Copywriting Lesson #3 - Benefits vs. Features

The first paragraph is generally a place where the writer tells
their story. This means answering the question and then
explaining how they discovered the solution. For example, if one
were marketing a weight loss product, they might open with the
shocker, ask the question and then proceed to tell the story
about how they discovered the weight loss program being
described. 

Benefits and features are two separate things entirely. To
understand the difference, it's useful to understand how these
items are listed within effective sales copy. 

Benefits answer the questions posed to the reader. Most
importantly, they answer the "What's in it for you?" element of
the sales pitch. Bullet points are a good way to address the
need to answer such questions. For example: 

How will the weight loss program make my life better? 

- No working out
- No gym fees
- No pills
- No restrictive diets

This rhythm of asking the question and answering by way of
listing benefits is very effective and gives the reader the
sense that their needs can be met by purchasing the product.
Notice that all of these statements are concise and that they
don't beg a question. This is what defines them as features. To
determine whether or not a statement describes a benefit or a
feature, one may use a very simple criteria. 

A feature is something that invites the reader to ask "so what?"
For example, "Our gym is open 24 hours per day," is a feature.
So what if the gym is open 24 hours per day? What does that mean
to the reader? It may or may not be interesting to them and
presents to them the opportunity to simply say it's not useful
to them and they'd be better off spending their money somewhere
else. 

A benefit, however, takes the feature and gives it a context. 

"Our gym is open 24 hours per day so that our clients can work
out anytime they want!" 

The statement is now a benefit as it has a clearly defined end
to the question. If the reader can read and statement as say "So
what?", it's a feature. If they cannot ask that question after
having read the statement, then it is a feature. This simple
formula can help the writer use benefits and features to their
most persuasive effect and prevent them from asking questions
that may result in the customer simply dismissing the feature
being offered as something that doesn't address their needs. 


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