BENEFITS VS FEATURES AND BUYING MOTIVES:
Learn the Difference
FACT: In a recent survey, few business owners understood the difference between Features and Benefits in advertising. That’s not good because features don’t sell, benefits SELL!
FEATURES are factual statements about a product or service being promoted. When you promote only the features, you’re making your customer do all of the work to figure out what’s in it for them?
However, a BENEFIT answers the question “What’s in it for me?” The best way to truly understand the true benefit of your product or service is to FOCUS ON THE RESULTS OF THE BENEFIT. It’s critically important to apply this thinking to your business.
Business owners know the minute details of their product and have difficultly seeing how their customer thinks and FEELS about it. This is one of the main reasons the marketing efforts of most small-business owners don’t work. What’s the result of not knowing? Small-business owners only communicate the features of their product or service and NEGLECT TO MENTION THE BENEFITS.
You have to know your customer to effectively communicate to them. For demographics, I recommend gathering as much data as possible: age, sex, household income, family size, media preferences. Equally important is your customer’s psychographics: Their value system, hot buttons, behavior style, fears and passions.
Next, list the features of your product or service and ask yourself – Why does this feature matter to my customer? When you dicover that, you’ll start thinking about how to communicate with that in mind. And finally, what problem or concern can this feature address for my customer? When you can address a problem or conern and offer a solution, you’ll get your customer’s attention.
We have to think in terms of results. When you think of the RESULTS of the BENEFIT, the situation becomes much clearer to your customer. When you use the RESULTS approach to discovering your business’ benefits, the marketing messages you use to reach your customers will be RIGHT ON TARGET. This will motivate your customer to take action which is exactly what you are motivating them to do.
For more information on how your message can impact your customers, contact George Piliouras at George@GPiliourasandAssoc.com or call him at 313- 595-1897.
Click on his logo to visit www.GPiliourasandAssoc.com and see how George Piliouras & Associates can help market and advertise your business for greater success.
