You don’t buy an Air Fryer, you buy health — Get steady work by selling benefits over features
Picture me approaching a prospect, and this is the first thing I say:
“Hi, I’m Tânia. I’m a copywriter. My writing is a structured storytelling technique that will convert your audience.”
Now you may think it’s not so bad, but that may be because you understand copywriting, and this is nothing new to you, right?
What if I say: “Hi, I’m Tânia. I’m a copywriter. I turn readers into buyers”.
Isn’t that much simpler to understand that first?
What great copy is all about
I have said on many occasions the pillars for building a trusting relationship with your buyer are specific knowledge of the product and the public.
You need to establish a connection with the audience.
You do so by telling your customer what they need to know at different stages.
This communication is a strategized way to use the benefits and features of a product.
What is the difference between benefits and features?
Features are what the product does, its functionality, and its attributes.
Benefits are placing those features into of how they help your audience.
You may be tempted to think that benefits rule over features.
That’s not true.
Trust me, as a salesperson of many years, I know they are equally important.
They just happen at different stages of the buyer's journey.
This iPod ad campaign is a brilliant example of the benefits framework in copywriting.
The ad is the first stage of the buyer's journey.
Its goal is to attract prospects to HOW the product helps them first.
Apple can’t say in an ad: “The world's first portable digital media player”.
That’s a feature.
It makes more sense to come after the benefits are shown when buyers already know they want 1000 songs in their pocket.
When to use features
In your copywriter and marketer's life, you will encounter situations when it can be better to use features.
This can happen if you are targeting a saturated market.
A specific feature of yours can attract a niche or solve a kind of problem the competition can’t.
Think of this example from the brand Calm.
This is a feature.
They are promoting Lindsey Stirling's song made for their platform.
Calm has the upper hand with exclusive content (features) that people can only get if they are subscribers.
This works because it makes people feel special, being presented with content only they can access.
So you see that sometimes features can be much more interesting to use.
It depends on the situation.
Closing thoughts
Now, I know I didn’t talk about the Air Fryer in the title.
I just couldn’t find an image to use it in, as it’s an example I saw on Chase Dimond’s Twitter a while ago.
There will be situations when you will use features and others when benefits are most suitable.
It really depends.
How can you know what to use?
Determine what you want to say and which messaging method is best.
Do so by understanding your unique selling proposition, as this may be a benefit or feature.
I hope this helps you convey a more properly suited sales message.
Give it a clap if you want more content like this one. It helps me reach more people like you.
See you tomorrow.
