• Goal:
  • The best seller on BakingSteel.com is their Original Baking Steel product. Our marching orders were to increase sales of this top seller. What made this somewhat complicated is that this item was already driving 48% of overall sales, was it even possible to further optimize?
• Solution:
  • Our idea was to keep the page design the same so it would be consistent with their other product pages but dramatically improve the product story.
• Outcome:
  • 46.42% improvement. The test was so successful that the product went out of stock. It’s still on backorder.

Backstory

We love inventors. In fact, most of our conversion optimizing work is done with inventors. When we were introduced to Andris Lagsdin we hit it off right away. Here was someone who had been baking pizzas for 24 years. After experimenting with dozens of ideas Andris found the secret to the perfect pie. He invented a 14″ by 16″ steel plate that dramatically improved pizza making.

Our Hypothesis

While the product description was efficient we knew it could tell a better product story. Further reading: How To Develop A Product Story.

Test Concept

We had a cursory understanding of what the product did but while interrogating Andris we uncovered a treasure trove of remarkable nuggets.

For example, the weight of the steel plate is 16 pounds. This isn’t some minor detail. Andris prototyped multiple weights, and through trial and painful error discovered that 16-pound weight is what gave the pie the perfect crust.

We also discovered the unique heat transfer properties of steel make it the ideal baking material.

These details weren’t new to Andris; he just wasn’t talking about them on the product page because he didn’t think most customers would care.

And he is right, many buyers wouldn’t care. But maybe 20% would.

As copywriters, our job isn’t to convince those who are already sold; our job is to identify the subset that isn’t convinced and figure out what’s missing for them.

Story angles we explored in our updated copy:

— We introduced a scientific equation to explain the heat transfer property of steel. We didn’t expect people to read the whole equation but just seeing it there would build credibility:

— We used a relatable baking analogy so prospects could better visualize how Original Baking Steel works. Analogies help connect new ideas with familiar ones. If a buyer can’t understand the sales pitch their conversion rate will be close to 0%.

— We added tension in our story: “The pizza we’re going for is crispy on the outside and soft and moist inside.”

— We accentuated attributes. Instead of just saying the dimensions are 14″ by 16″, the thickness is ¼”, and the weight is 16 pounds we went into great detail to explain those precise dimensions. This creates an air of expertise and gives the buyer confidence.

— People buying BakingSteel aren’t interested in steel, the material. They just want to treat their tastebuds. So we added a whole bunch of pizza photos. The goal was to show variety and whet appetites.

— It’s also worth noting what we didn’t talk about. We didn’t talk about our return policy or apply any discounting gimmick.

Outcome

We ran the test twice, just to make sure. The impact on sales was 46.42%.

Why Our Concept Won

Our idea won because we added a lot more dimension to the Original BakingSteel. We gave the product a chance to educate and entertain buyers. It’s like being in a fine dining restaurant and hearing the sommelier talk about the story of the wine while she’s holding the bottle.

There is a lot more work to do. We’re currently working on further improving the page, getting more people to the page, and converting people who are in research mode via email.

BTW, our test to increase product page visibility also won. We were able to improve visibility by 6.9%:

5/17/21 Update

After getting this winner we decided to challenge ourselves so we completely rewrote the product description. This time the focus was on the origin story + we added a photo of Andris’ old factory photo. This concept also won.

Lesson: keep testing. Always challenge assumptions.