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Features don't sell, benefits do

It's amazing how often marketers forget to distinguish between features and benefits in their customer communications.

Features are product attributes based on the characteristics of that product.

Benefits are what the product does for you and are based around the individual.

Savvy marketers will tell you features don't sell, benefits do. Dramatizing the benefits in an engaging manner is the basis of great advertising.

For example, "all-wheel drive" is a feature. To make it meaningful to your customer, you need to focus on how "all-wheel drive" provides real value to them.

For example:

  • Greater safety when driving on poor surfaces
  • Ability to drive places other vehicles cannot
  • Less likely to get stuck in the winter

To take it further, benefits can be pushed to appeal to the specific target's needs/emotions:

  • Greater safety for your family when driving on poor surfaces alone on dark, stormy nights
  • Ability to drive places other vehicles can't so that you can experience the unspoiled beauty of nature
  • Less likely to get stuck in the winter on your way to celebrate the holidays at Grandma's house

If the three examples above sound like scenarios for television commercials touting "all-wheel drive," it's because car companies and their advertising agencies know features don't sell, benefits do.

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