Features are facts about products or services; and benefits give customers a reason to buy because they explain how your product or service improves their lives.
This article covers:
Why good sales copy includes both features and benefits
The difference between features and benefits
An example that shows how to translate features into benefits
More examples of the So what? trick
Why you need problems in your sales copy
How to describe features and benefits on your website
Features and benefits
You love what you’re doing, don’t you?
When you talk about your business, you have a sparkle in your eye.
You love sharing your knowledge. And your enthusiasm is contagious. That’s what your friends and clients tell you.
But are knowledge and enthusiasm enough to sell your products or services?
Why good sales copy includes both features and benefits
Imagine you haven’t cycled for years …
You really don’t know much about bikes.
But you want to get fit again, and biking seems fun.
You go to your local bike store and tell the super-sporty-looking shop assistant you’re looking for a bicycle to tour around the area. Leisurely.
He tells you full of enthusiasm a hybrid would be ideal and shows you a few popular models. This one has 24 gears and it has cantilever brakes. That one has a Shimano drivetrain and disc brakes. And here’s a model currently on offer – it has an aluminum frame and hydraulic disc brakes.
Huh?
You have no idea what the guy is talking about. He makes you feel stupid. You feel like running home and giving up your plan about getting fit again.
Sounds strange?
It happens all the time on websites.
Websites are full of features, specifications, and technical details. But quite often they forget to tell readers what’s in it for them.
What’s your website like? Full of features? Or are you telling your readers what these features mean for them?
Summary: The difference between features vs benefits
- Features are facts about products or services; they add credibility and substance to your sales pitch
- Benefits give customers a reason to buy because they explain how your product or service improves their lives
- To translate features into benefits, answer the question “So what?”
Persuasive copy requires a mix of features and benefits. Imagine you’re selling an oven. One of its special features is a fast preheat system. Fast pre-heating is a feature, because it’s a fact about the oven – it explains what the oven does.
Example: To define a benefit you ask yourself So what? :
The oven preheats quickly.
So what?
It’s quickly ready to start cooking your lasagna.
So what?
Your food is on the table sooner.
So what?
Life is less stressful. There’s less hanging around the kitchen waiting for the oven to get ready. And you don’t have to worry you might forget to preheat your oven.
More examples of the So what? trick
The So what? trick works in any industry:
- Our doors have strong hinges. So what? They won’t bend when the door is slammed shut a thousand times.
- We monitor your servers. So what? Your servers won’t go down, so you and your staff can continue working.
- I write high-converting web copy. So what? You can convert more web visitors into leads and business.
Read through your website and ask for each statement So what? Keep asking So what? to find real benefits.
Real benefits connect to your customer’s desires, such as saving time; reducing costs; making more money; becoming happier, healthier, more relaxed, or more productive.
Let’s say you design beautiful kitchens. You can answer So what? in different ways:
- You’ll have a kitchen where you can relax and feel at home.
- You’ll enjoy your cooking more.
- You can impress your neighbors with the latest kitchen gadgets.
What do your clients really want to achieve? What are they dreaming of?
You can only sell with real benefits if you know what your audience wishes, desires, and secretly dreams of.
Click here to join the 16-Part Snackable Writing Course for busy people (it’s free!)
Why you need problems in your sales copy
Let’s go back to the local bike store.
The super-sporty-looking guy is now explaining both features and benefits of the bike on offer: These brakes are good, so even in the rain they brake well. The bike has 24 gears, so whether you go uphill, downhill, or cycling on a flat surface you’ll be able to find the right gear. The ergonomic saddle remains comfortable even after a couple of hours of cycling.
You now get what each feature means, and his pitch is far more persuasive than when he was simply rattling off features. But, while the sales guy keeps talking about everything that’s so good about the bike, the brand, the warranty and so on, your mind is slowly wandering off.
An abundance of positive information is rather monotonous and dull. It lulls readers to sleep. To keep your reader’s attention, you need to introduce a problem now and then.
People want to avoid problems and glitches. They don’t want to get any hassle.
So rather than be positive all the time, you introduce a problem, and you immediately draw your reader’s attention.
Almost any feature can be translated into a problem you help avoid:
- These disc brakes won’t slip when they get muddy.
- The bike has 24 gears, so you don’t have to worry about struggling uphill – you can use the lowest gear.
