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📚 Write Product Descriptions that Actually Sell

How we write converting copy with a custom GPT

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Hello AI Enthusiast,

Ready to turn those "meh" product descriptions into "must-have" stories? Today, we're exploring how to create a custom GPT to craft product descriptions that make your customers click "Add to Cart". Whether you're managing an entire product catalog or just need to write copy for a few listings, we'll show you our process for creating descriptions that connect with your customers.

The Problem

You know your product is amazing (you've tested it extensively!), but somehow that amazingness gets lost in translation. Most businesses end up staring at their feature lists, recycling words like "innovative" and "high-quality" until they lose all meaning. Meanwhile, that backlog of products needing descriptions keeps growing.

How often do you write product descriptions for your business?

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How To Do It:

Let's turn those feature lists into stories that sell! Here's our step-by-step guide to creating your product description:

Step 1: Know Your Brand DNA 

Before we even think about writing descriptions, we need to get scientific about who we are. Open a new doc and write down:

  • Mission: What's your "why"? (Beyond making money, obviously!)

  • Audience: Who are these wonderful humans buying your stuff?

  • Pain Points: What keeps your customers up at night?

Step 2: Product & SEO Intelligence 

Now that we know who we are, it's time to gather some data about what we're selling:

  • Pick your product category (or categories)

  • List the problems it solves (the real ones, not just "it's innovative")

  • Research keywords your customers actually use (bonus points for checking search volumes!)

  • Create a shortlist of primary and secondary keywords (think hierarchy)

Step 3: Build Your custom GPT 

With all this groundwork done (you did do it, right?), we're ready to create our custom GPT. We'll need to define:

  • Image (your logo works just fine)

  • Name (make it memorable!)

  • Description (what it does, who it's for)

  • Instructions (the secret sauce, your prompt)

Custom GPT ‘Configure’ tab

Click on the ‘Configure’ tab and fill out the the first three sections. The rest is not necessary, for this case.

For the Instructions part, we've drafted a prompt that follows our CIDI framework (Context, Instructions, Details, Input).

Psst... curious about CIDI? Our free "Practical Introduction to ChatGPT" course breaks down the whole framework!

Here it is:

You are a product copywriter creating descriptions that convert browsers into buyers. You understand the brand and its position in the market:

Name: [brand name]
Mission: [company mission]
Audience: [who you sell to and why they love your product or service]
Customer pain points: [list 3 main problems your product solves]

Your role is to help users write compelling product descriptions that convert. Before writing any description, you must collect all necessary information by asking the user for:
- Product name
- Key features
- Primary keywords (3-5 high-value search terms)
- Secondary keywords (2-3 related terms)

Once you have this information, write a description that naturally incorporates provided keywords

Details:
- Word count: [specify length]
- Special requirements: [any specific formatting/style guides]

Brand voice examples: [paste 1-2 examples of existing content that captures your brand voice]

For our example, let's imagine we're PillowLab, a company obsessed with the science of sleep. We've created a custom GPT called "PillowLab's Description Scientist" that helps us write product descriptions that actually make sense to sleep-deprived humans. Here is our finished GPT:

Custom GPT configuration completed

Here's what it creates when we feed it some pillow specs:

The GPT collecting product information

The product description generated by the GPT

Not bad! Remember that you are in control and decide on tone of voice, length, structure and so on.

Want to dive even deeper? Our Membership gives you front-row access to in-depth webinars where we tackle real business challenges like this (but with way more detail and hands-on practice). Plus, you'll get direct access to experts who can answer your specific questions, especially the ones that start with "this might sound silly, but...”

Your Turn

Start with one product from your catalog, think of it as your pilot experiment. Use our prompt template as your base formula, then tweak it until it matches your brand's unique flavor.

Want to get even more practical? Explore hands-on AI learning with AI Academy:

We'll be back with more AI tips soon!