Features and Benefits: The Basis of Any Good Marketing Effort

 

Do you have a great, new product and don't know the next step?  Maybe your store just doesn’t seem to be getting people through the door, or you might even want to just increase your sales. So, what should you do? Well, you might want to start with some marketing, so you can get the word out about your product or service to the people who may need it. Now, do you know the two most important pieces to any marketing effort? A lot of small businesses don't know them, and their sales suffer for it. Whether you're working on your marketing materials or meeting with your customers face-to-face, you need to understand features and benefits. So, why don't we go over them?

 

First, let's take a look at features. The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines a feature as "A fact or technical specification about a product," or put another way, features are what a product can do.  Now, on the other side of the equation, you have benefits. The AMA defines benefits as "The value provided to a customer by a product feature," or you can think of it like this: benefits are what the product's features can do for you.

 

So, now we'll use an example: Let's say you want to buy a car, so you go to the dealership to look at one on the lot. Finding one in your price range, you decide to look more closely at the window sticker, which usually lists a bunch of details about the car. You might see something like "172-horsepower 4-cylinder engine." Well, everything you see listed on that window sticker is a feature, telling you exactly what that car has. It usually includes everything from the tire size to the sound system to the type of brakes and everything in between.

 

While you look over the window sticker, a salesman will usually come up to you, and he'll give you the normal chit-chat to break the ice and get you feeling a little more comfortable. Then, he'll move into talking specifically about the car. Sure, he'll say, "It has a 172-horsepower 4-cylinder engine," but he'll also tell you a bit more. He might tell you the car's engine has plenty of power for passing or climbing steep grades while using little gas. He just told you how that engine will benefit you.

 

Think of it like this: Your customers come to you with some kind of problem, and they're looking to you for help. If you start listing your credentials, your company's history or even the product features, what will they think? They'll think, "So what? How does that solve my problem?" Now, if your customer comes to you and you say your product offers this feature and this is how it will solve their problem, the customer listens. That's why we like to say features tell, and benefits sell.

 

A lot of businesses have trouble distinguishing features and benefits, and their sales suffer. Others just don't have time to devote to an effective marketing plan, or just need a little help getting the word out about their products or services. If you're seeing lower than expected sales, you can fix the problem by finding a marketing firm to give you a hand.

 

Enter Red Rocket, Northern Colorado's fastest growing full-service marketing firm. We've helped a lot of clients successfully launch their marketing efforts over the years, and part of our success boils down to knowing how to translate features into benefits, which we've practically made into a science. When we start a project, we take a close look at the product or service the client offers and dissect it down to the benefits. Even that is just the beginning.

 

You see, Red Rocket has spent hours and hours researching so many aspects of marketing, and our test lab has helped turn clients' projects into gold. How? By looking at each of those features and asking "What does it do for me?" But, we don't stop there; we keep going with each benefit, asking "So what?" until we've exhausted every possibility. Here's an example of how we would look at the world's fastest computer:

 

The world’s fastest computer	"What does that do for me?"
Allows you to get more work done	"So what?"
Impresses your boss	"What do I get out of that?"
You get a raise	"What does that do for me?"
Allows you to afford a vacation	"What do I get out of that?"
Lets you spend quality time with your family	"So what?"
Provides a good influence on your kids	"So what?"
Keeps them off the streets	"What does that do for me?"
Saves you money in legal fees

 

Now, keep in mind that those examples are exaggerated, but we do consider some of the most unusual benefits. They may not be as extreme as the example, but you never know when one will actually work to make a sale. When we feel like we've come up with every possible benefit for each and every feature, then we feel ready to start a project.

 

But, there's a bit more to it than just our work. Whenever a client asks us to help with marketing, we give them our proprietary Visionary Kit, which includes the features and benefits worksheet. We ask the client to fill out this section to get them thinking strategically about their product or service. We don't ask them to be as exhaustive as the Red Rocket team, but for their benefit, we want them to at least begin thinking of their product in those terms.

 

When our clients begin thinking about their product in terms of features and benefits, their sales take off. They just have to realize features tell and benefits sell. In some cases, a client might need a bit of guidance to get them on the right path to successful sales, and that's when Red Rocket can help. You see, Red Rocket understands marketing. It's what we do. We've done the research behind it, so our clients can rest easily, knowing they've hired a company that will get results. When you're ready to take your marketing to the next level, look no further than Red Rocket.