- The saddle is comfy, so you won’t get a sore butt after cycling 20 or 30 miles.
Should you mention a straightforward benefit or the avoidance of a problem? That depends on your reader. What interests her more — gaining a benefit or avoiding hassle? If you’re not sure, ask your customers or test different web copy.
How to describe features and benefits on your website
Your readers are in a hurry as they still need to write a blog post, catch up with the latest news, and cook dinner for tonight.
You have to grab their attention quickly while their cursor is hovering over the back button.
- Highlight a key benefit (or problem you avoid) in your headline or subhead
- Use bullet points to list a series of features and benefits, because they’re easy to scan; mention the most important points first or last
- Avoid technical language your reader doesn’t understand
How to seduce your web visitors
Your biggest asset as business owner is empathy.
Sneak into your client’s minds.
Learn what they secretly dream of. Understand how you can fulfill their wishes and desires. And how you can help them avoid trouble and hassle.
When you connect your know-how and enthusiasm to your client’s desires, the magic happens. Your business will grow. You can increase your fees. You can drop difficult clients. And have more fun.
Recommended reading on features vs benefits:
How to teach yourself copywriting (on a shoestring budget)
11 copywriting tips to turn marketing drivel into sales copy
Get inspired by these 21 snazzy copywriting examples
Thanks, Henneke, for your very informative blog post.
Your blog is so interesting; I’ve learnt so much in less than an hour.
It’s truly enchanting!
Thank you, Lois. 🙂
Hi again Henneke, I’m totally loving your blog and learning so much. I’m currently in the process of landing 3 local SEO clients, and part of my service is to audit their current content, optimize it for SEO and improve their conversions. And I think features and benefits, including solving their problems is of utmost importance to truly help a customer and make them see the value in your service. This is definitely something I’ll have to practice and improve. Your site has officially been bookmarked to assist me on my writing and SEO journey.
Hi again, Matthew, it such a great pleasure to see you again, and I agree with you: Getting features and benefits right is key to conversions, and it could also help with SEO. I feel honored you’ve bookmarked my site. Hope to see you back soon 🙂
So helpful – thank you for giving us concrete examples of how to improve our websites. I always get something valuable out of each of your blog postings that I can put into action on my website. I really appreciate you, thank you.
Thank you so much, Lisa. I’m glad you found this useful.
I like the sore butt example 😉
My fave 😉
This is key in bridging the gap for a customer to make a decision of whether to buy today or next month.
It clearly shows what should be present and only.
Thank you.
Yes! The benefits create desire. The features help justify the purchase.
Henneke, as I’m new in copywriting, this helps me a lot. Thank you.
Great!
Henneke that’s really amazing learn a lot thanks
Thank you!
Great advice. I was using lots of features assuming customers would like them as much as I do.
Sounds good!
Henneke,
your words have a magical effect on my subconscious. Thank you so much.
Thank you, Padmaa 🙂
Really useful, practical and Jazzy advice.
Miles Davis “So what”:
https://youtu.be/zqNTltOGh5c
Thank you Hanneke.
Great article on incorporating benefits to clients Henneke! I’m a very new business owner and I’ve been struggling with this. I will now go back to my website to ensure I translate my services into benefits so that potential clients can see what’s in it for them and click that CTA.
Thank you!
I’m glad it was useful to you, Debbie.
Hi! What would you consider the negative of “We grow shows”
I dont think I should say, “we stop your show from dying”
This is for website headline
I don’t really know what you mean with “we grow shows” and why do you need the negative? If you’re stuck with defining what you do and why it matters, ask your customers. Why do they work with you? How does it help them?
Hi
I wonder where you learnt all these ideas. They are all irresistible advice to practice
Thank you
I’ve worked in marketing for a long time and have a marketing degree. Later I taught myself copywriting. You can learn more about my system for learning copywriting here: https://www.enchantingmarketing.com/learn-copywriting/
Thank you for this insightful page.
I’m glad it was useful, Gemma. Thank you for stopping by.
I knew this ‘so what’ formula. But you are always very careful about details that is very helpful. That’s why I love to read your mail and blog.
Thank you so much, Sofia. I’m glad you’re enjoying my blog and I much appreciate your comment. 🙂
Outstanding!
