Write product descriptions that sell without exaggerating

What each platform preset asks for

A good description for Instagram would make a poor Amazon listing, so the platform setting changes the brief substantially:

• Online store (Shopify, WooCommerce): a short intro paragraph followed by 4–6 scannable benefit bullets, plus a suggested SEO title (up to 60 characters) and meta description (up to 155).
• Amazon listing: a title under 200 characters, five bullet points that start with a short capitalized benefit, then a description paragraph, with no promotional claims such as "best seller" and no prices.
• Etsy: a warm, personal tone that explains how the item is made, the materials and care instructions, and 13 suggested tags.
• Instagram post: a strong first line, short lines with breaks, at most three emojis, a call to action and 5–8 relevant hashtags.
• Marketplace (eBay, Mercado Libre): a clear title with brand, model and key spec, then specifications, what is in the box and placeholders for shipping and warranty.

Marketplace rules change and vary by category, so check the current style guide of your platform before publishing.

Why the brief forbids invented facts

Language models love to fill gaps: give one a water bottle and it may add "BPA-free", "keeps drinks cold for 24 hours" or "loved by thousands of customers" on its own. On a real listing, those claims can mislead buyers, trigger returns and break marketplace rules. Every brief therefore includes a firm instruction: use only the facts listed, and do not invent features, materials, certifications, numbers or reviews.

The practical consequence is that your feature list is the ceiling of what the copy can say. If a fact matters to buyers, such as dimensions, compatibility, washing instructions or what is not included, put it in the list.

From features to benefits: an example

Every brief asks the AI to open with a benefit-led sentence, turn each feature into a concrete customer benefit, answer the most common buying objection and close with a soft call to action. Here is the difference with the facts of a canvas backpack:

Feature list:
- Waxed cotton canvas
- Padded 15-inch laptop sleeve
- 22 litres

Feature-only copy:
Waxed canvas backpack, 22 L, laptop sleeve.

Benefit-led copy:
Rain on the way to work? Waxed cotton canvas sheds
light showers, and a padded sleeve keeps your 15-inch
laptop safe, with 22 litres left for a gym kit.

The benefit version says the same facts but answers the buyer's real question: what is in it for me.

Build prompt or write with AI: which to use

Build prompt works everywhere and is always available. It produces a Markdown brief with role, task, product facts, audience, platform rules and requirements. Paste it into the assistant you already use, or open it directly with the ChatGPT, Claude or Perplexity links under the result. This is the best route if you want to iterate in a chat, for example "make bullet 3 shorter".

Write the description with AI appears only when the site owner has enabled AI mode. It sends the same brief to a language model and returns the finished copy in the page language. Either way, proofread before publishing; you are responsible for every claim on your listing. For product photos, the image to prompt tool can help you describe a style, and the AI prompt generator covers other marketing tasks such as ads and emails.