If you’re not describing the right aspects or characteristics of your product or service then you could be wasting your time by trying to sell something that your target audience doesn’t want or need.
Since this is such an important part of content and copy writing here is a quick overview of the difference between features and benefits, and how you can make them work for your business’ content writing strategy.
The Difference Between Features And Benefits
Let’s say you’re selling an MP3 Player.
Here’s a feature – It has 32 GB of storage.
Here’s a benefit – You could play 4 days of music without ever running into the same song twice.
Which one would you tout to your audience to make the sale?
If I’m your target audience, then I’m all about the 4 days without ever running into the same song twice.
But if you’re talking to our web developer, Justin Gehring then you might want to trump up the 32 GB.
You probably don’t care how it does what it does, you care that it can do what you want it to do.
Take the Get Premise software (affiliate link) for example.
I’m less impressed that Premise allows me to create 8 different landing page types.
What I care about is that Premise empowers me (you too) to quickly and easily build custom, graphically-enhanced landing pages without cost, code, or hassle. Plus, copywriting advice that’s delivered directly into my WordPress admin area for each landing page type.
(Premise really is pretty cool).
Stress Benefits, Not Features
Features are what the great copywriter Eugene Schwartz calls your “physical product” — what your product or service has, its contents and dimensions. (i.e. the 32 GB of storage)
Benefits are the “functional product” — what your product or service actually does for your prospect. It’s the basis on which they buy.
Try This Essential Exercise To Extract Benefits From Features
FIRST
Identify as many “pain points” as you can which your product overcomes (e.g. if you’re selling black-out blinds, one pain point would be waking up too early in the morning and feeling tired because too much light comes in through the window)
SECOND
Force yourself into identifying 20 specific pain points (this will be difficult, but keep at it. The more pain points than can be listed, the more objections will be overcome and the more sales you will make).
THIRD
List the individual ‘features’ of your product (i.e. what the product actually does.) If the product is more of a service then the features are the process which the service follows (i.e. the things which have to be done, step by step in seqential order, to take the customer/client to the intended result. This should be an exhaustive list).
FOURTH
List the benefits of your product. One way to approach this is with “which means” statements (i.e. Our black-out blinds are the darkest in the industry which means they let in zero light which means the customer will never be woken up again by the light coming through the window in the early morning).
LAST (OR FIRST)
What problem are they suffering from? How will the product / service help? Find proof (i.e. What are specific results others have had?)
Features Vs. Benefits Review
What is a Feature?
A physical or tangible aspect of, or a factual statement about, the product or service you’re selling.
What is a Benefit?
A benefit is what happens to your customers when they take your product or service and implement it. A benefit tells your target market why your features matter or “what’s in it for them.”
At the end of the day, what has proven to effectively sell products are benefits that get verified by features.
You Know Who Knows All This Better Than Anyone?
David Garfinkel is a highly sought-after copywriter with an uncanny knack for distilling complex, core copywriting concepts and strategies into practical steps that anyone, regardless of skill or experience, can easily follow, apply, and duplicate.
It’s no wonder he’s known as “The World’s Greatest Copywriting Teacher.”
Once upon a time, he was our Leaders’ Circle guest.
Listen to Ann’s interview with David Garfinkel for free here.
Eric, great, great article!
I have seen so many websites that show a product that really looks good but falls flat when convincing me to buy.
I suppose most product creators get so caught up in “creating” the product that they fail to recognize that customers need to be “shown” why this product is so great.
You took a complicated subject and made it simple for me to understand.
Thank you!
Frank
Let’s try this out! I’ll use a couple aspects of the Renegade Team as my guinea pig.
Feature:
1. Back office full of sequential training
2. Private team facebook page
Benefit:
1. You have specific, focused business training on each aspect of building a marketing funnel. In other words, you’ll have all the training necessary to build a strong business foundation and have absolutely no need to look around for more training or courses.
2. Never feel alone again! Get your questions answered in real time by real, friendly people who are marketers just like you! Within minutes, get answers to your technical hang-ups or feedback on your entire front-end offer!
Great article Eric! Now I need to try the 20 pain points exercise…that should be fun! =)
Stacia
Great article. Ann asked us to give examples from the RT. Hope this is the right place.
Feature – Sequential training.
Benefit – Organized is a logical sequence which takes one through the entire process, building from the very first topic to the next.
Feature – FB Team Page
Benefit – Able to interact with fellow RT members and receive solutions to problems.