Thank you, Pat!
Thank you so much
Please keep sharing your strategies to us
We enjoy it
I’m glad you enjoyed this article. Thank you for stopping by.
Hi Henneke, read this and left immediately to implement the tips you have shared here on my client work..
And it occurred to me that I didn’t even leave a thank you message for the inspire.. ??.
Thank you very much for always being resourceful with your content.
??
Best Regards,
Eniola
Thank you, Eniola. I appreciate you came back to leave a comment. Happy writing!
Henneke thank you very much for this very simple and also rich article. Sincerely, I lack words for you have an impeccable writing. It’s been two days since I discovered your site but, I can’t get out. I am developing a business, I am inspired by this article to better write persuasive content for my clients. I had already abandoned my site by the lack of a good copywriting, but two days already, you show me start again. Congratulations and thank you for sharing this very sincière and you still boost the confidence of many, I am proof.
I’m glad you’ve found this useful and that it has boosted your confidence. Thank you for stopping by, Oscar.
Thank you Henneke for simple yet insightful content.
I would like to share your website to other dropshippers in my group who are struggling with everyday sales. I hope that 1 out of 10 will buy your tutorials.
Sincere wishes
Philip M.
Thank you so much for sharing, Philip. I’m glad you found this article useful.
I’m a naturopathy scholar. I write home remedies for various diseases on my website. I’m still not getting the “features” of home remedies, so finding it difficult to write every home remedy in a unique way. After all, the home remedies are more than 2000. So, writing 2000 webpages with “unique feature” is almost impossible for me. Can you give me few examples of “features” in my case??
I assume you have 2,000 different products for a reason, so explain what’s included in each remedy (features) and how that helps people feel better or what ailments it can help cure (benefits).
Not every feature has to be unique but people need to understand why to buy product A rather than product B.
For instance, do you mean, “Cure Diabetes (benefit) by Bitter gourd (feature)”.
Yes, that’d be the basis but you need more detail and also substantiate your claim that it cures diabetes.
I would highly recommend that you hire a copywriter (or coach) to get personal feedback and/or write a small number of product descriptions together so you can start from the right basis.
If you are a business that is dependent on a service, and not a product that can save people money, make them happier, or any of the other main benefits you outlined in the article, in the long term. For example, if I am a DeeJay startup, and I don’t have the best, but ot the worst equipment, I don’t have anybody that aren’t family and friends for references. How do I show features that are relatively minimal, benefits they won’t care about the next day, and no actual testimonies from customers?
Services have features and benefits, just like products. Think about what you offer and why people would care about that. For instance, what kind of music do you play? Do you create a party atmosphere? Get people to dance and be happy? Bring back happy memories by playing music from the 80s? Think about the whole experience you help create. People remember how you’ll make them feel.
Thank you Henneke,
Hands down the best and easiest business article I have read about features vs benefits ( and also all year), you go even further to explain in simple terms its application.
Simple, Clear, Digested quickly.
Great work!
Thank you for your compliment, Lark, and for stopping by to leave your comment. I appreciate it.
SO what? So true!
Indeed 🙂
If I could finally get this to gel in my mind! <3
<3
Hey, thats so helpful but what do you do after identifying your benefits?
You describe both the benefits and features in your sales copy.
Thank you Henneke!
Everytime I read your blog, I get to learn something new or atleast gain knowledge. But there is one thing that’s bothering me a lot, and that one thing is, “how can I test web copies?” – can you please shed some light on it?
There are different tools available for AB testing different versions of your web copy. You create two different versions of your text and then the tool randomly shows one of the versions to web visitors and you can see which of the two wins (i.e. get more sales or more signups).
really clear,
I really like the fact that you used the same example of the bike shop throughout as this helped me to stay focused on what you were teaching me about benefits rather than me getting lost in different examples. Thanks again 🙂
Thank you, Dylan. I appreciate your comment and your suggestion that staying with one example (like the bike shop here) can make it easier to understand a post. 🙂
Thanks for the Simple, clear and tricky solution, Henneke.
My pleasure 🙂
Thank you. I just know about benefits and features yesterday and wanting to know more. Your writing helped me. Thank you
Great. I am glad you found this post helpful.
