Features VS benefits – which is more important in sales copy?

[SARubin]

QUESTION: Which is more important in sales copy – features or benefits?

ANSWER: It depends…


Conventional wisdom says “features tell… but benefits sell”.

And I was always taught, when we’re selling to consumers, we want to translate our features into benefits, and paint a story of word pictures that allows our reader to feel what it’s like to own our product.

And on the surface that makes perfect sense.


But there’s a caveat that most copywriting preachers leave out of their sermons. And over the years I’ve learned that conventional wisdom is not always true.


Years of trial and error has taught me, when we’re selling to experienced enthusiasts features alone can often make the sale.

And sometimes telling a story about benefits can lose the sale…


For example: If we’re selling a high end computer to a gramma, who’s never owned a computer before, then of course we want to tell her all about how easy it will be to keep in touch with friends and family. And the joy she’ll feel seeing pictures of her grandkids in her email inbox.

In this case it’s all about painting a picture of the benefits.


But if we’re selling that same computer to a tech geek, then all that crap is just wasted real estate in our sales copy.

In this case all we need to do is tell them about the 128 gigs of RAM, 2 Terabyte SSD harddrive, and the state of the art high speed processor and graphics card.

They’ll tell themselves the story of how it all fits into their lives. And a long benefit driven story in your sales copy might even come across as boring or patronizing (losing you the sale).


So the next time someone tells you to showcase all the benefits in your sales copy because ” features tell… but benefits sell.”

You can answer back with “Yeah, but it really depends on what you’re selling, and who you’re selling to”.

[WordyWordpecker]

I never heard anybody put it this way before. Definitely something to think about

[Rhonda]

I don't believe it should be a choice between the two. Shouldn't we use both?

[featherman32]

Hello Everybody,

Can somebody shed some light on where we place features. I know we have the headline then opening, then we are meant to explain benefits and features back up the benefits and give credibility, but do we add the feature right after the benefit and move to the next benefit and so on OR do we explain all the benefits then list or explain features?

Also, how do you explain benefits in detail, when, let's just say a benefit I have for one of my products is an ex-carpet cleaner made $3 million dollars in 2 years and you can too by copying him?

Also, when using story copywriting does the story highlight and illustrate the benefits?

Also, when researching the product and listing features and converting them to benefits - is there a trick to it or something because after i've done my list and look at those benefits, they read like advantages or features and I get stuck thinking how do i describe or paint a picture of that. To create benefits should they follow certain rules. I know they should answer the "So what" rule but how do you expand upon that benefit?

Also, when it comes to the benefit of the benefit it seems like for money-making information products the benefit of the benefit seems to be you can make money, for example, my product shows you how you can buy magazine advertising for cheap and the benefit is you can save thousands, but the benefit of the benefit is that you can become a millionaire by repeating this, so what do we expand upon - the save money or you can become a millionaire?

Also, can some features have more than one benefit? Also, when you have like 40 benefits should we group them into their main categories, like make money, and explain in the order of the most important to the customer?

An experienced copywriter to reply would help me so much as I have had these difficulties for months and months.

Cheers

[Franklin]

First: Welcome to the copywriters forum

Second: Slow down, you're asking a lot of questions all at once.

Third: I'll try to answer your first question, first.

Hello Everybody,

Can somebody shed some light on where we place features. I know we have the headline then opening, then we are meant to explain benefits and features back up the benefits and give credibility, but do we add the feature right after the benefit and move to the next benefit and so on OR do we explain all the benefits then list or explain features?

For long sales copy I would put the features and benefits together so your reader can connect the two immediately.

For a product listing on a commerce site I might spell out the benefits separate for the emotional appeal, and put the features in a bullet list for those who already know what they want and only need to see a list of product specs to decide if it's the right product for them.


I'll try to come back later and answer one of the other questions

[SARubin]

Hello Everybody,

Can somebody shed some light on where we place features. I know we have the headline then opening, then we are meant to explain benefits and features back up the benefits and give credibility, but do we add the feature right after the benefit and move to the next benefit and so on OR do we explain all the benefits then list or explain features?

Expanding on what Franklin said...

Either way can work. I would write it both ways and split test them. The market will always let you know which one they prefer.

Also, when using story copywriting does the story highlight and illustrate the benefits?

Yes, a good story should highlight the benefits. But more importantly it should paint a picture in the readers mind of what it would be like to enjoy the benefit.

Also, when researching the product and listing features and converting them to benefits - is there a trick to it or something because after i've done my list and look at those benefits, they read like advantages or features and I get stuck thinking how do i describe or paint a picture of that. To create benefits should they follow certain rules. I know they should answer the "So what" rule but how do you expand upon that benefit?

I don't know if this will help you or not, but I wrote a short post a while ago on how to expand from the "so what" question. The "so what" method always left me a little flat, so I created my own twist and it always worked better for me.

Here's a link to the post...

How To Extract Benefits From Features (so you can write better sales copy)

Also, when it comes to the benefit of the benefit it seems like for money-making information products the benefit of the benefit seems to be you can make money, for example, my product shows you how you can buy magazine advertising for cheap and the benefit is you can save thousands, but the benefit of the benefit is that you can become a millionaire by repeating this, so what do we expand upon - the save money or you can become a millionaire?

In this case I would expand on the "become a millionaire" part. It's the benefit of the benefit, and the deeper you can go into the latent, underlying desires, the stronger the pull. Saving money is good, but it's a surface level benefit.

If you want to go even deeper paint a picture of what becoming a millionaire would look and feel like.

Also, it depends on who you're selling to. Because if you're selling your method to ad agencies, and you're dealing with a mid-level manager, then "become a hero to your boss" might be the appeal we're looking for. And you can expand on what that benefit will look like for their career.

Also, can some features have more than one benefit?

Absolutely yes. A single feature can have multiple benefits.

[featherman32]

Hello, And thank you everyone for your kind help. I'm sure it will help me in the right direction.

Thank You