Feature – Team Challenges
Benefit – Forces members to learn and achieve results.
content Moved from IC area:
The Renegade Team teaches you a complete A-Z marketing system designed to emphasize and brand YOU and your business. The resulting benefit, is that you are in complete control. Your business identity and brand is not susceptible to someone (or some other entity- ie MLM company or franchise) being able to take you out.
The Renegade Team provides you with step-by-step training, removing the guesswork of marketing your business online and shortening your learning curve.
The Renegade Team features an online facebook page, giving you instant access to a community of support, so you don’t have to feel lost and on your own.
The Renegade Team provides online video training which significantly helps reduce the hassle and guess work of setting up your online presence yourself.
The Renegade Team provides you with targeted training and mentoring to help increase your understanding of attraction marketing principles as well as reinforce new skills.
The Renegade Team offers access to live coaching calls and workshops that gives you valuable feedback and helps eliminate gaps in your sales funnel.
Features and benefits are totally clarified here! Love, love, love the examples.
I would like to share with you some of the features and benefits of the Renegade team as I would love for more people to reap the benefits!
1. The Renegade Team provides expert coaching at an individualized level which means to you that you will no longer flounder with your head spinning about all the steps you need to do to get your business/blog/persona launched.
2. The Renegade Team offers an interactive, exclusive Facebook group page which means that you finally have advice, camarderie, and a true, caring community ready to say “good job” or “I felt that way too” or “try this plugin.”
3. The Renegade Team integrates automated systems (live calls with recorded calls available afterwards, sequential steps to complete, accountability challenges, etc) as well as individual, personalized attention which means that you are never just a number or some anonymous team member. Rather you are treated as a valuable team member who the coaches are dedicated to helping you succeed. I have never, ever experienced an interaction on facebook or a phone call from the TOP person in a training program I joined – till I joined the Renegade Team.
Thanks everyone! Blessings, Amy
Agnes’ view of the Features and Benefits of The Renegade Team:
Feature: A back office with a well laid-out training system. The benefit of this is no matter where you are on your path to on-line marketing, the methodical, sequential presentation of the training modules means you learn in the correct order to implement those lessons successfully.
Feature: Trainers who not only know their “stuff” and teach it well, but they are also practicing their craft in the real world in real time. The benefit of this is that, because these trainers are actively using their own and each other’s skill sets to develop their own businesses, you are assured the training they offer through The Renegade Team is up-to-the minute and effective.
Feature: A valuable but casual FB page for immediate access to the bank of collective knowledge of Ann, her 80/20 trainers, and the myriad expertises of all the team members. The benefit of this: no question is unanswerable, no concern too small. Someone has always been where you are and the generous out-pouring of help and tips justifies any question. This page and its membership are all about the collective success of the group, albeit one individual at a time. There is support and encouragement at every turn.
Renegade Team Benefits
Dr. Hale Pringle – July 2012
Okay – so I’m still cheating – this is based on the Team’s input
From the FB Group – F: Features B: Benefits (WIIFM)
• F: You get to work with Ann Sieg – the Godmother of Attraction Marketing
B: I get to watch (closely) and learn proven techniques from an acknowledged master marketer –
• F: You get a back-office with Step-by-Step training on Attraction Marketing
B: I learn from the ground up, building a solid foundation of necessary skills for building MY business.
• F: Internet Marketing Technology Training
B: I have the opportunity to learn the nuts and bolts as well as the theory.
• F: The training is focused on building and improving sales funnels for YOUR business or MLM
B: I build my business better, faster and more profitably.
• F: You get on-going training – regular live webinars on all aspects of Online Marketing
B: Once I have my foundation in place, I learn more advanced material that actually helps my build MY business.
• F: Live Personalize coaching from one of the best coaches in the business – Curt Johnson
B: I get personalized attention which I need it MOST – at the beginning, when I’m stuck and when I need a professional critique.
• F: A peer mastermind group (private Facebook group where members help each other and brainstorm issues)
B: I get to associate and brainstorm with a group of like-minded peers. They help me grow my business by giving me critiques and different points of view – sometimes wildly different. I NEVER have to feel like I am all alone. (Solo mountain climber with very little practical training comes to mind.)
• F: Live affordable workshops
B: I put my book learning into practice with the personal help of live trainers to move my business forward as fast as possible.
• F: Mentoring and regular interaction with Ann and her staff.
B: I learn to keep focused, keep moving and growing my business by work with industry leaders.
From the FB Group, What members say after they have joined.
• F: Personal interaction with Ann SIeg
B: With continued interaction, I gain insight in the mindset and principles that enabled a proved leader to succeed. I also get to work with people I respect and resonate with!
• F: Ongoing interaction with Renegade Staff – training and coaching
B: I am constantly challenged to take the next step in growing MY business.