Bonjour Henneke
thank you for your frank spoken and the clarity of your words
good continuation
cordially
Louis
Merci pour votre franc parlé et la clarté de vos propos
bonne continuation
cordialement
Louis
Merci beaucoup, Louis 🙂
What an absolute gem you are …. as well as using the wisdom from your blogs to create a website for my new start up that offers English language courses for non-English speaking equestrian community, I’ve also used the ‘so what’ question to really drill down on the quality of my CV – and discovered what a benefit I will be to my next employer!! – at the moment I still need a day time job before my business launches to the stars!! ?
I’m glad this post has been so useful for you, Petra. You put a smile on my face. 🙂 Good luck with launching your business!
Great content! Difference very well explained.
I always wondered if it was better to start with a hassle you help avoid or a benefit.
Research your audience is the key.
What would you say it’s the best way to research an audience?
If you have a chance to speak to people (e.g., using Skype), then that is my preferred method. Often you learn more from a few in-depth conversation than from a survey with a lot of people. You can also do your research by reading forum discussions, checking Facebook groups or blog comments.
And if you have enough traffic, then A/B testing two different options (avoid hassle vs gain benefit) can be very helpful, too.
How about the mushroom?
We produce and sell mushrooms
So what?
what is our features?
what is our benefit?
The features can be the nutrients of the mushrooms or the way you grow them (organic?). And the benefits can be the taste or how they’re healthier than alternatives. If you’re a small grower (feature), then consumers might even be interested in how they can support a small family business (benefit). It’s difficult to give details without knowing your business.
Excellent, Henneke. You’ve simplified Features vs Benefits better than nearly all of the sales trainers and sales books I’ve ever read. And, I might add, I’ve been in direct selling for 30 years! Well done.
Really? That is a big compliment! Thank you, Paul.
I like this,it has helped me quite a bit…
I’m glad you’re enjoying my content, Bobby. Happy writing!
Hello Henneke,
I almost never comment on any blog post I read. I cannot stand it now though.
Just wanted to say THANK YOU for your content. Scraped the whole web for useful copywriting tips, but bigger sites like Copyblogger is nowhere near to yours.
Thank you again,
Luke
Aww, that’s a big compliment, Luke.
Thank you so much. I really appreciate you took the time to leave a comment—you made my day! 🙂
I can’t thank you enough Henneke! You go out of the way to help your readers. In this article, every word served the purpose. Thank you!
I’m glad you found it useful, Misha. Happy writing!
Hey Henneke your blog post is similar to Bible. It shows where to find golden nuggets to shine and bright your blog, very useful insight and simple to understand. Thanks a million Henneke!
I’m glad you’ve found my blog post useful, Rahul. (And it’s a lot quicker to read than the Bible! 🙂 )
Saving this so I can share it to my future children, they can learn a brand new thing that will never be obsolete. #toinfinityandbeyond
Hi Henneke, thanks for being a part of our lives!
All the love x
I’m glad you find this one useful, Riza. Thank you for your lovely comment. Happy writing!
This makes my work easier. When I write reviews about a product for affiliate marketing, I focus on the features but the introduction of ‘So What’ is actually a great idea on how to rephrase features to benefits.
Excellent guide.
Yep, it works for product reviews, too!
Hi Henneke,
Just to get an idea of the “so what”? can you provide a sample of a sales letter? I’m new in this field, and I’m looking for visual of a sample on the customers point of view.
Do we ask the customers “so what” or we write it on the letter , or is that something we ask self to get the features and benefits of what we are offering the customers?
You use the question when you create a list of features and benefits of your product or service, so it’s part of your planning phase. You may know some of the answers, or you might want to ask customers what they’re looking for. If you ask customers, then I’d ask “Why do you care about this?” or “Why does that matter to you?” rather than “So what?” After you’ve gathered all the relevant information for your copy, you arrange it in the right order and write a draft. Here’s more about the proper process for writing copy: http://www.copyblogger.com/seductive-web-copy/
I was just cruising around trying to find out what web content writing is all about since I would really like to do something in the field of writing/blogging and happened on some of your suggestions. My first thought was, “OK, how much is this going to cost me?” My second thought is, “WOW, she’s giving away some really good information so why not gobble it up while I can?” and my third thought is, “Gee thanks. You explained a lot about web content writing and ad writing and you didn’t use even one 50 letter word.”
