Feature or Benefit? Not Knowing the Difference Is Killing your Copy

Every product has features.

Every feature provides at least one benefit.

Your prospects don’t care about features. They want to know how your product can change their lives for the better. That’s the essence of the benefit.

What is a feature?

A feature is what the product does or is. It is what the customer gets IN the product. Its characteristics. Things like size, shape, weight, construction, color, materials, ingredients, textures, power, and so on.

For information products, a feature can be the number of pages, the frequency of publication, types of information presented, content format.

Features are about the product, not the prospect. They work on a factual level.

What is a benefit?

A benefit is the outcome that customers experiment by using your product. It is what they get OUT of the product, how your product improves their lives. Real benefits connect to your customers’ desires (saving time, reducing costs, making more money, becoming happier, healthier, less stressed, more productive).

From the customer’s perspective, it is the answer to the question, “What’s in it for me?”

Benefits are the emotional connection with your product. They are something your prospect craves and is willing to pay for.

High-converting copy is benefit-oriented. It connects the dots between features and benefits so your prospects don’t have to do it. If they are not fully aware of the connections between features and benefits, they might ignore key benefits.

Make sure they understand how your product features can improve their lives, jobs, or relationships.