Features are not Benefits

People don’t buy features; they buy the promise of what those features can do for them. Features are meaningless. Benefits are what sell your products or services.

Perhaps you’re rolling your eyes as you read this because this is such an obvious point.
You didn’t get to where you are today by not knowing the difference between your products’ features and benefits.

Of course you didn’t, but a funny thing happens when a person is put in charge of their company’s advertising. They often tend to forget that features are not benefits. They forget that nobody cares about their product’s features except the product designers and some salespeople.

Now maybe you’re different than most people. Maybe your company’s ads are all about the benefits of your products. Go ahead and give yourself a pat on the back. You’ve achieved the goal of this step and may move on to the next.

But, if your ad is filled with bullet points describing all the wonderful features of your products, take a moment and read on.

Say you own a company that manufactures hammers. You could show a big picture of your lovely hammer below a headline that reads, “Introducing the best hammer for all your hammering needs.”

Beside the picture, you could list the many reasons your hammer is the best: solid steel head, unbreakable fiberglass handle, super comfortable rubber grip, etc.

Wow. Makes you want to buy that hammer, huh? What a waste of money. This would be funny if it didn’t happen so often for so many products and services in so many industries.

Now, you could improve that hammer ad immensely by discussing a benefit in the headline and backing it up with other benefits to illustrate why the consumer would be nuts not to buy your hammer. It’s that easy.

But we’re almost through half of our twelve steps now. We can go even further. Let’s be courageous and think a bit more. Use your imagination and put yourself in the mind of your consumer.

Take your laundry list of benefits and think bigger. Is there a single overarching, perhaps intangible, benefit your consumer can enjoy based on the myriad of real benefits your product offers?

Aw! You’re on to something now. Just keep reading these articles, my friend. It only gets better.•

This article introduced the fifth of twelve steps. Challenge yourself, your staff and your advertising agency to revolutionize your ad program. If you missed a previous step, contact the author for a complimentary copy. And, remember, every revolution begins with just one step.


© 2006

After more than a decade in the business, Jeff Berney offers more than a passion for prose. Above all, he is a strategic thinker, an idealist, a brand evangelist. The articles posted here are from his collection entitled, "Twelve Steps to Creating Breakthrough Advertising Campaigns: A creative philosophy to help companies recover from years of playing it safe." You can view his work or read his blog at www.jberney.com Jeff Berney is a freelance idealist, brand evangelist and writer. He can be reached at jeff@jberney.com.

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