What are the features of a product?

Product features are descriptions of the qualities that a product possesses.

For example:

• Our hybrid car delivers 55 miles per gallon in urban areas.

• Our lightweight ladder is made from durable steel alloy.

• Our glue is protected by a patent.

• Our database has a built-in data-mining system.

What are the benefits of a product?

Product benefits are what those features will give to your prospective buyers.

• You’ll save money on petrol and reduce environmental pollutants when you use our energy saving high-performance hybrid car. Plus, you’ll feel the extra oomph when you’re passing cars, courtesy of the efficient electric motor, which traditional cars don’t have.

• The Lightweight durable steel-alloy frame of the ladder means you’ll be able to carry it with ease, and use it in places most other ladders can’t go, while still supporting up to 800 lbs. No more backaches lugging around that heavy ladder. And it’ll last for 150 years, so you’ll never need to buy another ladder again.

• Patent-protected glue ensures you are able to use it on wood, plastic, metal, ceramics, glass, and tiles…without messy cleanup and without ever having to re-glue it again – guaranteed.

• You can instantly see the “big picture” hidden in your data, and pull the most arcane statistics on demand. Watch your business do a “180” in no time flat, when you instantly know why it’s failing in the first place! It’s all done with our built-in data-mining system that’s so easy to use, my twelve year-old son used it successfully right out of the box.

The above examples are an indication of the differences between features and benefits. The product features are the qualities that your product has and the benefits are what those product qualities can do for your prospective buyer.

In the list of features “steel alloy” is spelt with a space between steel and alloy. But in the benefits “steel-alloy” is spelt with a hyphen between steel and alloy.

You are not composing your copy to impress your English professor or win any jounalistic awards. The only accolade you’re after is your copy thrashing the control (the control being the copy that best sells your product), so take a few liberties with grammar, punctuation, and phrase and syntax structure. You want it to be read and the buyer to take action, not read and admired.

But-back to benefits…

If you were selling an expensive watch, you wouldn’t tell your prospective buyers that the face is 2 inches in diameter and the band is made of leather.

You would show them how the extra-large face will tell them the time at a glance. No! they won’t have to squint and look foolish to everyone around them trying to read this magnificent timepiece. And how about the way they’ll project success and charisma when they wear the beautiful gold watch with its handcrafted custom leather band? How their partners will find them irresistible when they’re all dressed up to go out, wearing the watch.

Did you notice how not squinting was mentioned as a benefit? Does that sound like a silly benefit? Not if you are selling to affluent prospective customers suffering from degrading vision. They probably hate it when someone they’re trying to impress sees them squint in order to read something. It’s all part of their inner desire, which you need to discover, which even they may not realise themselves. That is, until you show them a better way.

The point is to address the benefits of the product, not its features. And when you do that, you’re focusing on your prospective buyers interests, and their desires. The trick is to highlight those specific benefits (and word them correctly) that push your prospective buyer’s emotional buttons.

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