Benefits Sell, Features Don’t, And Here is Why
This is a guest post from Daniel from Daily Blog Tips.
If you are interested in Internet marketing, copywriting or even marketing in general, you’ve probably already heard the saying “benefits sell, features don’t”, right? It basically states that if you want to sell something, your marketing messages should focus on the benefits of your product to potential customers, and not on its features.
Not everyone understands this concept, however, and that is probably the reason why people forget to apply it to their copy or marketing material.
So let’s explain how it all works.
The main reason why features don’t sell is because customers don’t care about them. Sure, they might use a list of features to decide between two similar products, but the features per se won’t make the customer want to buy the product.
We could go a step further and say that customers don’t even care about the product itself. They don’t want to buy it because it is a cool product, because it is the latest model or anything like that. They don’t want to own it. They just want to use the product to accomplish a certain task or result. In other words, the product is not the end but the means to an end.
Theodore Levitt was a very famous professor at the Harvard Business School, and he used to summarize this concept to his classes with the following example:
“People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole!”
We can extrapolate this notion to as many products as we want.
People don’t want to buy web hosting, they want their websites online and accessible to web visitors.
People don’t want to buy cooking ebooks, they want to invite their friends and relatives to dinner and have a good time.
People don’t want to buy light bulbs. They want to be able to work or read at night.
That is why benefits sell and features don’t. The feature, or the product itself, is the first part of the examples we used above. The benefit is the second part.
As we mentioned before, in a sense customers don’t even want to own the product. They just want to “hire” it to accomplish a certain task or solve a certain problem. If you focus your marketing on that task or problem – instead of focusing on the product – your message will resonate very strongly in the customer’s head, and that is what will trigger the sale.
Want a practical example? Suppose that you are a bit over-weight, and that you are shopping around the web for a good weight-loss ebook. You then come across ebook A, with the following list of points describing it:
- 156 pages of pure content!
- Images and illustrations to illustrate the concepts.
- Many diets you can choose from.
- A complete list of cardio and strength exercises.
After a while you then come across ebook B, with the following list of points describing it:
- Start losing weight in the next 30 minutes!
- 20 exercises that will melt that abdominal fat away.
- Discover how to lose 4 pounds every week with proper nutrition.
- Tone your muscles while losing all that fat.
Which ebook would you be more likely to purchase? Probably the second one because its description is focused on the benefits you’ll get from it, while the first ebook focused on the features.
The next time you are writing your sales copy or working on a marketing campaign, remember to focus on the hole and not on the drill, because that is what your customers are looking for!
Daniel is the owner of Daily Blog Tips. He is also the author of the Make Money Blogging ebook, which you can download for free by signing up to his newsletter.
Posted on : April 21st, 2010
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- How to Publish an Ebook Series – Part 4 – Getting Ready To Sell It Online
- Let’s Discuss: Which of These Books Do You Think Would Sell Better?
- How to Publish an Ebook Series – Part 6 – 10 Steps to a Great Sales / Landing Page
- How to Retain Your Subscribers Like a Pro
- How to Publish an Ebook Series – Part 7 – Pricing Strategies
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30 Comments (Click Here to Leave a Comment Below)
Hi,
Your research about topic is deep. It will help to motivate thousands of readers.
Hi Daniel and Pat,
I’ve noticed the same thing in “selling” my articles – I try to immediately get to the point in my title and my introductory paragraph, by showing readers what they’ll learn and how reading the article will improve their life
I think as a result, my writing has gotten tighter, more active – and ultimately, more readers enjoy the articles because they immediately see how reading it will benefit them
Hi Sid,
Good point about using the same strategy to “sell” your content. If you highlight the benefits the reader will have upfront you’ll be creating an emotional hook. I guess we should all pay attention to that indeed.
Hey Daniel, when I got to the bottom and saw your name I have to say I was shocked! It is good to see some of the bigger names I read doing guest posts on other blogs. I think it helps to bring home the fact that everyone should try to guest post (something I try to preach on my site).
Great example of benefits vs features with the weight loss ebooks! It helps to see actual examples of what you were talking about, and since writing ebooks is new to me, it was a tremendous help!
Glad you liked the article. And yeah, I am doing a guest blogging marathon this semester, so you’ll see some of my posts around.
I agree with you that we all should guest blog more. Apart from promoting our own blogs it is a great way to network.
For instance, I hadn’t talked much with Pat before approaching him for a guest post, but now we already have each other’s contact details and an open channel to exchange ideas.
So true. People react in the same manner – “What is this going to do for me?”
It’s human nature. You wouldn’t seek someone or a product out unless you wanted something specific from it. I think the only exception to the rule may be buying a car, where the features technically are the benefits.
Even with cars I believe the “benefits sell / features don’t” motto is valid. Maybe not so much in the low range of the market, but definitely so in the mid-upper range.
For example, I believe most people don’t buy a Porsche or a Ferrari because they want a 400hp motor, with 8 valves, 3000cc, 19inch wheels and so on. They buy it because they want to feel the adrenaline while driving a car, because they want to feel important, because they want to get laid and so on
.
