Beyond Features vs Benefits
When reviewing a product or service, or recommending an affiliate product being offered, many online marketers do a decent job of outlining the features of the product. This product has a 50 Watt motor. This item is available in seven different colors. You can get it delivered on Friday.
But people don’t buy products because of features. People buy products because of the benefits. So, what’s the difference?
It’s pretty simple.
A Feature is something “real” or tangible. It is what the product is or does. Think of it as simply a characteristic of the product.
A Benefit is what the product does. It’s what makes the feature — and therefore your product — valuable.
Master sales legend Zig Ziglar once stated it this way: People don’t want a 1/4-inch drill; they want 1/4-inch holes.
See the difference?
You may or may not have heard that before. It’s the classic “features vs. Benefits” concept that has been around forever.
But now I want you to think about taking it even further and add an Advantage.
An Advantage is similar to a benefit in that it is still what the product does, but in this case it is what the product does… for them. In other words, an Advantage is the magic glue that ties the feature and benefits to your readers needs. So, all together, it works like this.
The FBA Formula
As you can probably guess, FBA stands for Feature, Benefit, Advantage. The idea is to lead with a feature of the product, present a benefit of that feature, and then connect them to an actual concern the person has. Here is an example.
Feature: THE COMFY Original Blanket Sweatshirt is a blanket with sleeves. (Yep, that’s a real product that I randomly found on Amazon. lol)
Benefit: Because THE COMFY has sleeves, you can use your phone, operate the TV remote, read a book, or even browse the web without your blanket sliding off of your arms.
Advantage: … which keeps your body all nice and toasty. You move more freely and stay relaxed, which helps melt away the stress of the day and keeps you totally warm.
Here’s what the FBA Formula looks like all put together:
"THE COMFY Original Blanket Sweatshirt is a blanket with sleeves. Because THE COMFY has sleeves, you can use your phone, operate the TV remote, read a book, or even browse the web all without your blanket sliding off of your arms which keeps your body all nice and toasty. You'll move more freely and stay relaxed, which keeps you totally warm and helps melt away the stress of the day."
Makes you want to go to Amazon right now and get one of those, doesn't it? :-)
The Need for Needs Assessment
Now, while the FBA Formula works like magic, it naturally requires a little forethought on your part. You actually have to know what sorts of advantages the product may have for your audience.
And this requires a bit of needs analysis on your part. What sorts of things are your audience looking for? More time? More money? Pain relief? Better social standing? An amazing golf swing? Etc.
The more “hot buttons” you can discover the easier it will be to create FBAs for all of your affiliate product offerings.
The good news is that this is usually not too difficult, as many of us start with sites that are of interest to ourselves, which means we may be our best audience member; we already know what others like us might be looking for. If not, just do a little research or even a survey or two.
And if you ever find yourself stuck with identifying the difference between features, benefits, and advantages, review this article and meditate on this thought…
No one has EVER bought a $15,000 Rolex watch because it tells time :-)
Recent Comments
39
Very well put, the end game with the product you are trying to market and obtain sales traction with must be what it can provide in terms of a solution and market of people for which it is useful.
We can all copy a string of comments on the product characteristics, but this has no substance without real flow on to the consumer and buyer.
Yes is the value and the experience about the brand. I like people don't care about the produce drill but they thing about the hole that to be drill the problem. 😁💪👏👌👍💯
Thank you AJ for this very helpful and useful post.
Love the ending "no one has ever bought a $15.000 Rolex watch because it tells the time". LOL
Jennifer
Hahaha... yeah, it definitely keeps things in perspective, doesn't it? Thanks for sharing :-)
Great words of advice. I am bookmarking this post. Thanks, AJ!!
I wish you the best!
Bob M
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This is very helpful. I am reworking a lot of my writing to make it more personal. This is exactly the breakdown I needed to make the Sale Stuff more personal. There is a reason I save all my emails notifying me of your posts until I can go read them. Hahah thank you.
Thank you. You're too kind :-)