How can I do this for a pet toy entertainment house that is also a pets furniture and shelter?
Why do people buy it? Because it looks good? Because it keeps their cat fit, healthy and happy? Because it shelters their dog from the rain? Because it’s easy to keep clean? Because they can impress neighbors and guests with all the “gadgets”?
Dear Henneke,
I totally get the concept of feature vs. benefits but have a hard time translating it into my photography and videography.
Thanks for the post
Teri
Hi Terri,
It really depends on the niche your working in. Marketers may look for ways to show off their new products, they want the photography to be hassle-free and a quick turnaround. Families may want to capture moments of family life for themselves or to show off to friends. You sell more than a video or photograph.
Have you asked clients why they choose to work with you?
Hi Henneke,
thank you for the response. I started to think in those terms and you helped me with your examples. I will start approaching different people with different “benefits”. I think the picture is pretty clear now on how to write “copy”. I resisted the word Copy because I am not a copy writer but realized that if we write to market we are in fact writing copy.
Have a wonderful sunny day even if the sun is not shining
Teri
Great article, Henneke! Love the “So what?” So easy to remember and implement.
Have a grand holiday!
Thank you, Louise. I’m having a fab time 🙂
I’ve been enjoying your newsletters so much Henneke! This tip can turn so many things around. Thank you for linking to such fantastic stuff every single time — and have a lovely castle-hopping experience in France! :o)
Thank you, Ralitsa. The castles are wonderful (the wine and cheese, too!)
Great article! Thank you Henneke!
Hi Henneke,
This article is a double-barrelled brainpoke-Aha! moment. Forgive the lengthy comment; I promise it is relevant 🙂 The problem: dull, unsexy HR-led (sadly) recruitment ads with dubious results attracting the right candidates/future employees. I have been wrestling with how to help HR colleagues turn recruitment marketing activities from blah to irresistibly effective. Thanks to your article, a curious but potentially problematic issue of semantics – ‘HR benefits and Marketing benefits’ hit me. I shared the Aha moment and tip to overcome in this week’s Attention-Grabbing blog post. Copious and liberal thanks to you. Keep sharing your super practical and stellar tips.
Cheers
Nicole
Yes, I think you’re right – there’s a lot of similarity between recruitment and marketing. Too often recruiters forget that they have to “sell” a job with the right benefits to the right candidates. And too often companies forget the “soft side” of attracting the right candidates. It’s not only about money! Thank you for stopping by again, Nicole 🙂
Hi Henneke,
Thanks for the great article! The ‘What if?’ test is genius. (We will absolutely implement.) Wondering if you would be interested in writing a guest post for our Social Media Strategies blog?
Let me know if you’re interested. It would be great to get some high-quality narrative writing like yours up there.
Thanks again!
Erin
Hi Erin
Glad you enjoyed this article. I’m scaling back on guest blogging commitments, so am not able to take on any new projects for the time being.
Agreed. “For Me” isn’t literally meant for me as the marketer.
The question is one you would ask from the perspective of the audience you are serving. AKA, the WIIFM principle. What’s in it for me?
I prefer to use the comfort of feature-benefit-advantage, answering the questions of
What is it?
What does it do (for me)?
Why is that important (or better)?
Yes, FAB (Features, Advantages, Benefits) is based on the same principle as the So What? question and works fine, too. Use what works best for you.
Be careful with “for me” – this works as long as your wishes and concerns are similar to your target audience’s. This isn’t always the case.
Henneke, you make my work so much easier! I look forward to receiving your emails, and I love how practical your articles are. I always walk away with at least one new lesson to apply to my own copywriting. THANK YOU 🙂
You made my day, Kara. Because that’s exactly what I hope to achieve. Thank you for stopping by! 🙂
Very helpful blog post!
I struggle mightily with introductions, headlines, and enthusiasm, so I found this blog post to be a huge help to my writing! Thank you!
So what?
I know have better blog headlines.
So what?
I now have more viewers
So what?
I have more conversions and someone to thank for that, YOU!
You’re a quick learner, Patrick 🙂
Thank you for stopping by. I’m glad you found the post helpful!
I signed up for the FREE guide to learn more. Thanks for the reply 🙂
Great tips and fantastic reminder to ask my “so what?” whenever clients send through their notes. But you know, many don’t know the answer!
