Benefits attract customers—benefits ‘sell’ features. Many novice writers focus on the features that a product offers, but overlook that consumers want to know how they will benefit by using the product; how you do that is of less interest to them.
Let’s take an example and consider the number of instant coffees on the market.
Most of these look the same. They might be packaged differently, but essentially their just lots of granules!
But, every day, coffee manufacturers spend millions attempting to persuade you that their coffee is unique — and its made just for You!
Why do they do this?
They don’t focus on the coffee; instead, they focus on… savoring the aromatic taste of hand-picked Columbian beans ideal for starting your morning… and so on.
It’s not the beans they’re selling—it’s the benefits. In the sentence above, it reminds you how it their lovely coffee helps you start your morning-a nice benefit that we can all relate to.
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So, with this in mind, let’s look at some ways to convey those benefits.
1. Persuade — use words, phrases, and expressions that persuade. Active verbs and short phrases carry a lot of punch. Think of:
“Just Do It”
“I’m Lovin’ it”
“Coke Is It”
They’re all easy to remember and roll off the tongue without any problem. No strange words or buzzwords to deal with.
2. Product — make sure you understand the products your audience is interested in. You have to know the typical consumer that you’re selling to; and know their habits, new trends, and their dislikes.
3. Incentive — examine the ‘triggers’ that make consumer purchase one product over another. For example, consider triggers such as discounts, bonus.
4. Motivation — look into the motivating factors that drive consumers; for example, exclusivity is a strong driver for up-market products, as it implies that only a select band of people can afford/are worthy etc to have this product.
5. Words — write and re-write your material until the benefits become very persuasive.
Once you have worked on these areas, ask yourself:
6. Who will benefit most from the message?
7. What are their basic needs?
8. Which is the most attractive benefit?
9. What is the key benefit in my message?
10. How to write the key benefit in one sentence?
11. How to best convey these benefits?
12. What will help illustrate my message?
Your next step is to write the “sales message” using words that will:
13. Demand complete attention.
14. Create intense interest.
15. Encourage the reader to act.
The three steps—get attention, create interest and call to action—are the key ingredients of all sales copy.
However, even the sharpest copy won’t attract customers if your product is poorly presented, confusing or overpriced.
With that in mind, here are some final suggestions to get the most out of your words—and turn passive readers into active consumers.
16. Define the Who, What, and Why before you start.
17. Gather all the collateral, documents, brochures etc you need to write the copy
18. Set a goal for yourself. Only sign-off on the final draft, once you reached this objective.
19. Imagine that you are the consumer; write from their point of view.
20. Read your material aloud once you’ve finished it. If you stumble over any section, or if something
grates, revise it and try it out again.
21. Once finished, put is aside for 24 hours. When you write for long periods, you may get ‘snow-blind’; a 24-hour break will help you see if what you wrote makes the grade.
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