Rule 101 of any marketing is that you need to focus on the benefits, not the features. However, no matter how many times companies hear it, they can’t seem to follow this golden rule. It’s undoubtedly tough. It’s difficult to avoid focusing on the features you’ve worked so hard to introduce and to market benefits, you have to know your audience on a deep level.
The following are some things to keep in mind when it comes to marketing benefits instead of features.
Show Instead of Telling
When you’re focusing on benefit-oriented marketing, a good starting point is to think about how you can show instead of telling. This can help you naturally veer away from simply listing features and hone in on how your product or service can bring value to the user.
A good starting point here is the use of a whiteboard animation or an explainer video. These have the double advantage of not just showing the value of a product, but if you’re marketing a complex or new product, you also get the opportunity to demonstrate how it works and simplify what could be a complex product or service.
When you’re writing a script for a whiteboard animation or explainer video you want to focus on creating a narrative that’s going to resonate with the average person and show how your product will fit well into their life.
Storytelling is such an important piece of the puzzle when you’re marketing because it allows you to build an emotional connection and it lets people visualize just how your product or service is going to make their life better. It’s so much more effective than rattling off a bunch of features that aren’t going to resonate with your audience.
Problem-Solving
All of your marketing needs to be centered around solving a problem or filling a void. You should start every marketing strategy or approach by looking at what real problem you’re solving for your audience.
If you’re brainstorming your marketing tactics, start it with a problem, and then build your strategy around that problem and how you’re erasing it from the life of your audience.
To effectively build problem-solving based marketing, you are going to need to do some research into your targeted audience and understand their real pain points. Then you can address each of them.
You want to be able to show how your product or service will ultimately improve the life or well-being of the person you’re marketing to, above all else. People want a product or service to achieve an end. They don’t want the product itself. They want the result of that product, and marketing that focuses on problem-solving will help you highlight how your product can bring about the desired end result.
Depending on your product or service you may end up marketing to different audiences with different problems, so you’ll want to create various personas that will allow you to target your marketing to each separate audience most effectively.
What Are You Really Selling?
Let’s say you’ve developed a new app that allows people to connect directly with a doctor to get answers to health-related questions on demand, and you want to market it.
Think about what you’re really selling.
You’re not selling an app.
You’re selling peace of mind, you’re selling convenience, and you’re selling well-being and better health.
All of your marketing needs to go beyond the product or service, and instead look at what it is you are actually selling.
Finally, when you’re marketing benefits, imagery is incredibly important. The images you choose in your marketing campaigns are what’s going to provide the backup you need to show that your problem-solving claims are true. They also bring a more realistic sense to the benefits you’re saying you can bring. The right images can create an idealized version of the life your customers want, further boosting the emotional connection you’ve developed with them.
Let’s say you’re marketing a nutritional supplement that is designed to help people have more energy. Choose imagery that conveys healthy, energetic people. Imagery is the perfect way to build on the benefits-based marketing you’re doing and make your products or services even more desirable to your audience.
Kidal Delonix is a contributor to Mr. Hoffman's blog. The views and opinions are entirely his/her own and may not reflect Mr Hoffman's views.
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