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- Being misunderstood isn’t edgy. It’s expensive.
Being misunderstood isn’t edgy. It’s expensive.
Shoppers don’t buy what they don’t understand.
Brian Schmitt
October 05, 2025
I get it. You want your brand to stand out.
But sometimes, in the pursuit of originality, clarity gets left behind.
That line of copy that gets everyone in the room nodding.
You sit back, agree, and say:
“This is us. This is our voice.”
Except…
It’s not working.
Not for the shopper staring at your hero section, wondering what the hell you actually sell.
They didn’t sit through the brand voice workshop.
They don’t want poetry.
They want clarity. Quickly.
It’s not that creativity kills conversion.
It’s that cleverness without clarity adds cognitive load, and confused shoppers don’t buy.
They scroll. They bounce. They click “back.” And they don’t return.
The Real Cost of Clever Copy
Trying to sound premium.
Trying to stand out.
Trying to be “on brand.”
These instincts can quietly kill conversion when they lead to:
Internal jargon nobody understands
Vague benefits wrapped in abstract phrases
CTAs that sound cute instead of telling users what happens next
Mental speed bumps that force shoppers to pause and decode your intent
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Here’s proof:
Win of the Week:
Problem:
Collection pages for cookware bundles weren’t clearly showing how much customers were saving. The pricing layout was scattered, percent discounts, original prices, and “Best Seller” labels competed for attention. Users had to work to do the math. Confusion → hesitation = lost revenue
Discovery:
The team noticed in Hotjar that visitors tapped discount text often, but still weren’t converting. Survey data also hinted that customers didn’t grasp how bundling saved money. The issue wasn’t pricing, it was clarity.
Hypothesis:
If we restructured the discount messaging to be more explicit, showing savings clearly next to the strikethrough price and grouping all pricing content together, we’d reduce cognitive load and increase bundle transactions.
Test:
Reworded, straightforward savings messaging
Grouped all pricing content in a single, right-justified block
Placed the new bundle price directly next to the strikethrough price
Result:
+27% lift in add-to-carts
+18% lift in AOV
+6% more bundles purchases overall
→ $396,600 in annualized lift just from the increase in bundle purchases
Lesson:
Being “clearer” doesn’t mean saying more. It means saying the right thing in the right place.
Clarity made the value feel obvious, and obvious wins.
How to Spot Clarity-Killing Copy
Copy traps that feel “on brand” but aren’t helping:
“Elevate your hydration ritual”
“Feel the future of footwear”
“The final skincare frontier”
Rewritten to be clear:
“All-day hydration in a bottle”
“Supportive shoes built for long days”
“Science-backed skincare for aging skin”
Behavioral signals that your copy isn’t landing:
Users click “Learn More”… then leave
Scroll-bounce patterns right after the hero
Hovering on product titles or descriptions without clicks
You don’t need simpler words.
You need sharper intent.
Quote of the week:
“The most profound ideas are often the simplest.”
You’re not dumbing it down.
You’re making it easier to say “yes.”
Clear copy isn’t boring.
It’s generous.
It respects the shopper’s time and attention.
Ask yourself:
Where are you being clever when you should be clear?
Check your homepage. Your hero copy. Your product value blurbs.
And if it takes internal context to explain what it means?
Rewrite it.
Looking forward,
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