• F: Ongoing Peer Interaction is priceless
B: ditto from above
• F: The focus is on building MY business
B: I work confidently on building MY business knowing that there is no hidden agenda to lead me into THEIR business.
• F: System where the staff obviously care about my business not selling me something
B: I feel cared for as well as taught. This is critical to me. The oft repeated “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care!” is not only a truism – it is a fact.
• F: The Step-by-step training really put things together
B: Everything I learn builds on what I learned before – unlike to scatter shot training I often attend out on the Internet where each piece is great, but the pieces are totally random. I feel like I am being handed the next piece of a jig-saw puzzle instead of a box of randomly sorted pieces.
• F: The ongoing training is always outstanding
B: I always learn something that I need next.
• F: Can’t believe the quality of the Live Workshops
B: Ditto from above
• F: The Challenges keep nudging me forward, even when life gets in the way.
B: When I lose focus or get busy with “other things” the challenges bring me back working on MY business.
• F: Affiliate program for earning money is awesome
B: I can take what I am learning and turn it into immediate income.
Here are two from Ann’s Bullet points that the group approach differently
• F: Ongoing Products from 80/20 Team
B: When I reach a point in my business where I need more training on a particular topic, I usually have immediate access to “Just the right” training. Hmmm – JIT (Just in Time) is a project management term where materials are delivered to the work site JIT (instead of being purchased and warehoused well in advance). Just never thought about JIT Training
• F: Partnering with Ann
B: So I can leverage my success off of an established industry leader.
Eric,
Great article, thanks
Another way I like to look at a benefit is if you can ask “So what?” to a feature, you haven’t described the benefit properly.
These are my top four ‘So what’s???’ for The Renegade Team….
Feature:
A group Facebook page
Benefit:
You can ask questions and get answers from like minded entrepreneurs as well as experts, trainers and Ann Sieg herself. You get access to a wealth of knowledge.
Feature:
There are members at all stages of business development.
Benefit:
You will feel a camaraderie and empathy with and from others as you feel the ‘overwhelm’ together.
Feature:
Regular webinars
Benefit:
Not only will you receive ongoing live training you will also get to know your fellow team mates as you interact together in the webinars.
Feature:
Training on all aspects of funnel building and online marketing
Benefit:
As a beginner you will get a “hands-held” approach to learning how to piece your online business together with a step-by-step approach.
Now I’m off to identify some pain and hope I don’t inflict some pain on myself in the process.
Regards
Lorraine
Excellent article Eric,
Ok, I will give this Renegade Marketing Feature/ Benefit thing a try.
Feature:
A System to supply you with qualified leads
Benefit:
You can finally quit harrasing your freinds and family and concentrate your time to people that want your products
Feature:
Funnel Building and Online Marketing Educational Blueprint
Benefit:
An Easy to learn system that captures prospects and takes them through a series of steps that leads them to a sale. It is taught by experienced coaches that have many years of proven sucess. They have been thru it before and make it easy for you.
Feature:
Group Facebook Page
Benefit:
You have access to a like minded group of people that have the same questions and desires that you have. It’s a good place to start your mastermind group.
Feature:
Cash and Benefit paid Team Challenges
Benefit:
Ann Sieg and the Renegade team will keep you motivated to learn and interact. I like to call it the
Anti-Procrastinator plan. That reminds me,,, I have to go work on my Blog
Best to All,,, Chuck Donald
Interesting post, Eric, and fascinating responses from team members. So here goes:
.
Feature: Training and interaction is available 24/7 with the Renegade team.
Benefit: No matter where in the world you are located, or what your personal schedule is, the resources of the Renegade team and leaders are only a click away
Feature: Accessibility: Ann Sieg, Curt Johnson, Justin Gehring, Eric Walker from the 80/20 staff and all the certified trainers are available for consultation.
Benefit: You get personal advice and counsel on YOUR particular issue or question from the top leaders. Each of these have responded to my individual requests as they do for any team member.
Feature: Over 300 members with varied levels of experience and as many different personalities with whom to interact, not just about business, but personal challenges, family, and even joking around.
Benefit: The isolation that too often comes with starting a business, particularly an online business is mitigated by the friendly voices and faces of your team mates. Attending one of the live events increases the rapport and cements relationships as well.
Feature: Private FB page
Benefit: Access to having questions answered by a host of team members, all at different levels of study. Saves me tons of time by not trying to “do it myself”..
Feature: Back off sequential training in back office.