Yes, that’s true. But if we can’t find an answer in our discussions, I suggest they speak to their customers to find out. How can we write persuasive copy if we don’t know what readers are looking for?
Thanks so much. I am struggling with copy writing so much. I love to write but to entice others to read what I write and to understand simply what I want for them is tough slugging. I will continue to work on my website by now adding this question, “So what?” to help me with benefits. I know benefits are the most important to get them to keep reading.
I think what i struggle with is that I am so immersed in what I want to do that I begin to feel as if the words I am repeating and reworking over and over are too blase and repetitive and old. But they are that way to me, not my Avatars. They may have never read them before. It’s tough to keep looking at this with a fresh eye.
Yes, that’s absolutely true – it can be a struggle to write about something you’re totally immersed in. Speaking to your blog readers or clients can help. Ask them questions to find out what they’re struggling with and what they’re looking for; and pay attention to the words they’re using.
Thank you for stopping by, Bernice.
And yet, what are the benefits of features? And what the features of benefits?
And once we know: so what?
😉 sorry, couldn’t resist!
Marketer’s poetry? 😉
In a way, I guess!
Thanks Henneke, a very timely post and highly applicable to my industry – so much so that I’ve shared your post with all of our staff as a reminder to use features and benefits when speaking with our clients.
Ah, yes, I see you sell bikes. That does make it highly applicable 😉
Happy cycling!
Henneke,
I liked your idea about mixing up positive features and benefits with introducing problems to keep things from getting monotonous. I’ve heard about the importance of using both features and benefits, but I hadn’t heard much about how to order them to keep readers interested. Good stuff!
Glad you found it useful 🙂
Hi Henneke,
I’m glad you had a chance to spin your wheels this past weekend.
This is a nice little post, and a fantastic reminder about the question “So What?”
I read the chapter in your first book that went into this technique in more detail, and it just cracked me up. Not because it was funny—because I’d written the same thing in a post about 3-4 years ago. The difference is that yours is written better (much more charming), and apparently, read by more people.
That makes me very happy, because this idea is so important for people who want to communicate better! We all need to get better at playing the role of overwhelmed reader, who just wants to know ‘what’s in it for her’. Thanks for helping me do a better job with that.
Best, Jon
P.S. I’ll send you the text of my old article, just for a giggle
Yep, totally agree with you, Jon. We need to help our overwhelmed and distracted readers who want to know quickly what’s in it for them.
When I can spin my wheels around, I’m happy 🙂
Thank you for adding your thoughts!
This is a wonderful post! I had a client who wanted to write feature spotlights for their software, and I struggled until I implemented the benefits. Wish I’d had this earlier. Thanks for posting!
I’m so sorry I wasn’t quicker 😉
Loved this blog post. I have to say I laughed at the “sell the sizzle not the sausage,” that’s so English. I’ve always heard “sell the sizzle not the steak,” courtesy of Zig Ziglar, a great salesman of years past. I’m new to your enchanted world and I look forward to your blog posts and all the intelligent and interesting comments. I have a post-it on my computer: WIIFM to remind me to consider the customer, “what’s in it for me.”
Oh, I had no idea. Do the Brits eat more sausages and the Americans more steak?
Welcome to the enchanting community! 🙂
I’ve heard that people care about benefits more than features, but sometimes when you are in the thick of it, it’s hard to tell the difference. I love the “so what?” question, that seems like it will force you to the most simple benefit as long as you keep asking it!
Yep, just keep asking and you’ll find a benefit. When I interview clients to research my web copy, I keep asking them, too. 🙂
I’m sure they love that!
love this. simple. clear. and very, very valuable. thank you!
Glad you like it 🙂
Thank you for stopping by again!
I was wondering why my Blog signups are on the ‘strugglebus’. Maybe it’s because they don’t feel like champions. My whole premise is that they *are* champions. I flatter them too much perhaps. Should I make them feel uncomfortable? Should I be reminding them more of their challenges?
Henneke, your cartoon is *so* good! The store is not ‘The Recreational Exercise Outlet For Users of Two Wheeled Vehicles”, it’s “John’s Bike Shop”. The features and benefits of the bicycle seat are not described in boring detail. The pain of not buying a new seat is clearly slapped at the reader. Who wants to continue living with a sore butt? I have so much to learn… Yes, I’ve heard it all before. I listen but I don’t practise!!
