Save Money, Live Better, Shop Wal-mart.
While this isn't anything to knock your socks off, it's a great example of features and benefits. The company has stated a feature and a benefit all in just four simple words.
The feature - Save Money
The benefit - Live Better
So what's the difference between a feature and a benefit? A feature results in a benefit. Pulling from my past retail experience, let me give you some examples:
Feature: Triple action agitator
Benefit: Gets your clothes cleaner
Feature: Auto temperature control
Benefit: Keeps your clothes from shrinking in the wash
Feature: Multi-colored reversible textile throws
Benefit: Makes your house prettier
Feature: Glycerin-free anti-aging formula with Nylacil
Benefit: Softer younger looking skin
As I review clients' websites and brochures, I notice one astounding problem: they give me features, not benefits. As an intrinsically egocentric human being, I want to know how things will make my life easier, better, cleaner, happier, smoother or more amazing. Best Buy has caught on to this simple concept through their newest tagline: You, Happier.
I read a brochure recently for a home decorating company. It was full of home decor lingo that means nothing to me, such as Clipless Faux Wood Blinds with Durosheen. If they want to speak to me, the consumer, they need to give me the benefits, not the features. So they could've said: 'Cover your windows for less than you think - so the neighbors don't see you streaking to the laundry room.'
Do you remember having to reduce fractions to lowest terms in 4th grade math? The same concept applies with features and benefits. A benefit is the feature boiled down to simplest terms (that even a 4th grader can understand). Whether you're selling a product or a service, you can do this simple exercise. Take out a piece of paper and list of all the features down the left side and all the benefits down the right side. Then come up with creative ways to sell the benefits, not the features.
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