I like what you are saying Daniel. I never really thought about it but you are correct. If the feature doesn’t affect a person’s emotion, it’s useless. And sometimes a person can’t translate the feature into an emotion, so going straight for someones feelings is a much better selling strategy. did that make sense? lol
I am definitely drawn more to the benefits, but I also want to know what the list of features are so I know what benefits to look for. I don’t see how you can have one without the other. Am I not getting it?
Since I’m moving into the IM zone, I have been studying how marketing can be made more effective. I’m not sure if it’s cause I’m aware, but I tend to pay attention to features as much as benefits.
I can see how benefits are more relatable to the customers though.
Great article.. I agree that people want to know how something will help or make their life better and they don’t need to know all the working details, just that Like you said, they will get the hole they want with this drill bit.
If you can throw in answers to possible issues ex.. this drill wont chip or break its forged steel or carbide or whatever.. that will land your sale faster too.
@Ms. Freeman and @Moon Hussain, the idea is not to just use the benefits and forget about features. The idea is to focus your marketing effort and key messages on the benefits. Somewhere in your sales pitch you also need to show the features of your product, obviously, because the customer wants to know what exactly he is buying.
But you want to show him the features after he is already in a mood to buy. If you do the opposite, and show the features right away, there is a chance he won’t feel hooked emotionally, and will just move on.
Awsome, that is how we as entrepreneurs should approach every business. The question is “what can I do to make my customers happier and better off?” The product follows.
Great article, Dan.
Knowing everything about everything slows you down, I feel.
Getting to PointB from PointA is what its all about. If you look at every single little detail, you will rarely even get started!
Selling via benefits is nothing new. We’ve been doing it for decades. Emotional selling is best kept for the right time and circumstance.
Excellent insights. Thanks.
I did a whole post about Features and Benefits in december, and it’s so true. You have to sell Benefits! People want to know “What’s in it for me?” Once you push that button, you have the sale.
Excellent stuff Daniel!
Hey Daniel cool post. Coming from a sales background this is a message that has been drilled into my head nut it’s great to get a refresher ad this is such an important post.
I totally agree with you that features don’t sell. People think they want features until they realize that the product, program, or eBook that is simple and straightforward does a much better job than a product that is bloated with features.
I like the saying: Keep it as simple as possible and no simpler.
Also, while I really enjoyed your post, I kept trying to think of what task I need an iPad for. The conclusion? I just want one
Thanks for posting at SPI!
Hey Daniel,
Great post on ‘benefits vs features’. I’ve read plenty of articles like It’s easy to talk about benefits on tangible items where the benefits are more obvious. But what about more abstract and subjective things such as art and handicrafts?
I’ve read plenty of articles talking on ‘features vs benefits’ but none of them can tell me how to change a subjective feature such as the above into a benefit.
How would you, for example, turn the feature ‘plated with 24K gold’, into a benefit?
Let’s say you are talking about a bracelet plated with 24k gold. You could say:
“This stunning bracelet will certainly show how important the other person is to you” instead of saying “This bracelet is placed with 24k hold” .
Obviously later on the sales pitch you need to mention the feature too, but start with the benefits.
Hi Daniel,
Exactly! People want to know what you have in stock for them i.e. what they will gain from buying from you and not what features your product has.
Thanks for the great post.
Onibalusi
Excellent points right here. People want to know what they will get out of the content more than anything. Thanks for the tips Dan.
I also think placing yourself in the shoes of your readers can help you write an attractive sales page. Very interesting and easy to understand article.
This is really a great concept. The comparison between ebook a and ebook b has made it all clearer. Stating the benefits of your product would be the best sales pitch ever. Thanks for this post.
Great post Pat! This is really something a lot of businesses don’t get right! Although with some products you won’t get around highlighting the features as well (e.g. software products). 37signals, for example, would not be able to sell their products properly without highlighting the features. I guess it really depends on the product. Some people might actually buy a car just because it has a certain feature which might not have any tangible benefits for others (e.g. extra powerful speakers vs. regular speakers).
Cannot agree more. I’ve just wrote my own e-book and was looking for Open Office ebook template to format it. Ended up with one site that was offering them for 10 euros. And bought one because:
1. It will solve my problem
2. It loked nice
I didn’t care about how it was implemented and what features were inside. It solved problem I had at the moment. I’m happy.
Awesome post! I’m revising my sales page and was just wondering how I could make my membership site more appealing. This concept makes perfect sense and I can definitely see how it would be effective…
Finding the solution to a problem is definitely a huge selling factor. I didn’t get a 21″ imac because I wanted the shiny screen. I got it because I wanted the processor so it wouldn’t slow down when I have design stuff open. ^_^
I’m reading this as I’m about to update my resume. The resume service I consulted made very similar points to your post the other day. Your post is timely, it will definately help me in selling my skills to a potential employer! Thanks!
Really cool article Daniel! It’s always been a challenge on trying to distinguish between the benefits and the features. Using the example was a great way to get your message across about the difference.
From now on, every time I’m writing about a product all I’ll be thinking about is the ‘hole and not the drill’
Thanks for sharing!
Great article Daniel… Although I know this information at my marketing core, it’s so easy to lose track and focus on the features. I spend so much time writing about the features and when it comes time to tell anybody about the book or article, it’s about the features.
I will definitely try keeping my focus on the hole and not the drill.
Thanks…
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