You promise people the “five success secrets of champions” when they sign up – this may arouse curiosity, but the incentive to sign up would be much stronger if you could be more specific about how subscribers will benefit from these secrets. Will they become more productive or more relaxed? What will they learn from your report? How do you make them feel better?
Great post. I had learned that technique a long time ago, but it is a great reminder and I absolutely love the examples you used.
Thank you, Stephanie. Coming up with fun examples is one of the most interesting parts of writing (and reading!) tutorials. 🙂
I just taped a piece of paper with the words “so what?” onto my monitor so this concept is front and center when I’m writing product descriptions.
I like that idea! 🙂
Now this I can understand.
A lot of sites write about value positions, and benefits.
Leaving you with no idea, how to figure out what the benefits are.
Thank you, Randall. I do try my best to be helpful 🙂
Thanks. Now I am going back to my site and edit… 🙂
Your writing reminds me of this quote ,”The writing is for children and the words are for men”. Forgot where I read this.
Have fun with editing!
Thank you for stopping by, Nanda.
I’ve used the ‘So What’ trick for a long time…25 years in fact. But you know what? Sometimes when you come online you forget all that (off-line) good stuff so thanks for the reminder.
Or perhaps it’s just that the old memory chip is getting a bit worn out – that or my age 😉
Yes, a lot of offline stuff is still applicable online. People’s needs and desires have remained surprisingly unchanged. It’s easy to forget that.
Hello, Hennecke!
What a helpful post! Thanks so much.
As a retired home-schooling mom, I’ve been trying to sell the WRONG thing on my site: the sausage and not the sizzle. I’ve been trying to sell people their own homes and their own children, instead of the benefits of being there with them–nothing but a long list of “ought-to’s”. And my ideal customer secretly wishes someone would sell them the benefits. This explains a LOT!
I think the entry into my brain is a long, crooked tunnel, like a maze attached to an igloo, but you finally got through!
I hope…
Thanks! I may need a booster shot by tonight, but right now, I get it! Thanks! 🙂
You’re always welcome to come back for a booster shot 🙂
Katherine, my brain feels like this as well. Henneke, you are an awesome explainer of what I wasn’t able to figure out on my own. Thank you! And to think, I almost clicked, “delete.”
Glad you didn’t click “delete”!
Thank you for stopping by, Emmy
Thanks for making this concept so easy to understand, sometimes its too easy just to keep writing your blog from your own technical point of view and forget the customer needs to be pointed to the benefits.
Yes, the concept is easy, but it can be hard to implement sometimes. I remember writing a me-focused rather than reader-focused email one time. The click-through rate immediately plummeted. That was a good reminder 🙂
I see you practice what you preach by describing the benefits of the So What technique, from headline to closing paragraph. Nicely said. Nicely done.
Yes, I do my best. Always a bit nervous about tripping up myself!
Thank you, Jack
Thank you Henneke for sharing your easy to read and informative blog post. It makes a lot of sense as at the end of the day your customers don’t care about you, they care about ‘what’s in it for them’ (WIFM)…well written – thanks
Yep, that’s the harsh truth – customers only care about themselves.
Thank you for stopping by, Jeannette. How’s your website progressing?
Selling benefits, not features, is the Number 1 rule of good direct response marketing. (“Sell the sizzle not the sausage”). And I love your “So what” question as a way of identifying the benefits.
Yep, that’s exactly right – the number 1 rule 🙂
Thank you for stopping by, Jeremy.
Thank you so much for this enchanting and enlightening article! I´m about to start a blog on my just launched plus size clothing web site. Your advice is really excellent! By far the best of what I´m reading about writing for the web everywhere else.
Warmest regards from France,
Beata Debarge
Thank you, Beata. Glad to see you’re still around 🙂
*Waving hello from across the channel*
Wow. Perfect timing Henneke. I’ve been on the struggle bus trying to understand the features versus benefits concept. You have made it crystal clear. Off to check my website and begin my blog. Thanks for the timely inspiration.
I don’t want you riding on the struggle bus, Kelly 🙂
Let me know if there’s anything else I can help you with?