brand boldly addressed this pain point in its product description and provided an instant solution: Yizzam t-shirts!
This is a unique water-based dye process where the image becomes a permanent part of the garment. We guarantee it will never peel, crack or flake like a regular print.
To be honest, apparel descriptions are boring. Who even reads them to the end? Hence the question: how do you make them interesting? For one thing, adding visuals does the trick. Here is an out-of-the-box product description that we found on TEEPUBLIC.
Suddenly, product descriptions don't seem boring anymore, right?
How do you generalize the customer segment for t-shirts? In one word, young people. And what do young people unconditionally love? Fun, duh!
Seemingly insignificant humor actually goes a long way. So, insert jokes in your t-shirt product description that millennials and gen Z find relatable. Of course, if your brand image allows. In this regard, we love what the Red Bubble does. Amid technical description, the brand inserts one-liners that instantly gets your dying attention.
You might be in the t-shirt industry for a long time and understand the insider’s talks. However, your average customer might not. Instead, use painfully simple words to avoid jargon. Here, in our opinion, is an example of misuse of jargon (we won’t tell you which brand).
This is the part we want you to focus on.
(heather gray and heather ice blue are 95% cotton /5% viscose. Charcoal gray & heather blue are 80% cotton/20% polyester. Heather burgundy is 60% cotton/40% polyester. Heather oatmeal is 99% cotton/1% viscose)
So, what could have been a solution? We reiterate our tip no. 05 for this purpose. People love visuals. Hence, adding a color palette would have been more useful instead.
So, what did you learn from the tee brands? Here go some extra pro-tips to refine your product descriptions.
Voila! There you have it. Nevertheless, should you seek help with writing solid t-shirt product description for your page, contact BlogWriters, your dedicated content marketing team