Benefit: Keeps me on track from being scatter brained, and is relevant to steps of building my blog
Feature: Weekly coaching calls with the 80/20 team
Benefit: I get a chance to learn what I didn’t even know was relevant. So much attentive care towards all, I really feel like I have resources to draw upon, instead ofl purchsing a product, taking it home, and trying to figure it out.
Feature: Live training in MN, comin up soon
Benefit: HUUUUUUUUUUGE! It’s a place to take my blog to the next level, having access to all trainers, and senior (not age folks) member of the team. This will save me so many hours of “going it alone” sometimes.
Thanks Eric and Ann. This reminds me of church. Each time I get lazy about going, when I go it was the exact message I needed to hear! I was not tuned in to this assignment, but once it was complet and I thought about it, I always LEARN so much.
Let’s see — The features of the Renegade Network Marketing Team are:
1 – Access to an exclusive website with boat-loads of training.
2 – Membership in an exclusive, like-minded team
3 – Access to very experienced people.
The benefits of these are:
1 – The training offered to the Renegade Team walks you through the basics of attraction marketing including setting up your website/blog and how to do marketing. You get step-by-step direction so you know exactly what you need to do and how to do it.
2 – You get to join a private FB group where others who are working through the same things you are can help you with any issue you come across. They are more than willing to offer solutions to your problems and give support in any way you need.
3 – The trainers and leaders in the Renegade Team have years of experience doing just what you are trying to do. You have direct access to them to help with any specific problem or question you have. They want to see you succeed. You get to join in webinars with them where you get up-to-date information to help you grow your online business. They also are doing the same thing you are — building their own businesses — so they have real experience doing just what you are doing and are will to share their “lessons learned” with all of us.
We have challenges?
The challenge will help you get laser focused on mastering a skill.
What this means is that you will get one on one type training. You will be held accountable for achieving certain milestones within a certain amount of time.
This will help you move your business forward in a team atmosphere, not alone in your learning process but along with others as we learn and implement together.
Hi Eric,
Thank you so much for spelling out the differences between features and benefits – your examples really made it clear to me – not only that we need to be able to explain the “which means” side of things, but also the key point of knowing your audience – i.e., speaking to the average person vs. Justin our resident tech genius. 😉 Here are my thoughts about just a few of the features and benefits of the Renegade Team.
(FEATURE) As a Renegade Team member, you will have access to live training and masterminding events with Ann Sieg and the entire 80/20 Marketing Team of certified trainers. (BENEFITS) If you are anything like me, being able to pick the brains of some of the best marketers in the industry will inspire and energize your thinking about your business and you will see a marked difference not only in your mindset but also in your income. After the first Minnesota Mastermind, my brain was overflowing with ideas, so I was up in the middle of the night planning out my strategies for the next six months. The plans I made after that event and my implementation of those plans have easily helped me increase my business clientele four-fold. By attending a live workshop and putting in the work, you could easily be saying something similar just two short weeks from now. Ann’s team always over-delivers, and I can’t wait to see what they have in store for us this August!
(FEATURE) Many new Renegade Team members find our private group Facebook page to be a great place to get help. (BENEFITS) With a diverse group of certified trainers and tech-savvy, supportive “old hands” mixed in with a cadre of newcomers, you will always find someone who will be able to help you – whether you are looking for the answer to a technical question, someone to outsource work to or a new friend who is in a similar place in their business to mastermind with. Having access to this resource means that you will never have to struggle through anything alone ever again.
(FEATURE) In addition to the team Facebook page that I’ve already told you about, the place that you will probably spend the most time at is your Renegade Team Back Office. There you will find a wealth of resources that are laid out to walk you step by step through building an online presence for your business. (BENEFITS) The training modules literally take the guesswork out of what to do next. Each lesson builds on the previous to get you where you need to be – so that by the time you have finished, you will have your own piece of “real estate” online to begin to build your own intellectual assets for your business.
Renegade Team Training
Features:
Organized approach to learning.
Overall integration of the hows and whys of marketing and selling.
Orients the focus on you as the center of your business.
Benefits:
Takes you from being unable to make a profit in your business to knowing how to succeed at your business.
As my exercise for turning features into benefits, here are 3 of the features and benefits I love most about the Renegade Team.
1. FEATURE
The Renegade team teaches you to build your business around YOU, so YOU have complete control over it.
BENEFIT of the above feature:
This means you will NEVER again be dependent on anyone else’s system, program, community or company.
Once you’ve learned this skill, you will always have your own income producing assets, and it won’t matter if your upline leaves the company and is no longer there to assist you. It won’t matter if a specific country gets closed down by the company, and all your downline in that country disappears, because you’re not dependent on their sales for your income.
