Have you ever thought about the difference between features and benefits when it comes to marketing? Sure, both are important when selling your product or service, but one is MORE important than the other. You guessed….benefits!

To find out why, let’s look at the definitions of each…

Features are what the product is or what it does and how it’s different from similar products on the market.

Benefits, on the other hand, are the WHY behind your product. Why do the features matter? What problem is it solving? How is someone benefiting from it? And that, my friends, is what compels people to purchase. They want to know how it will ultimately help them in their life.

Now let’s look at an example…

Say you’re selling water bottles. A feature of the bottle is that it’s insulated while a benefit is that it keeps your beverage ice cold for 12 hours. Which is more compelling? Imagine standing on a corner and yelling out “Buy this water bottle-it’s insulated!” Versus “Buy this water bottle and always have ice cold water to quench your thirst and keep you cool!” It’s much easier to entice someone to buy when you’re showing them how it will benefit them versus listing features. But also, we don’t recommend selling water bottles on the street corner. Just want to clear that up.

So, next time you find yourself writing marketing copy about a new product, think about features versus benefits. Yes, feel free to list the features by all means, but then follow up with a benefits story. Show them the feature and then explain the benefit behind it. The more you can get someone to imagine their own lives being improved by a product, the better chance you have a getting them to buy. For a simple rule of thumb, just try to be more benefits heavy when writing marketing copy.