In the traditional sense, a blurb is a promotional description of a book, written by the author, designed to intrigue and excite potential readers.
If you’ve heard the phrase, “never judge a book by its cover,” the blurb is its one caveat. Seeing as blurbs are usually on the back cover, and their job is to convince you to read it.
Now, you may be wondering why you, a small business owner, is reading a blog about becoming a blurbology master. In short, the ability to write the perfect blurb expands well beyond an author describing an epic fantasy in less than 200 words.
Consider the following short-form pieces of content you write about your business:
- The “About Us” section on your website
- A Facebook or Instagram post
- The “From the Business” description on your Google Business Profile
- A promotional email
Each of these are examples of a blurb about your business, products or services.
How do you get a potential customer to say, “Oh! I want to do business with them,” in just a few short sentences? Think of it as an elevator pitch for your business designed to showcase the value customers stand to gain from working with you.
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DownloadWriting the Perfect Blurb About Your Business
Crafting a short statement about your business as a whole or about a specific product or service can be intimidating. There is so much you want to say about what you offer. The key to creating compelling short-form content is:
- Offer the value you provide right off the bat.
- Provide proof in a short amount of time.
- Drive your selling point home
We’ll show you how by dissecting this company blurb example from the 154-word About section from Pet Wants Facebook profile.
1. Lead-off With a Value Statement
“The freshest, natural dog and cat food delivered right to your door.”
From this value statement, we learn that the company cares about the quality of the ingredients they use in their dog and cat food product. In addition, this opening line highlights their dedication to making the purchasing process simple for their customers.
Here is another example of a well-written opening value statement from Costco:
“Costco is a membership warehouse club, dedicated to bringing our members the best possible prices on quality brand-name merchandise.”
Remember: A blurb isn’t a long-form blog, it’s a short-form description of your business designed to catch the attention of potential customers. So try and keep your value statement to just one or two sentences.
2. Provide Proof
After you’ve wowed your customers with your opening value statement, back it up with some tangible proof. Don’t let customers think you only talk a good game. The key is showing them that you know how to walk the walk, too.
“At Pet Wants, we swim against the mainstream tide and avoid ingredients which contribute to pet allergies and health issues. We NEVER use: Sugar, corn, wheat, soy, artificial colors, animal by-products, or fillers.”
Pet Wants does a fantastic job of showcasing the proof behind their value statement by listing the ingredients they refuse to use in their products. In addition, they call out how they are different from their competition — proving that they care about your pets by actively avoiding ingredients known to contribute to potential health issues.
3. End With a Bang!
Last but not least, end your blurb with a bang. Drive your point home by nailing down the benefit of working with you.
“Pet Wants, on the other hand, will deliver our small-batch pet food to your dog or cat’s bowl within weeks; not months.”
Depending on the product or service your company provides (or the type of blurb you’re writing) you can express your benefit in many ways. Just ensure you’re sharing it. Let people know what they stand to gain from doing business with you.
For example, on the About Us pages of the Zappos website, the final sentence drives home the benefit of doing business with them while simultaneously working to change the existing perception of the company.
“We hope that in the future people won’t even realize we started selling shoes online. Instead, they’ll know Zappos as a service company that just happens to sell ________.”
Mastering the Marketing Blurb
Now that you know how to sell your company in three steps, the ability to write a compelling blurb about your business can extend past simply telling who you are.
This process can be used to create various types of short-form content — from eye-catching social media posts about individual pieces of content to answering common questions on your Google Business Profiles FAQs page.
Plus, your customers will notice. After all, almost 40% of buyers say companies could improve their effectiveness by creating shorter content.
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