This means you can earn as much income as you want, whenever you want, without depending on anyone else.
This means you won’t need to purchase other training courses or “systems” from other industry leaders who encourage you to promote them, and to use their cookie cutter websites to promote their webinars and trainings.
2. FEATURE:
2) The Renegade Team provides Email marketing and copywriting training, which means (BENEFIT) that you will learn how to write an inspiring email follow up sequence to your leads. This means you will inspire your leads to become your customers and business partners, so you will maximize your sales.
This means you’ll be able to write your own email campaigns and never have to rely on using other people’s email campaigns to sell products and services. In addition, it means that eventually you’ll be able to have multiple sales funnels, allowing you to make multiple streams of income.
You won’t need to pay over $2000 for a famous copywriter’s course (like I did) where all I learned was how inadequate my own copywriting was, and how much I needed to purchase the services of a good copywriter, to help me with all my copywriting. After the Renegade Team’s training, you will have the confidence to know that copywriting is a skill you CAN learn, it just takes practice, and now you will KNOW exactly HOW to practice the skill.
3. FEATURE: Four Consultative Selling Training Modules
2) This means you can learn how to “close sales” with your prospects by asking them the “right” questions and helping them to find solutions to their problems.
It means you will no longer have to worry about what to say to your leads when you call them or when they call you.
You will easily be able to position yourself as a leader (even if you’ve just started your business) so you can help your leads and guide them toward what you have to offer.
Great article Eric.
Here are 3 features and benefits for the Renegade Team
Feature: Step by step easy training on how to set up a funnel
Benefit: There is no guess work as to how people have become successful marketing online through a funnel. You do not have to do hours upon hours of research on how to set up a functional funnel, the steps are right in front of you to follow at your own pace of understanding. The steps to set up a funnel have been followed by people in the past and it has worked for many.
Feature: Sequential hands on training for you to become a online marketer through skill development.
Benefit: You develop skill through training so you can develop into a industry thought leader in time. You are forced to learn the content instead of it being done for you which results in you being able to teach other people and be truly successful in many aspects.
Feature: A team facebook page.
Benefit: A place where you can ask questions and get them answered almost immediately and a place where you can collaborate with other team members. A place where you can help people with problems or issues you had in the past and have the chance to pay it forward.
(Good job selling Premise, Eric. You sly one, you.)
Feature: You receive 60% commissions for recruiting entrepreneurs to the Inner Circle, as well as ADDITIONAL commissions and affiliate fees on an unending supply of products and services!
Benefit: You earn money right away which helps you pay your business expenses, contribute to your family earnings, and enjoy a well-deserved solid night’s sleep!
Feature: You develop relationships with fellow Renegaders through our Facebook Group, webinars, and live events.
Benefit: You’re supported ’round the clock. You never feel like you’re the Lone Ranger … on an Impossible Mission … Lost in Space. Ever!
Feature: You get personal, real-time training and personal, real-time attention by world-class industry leaders–WHO CARE.
Benefits: You never have to worry about what works and doesn’t work in online marketing. Ann and her 80/20 Team have already figured that out. You simply need to “own it” by adding your own unique flavor and enjoying the confidence you WILL gain by working closely with Ann and her certified trainers.
Feature: You learn how to promote your products and services in a way that feels genuine and fun.
Benefit: You stop thinking of selling as a dreaded “must do.” Instead, you think of it as a way to share your unique gifts, skills, and abilities with those who need them most.
Feature: You learn FROM a leader how to BE a leader.
Benefit: Your ability to influence and inspire others is magnified “to the max,” allowing you to make the difference–and income–you long to make.
Feature: You learn how to take ACTION.
Benefit: Your days of twirling in circles are over. You take baby steps, then bigger steps, then BIGGER steps, with more and more confidence and more and more RESULTS.
Feature Teaches marketers how to build a blog as their central marketing tool for any product.
Benefit Learn how to attract customers by providing useful information to them via a blog.
Feature: Teaches what a marketing funnel is.
Benefit: Learn how to gradually draw readers into becoming customers.
Feature: A Facebook group with marketers that have the same goals and have a wide variety of experiences from newbie to experienced.
Benefit: Learn what works, how to do it, and what to avoid.
Hi, Eric!
Very interesting article here. I think the most important thing about understanding the difference between feature and benefits is that, emphasizing the benefits show that you understand and care for your prospect. In that you know, how it will be beneficial for them. Why they need the product? And how is it value for their money? Addressing these concerns is the first, and most crucial, step to making connections and communities.
Keep it up Eric!
Vanessa