The ideology behind why features tell, but benefits sell

The ideology behind why features tell, but benefits sell



Do you think there's any truth to this? Do features only tell, and benefits sell?  Well, let's see why we should focus on benefits rather than features as the great marketing wizards, David Ogilvy and Steve Jobs proved to be the best examples leveraging this method. 

Features vs Benefits



As you know, features describe the attributes of a product or a service. It answers the “What" - exploring the functionalities and persuading prospects about what it does. On the other hand, benefits sell the result. It explains the “Why" - focusing on the result 'that customers' yield.

When pitching a product, getting a little obsessed with the product's features, and explaining it in detail is natural. And we're not saying it's wrong to position the features that distinguish your product from your competitors. But before that, it's important to think about what end-users want. Everyone is looking for simple solutions that could solve problems, and make things better. Benefits convince the users to listen to your pitch, as it is more focused on providing them solutions to their business problems.

So, where does the feature description fit in your narrative? Once convincing your audience about the benefits, showcasing the features intrigues and engages them. Let's assume you are looking for better ways to store and automate your customer information. You find a descriptive blog suggesting efficient ways to manage your leads data. It also gives a footnote about how a CRM could solve your problem. Now that you've got the solution, you start to compare different CRM solutions and their features to see which best fits your business. It applies to your target audience as well. By first convincing your audience briefing the benefits and then leveraging the features closing a deal proves to be an agile method to win more sales.  

Feature and benefits of iPod



In 2001, Apple launched its iPod, the mp3 song player that changed the way we listened to music. Steve Jobs introduced the iPod as, "1000 songs in your pocket". Had he emphasized more on the feature stating, “We are presenting iPod - the largest storage, mp3 digital media song player", it wouldn't address the "Why', and it wouldn't have caught the imagination of the consumers the way it did. The pitch rightly positioned the benefit, making the product a huge success. More than 400 million iPods sold and transformed Apple into one of the most valuable companies in the world. 

How to reposition features as benefits?

So far, we understood the importance of prioritizing benefits over features. Now, we will see how to transform features into benefits. 

'Talk' to your customers through your writing

 “If you’re trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language, the language they use every day, the language in which they think. We try to write in the vernacular” - David Ogilvy.

The father of advertising, David Ogilvy was one of the most successful advertisers during the 60s. His notions regarding marketing and advertising played an incredible role in promoting big brands, and are relevant to this date. He emphasized that understanding your customer pain points helps you to talk the way your customers talk. When you identify their problems, you can easily draft content that is more relatable to them. It addresses their needs. When you tailor your content to your customer's pain points, you wouldn't have to chase after them, they will come to you. To identify their challenges, here are some platforms you could explore:

Market survey - By surveying your target customers, you directly interact with them to find out what is lacking and how you can slide in the gap.

Review sites - Your own user community site and other relevant review sites like Yelp, Trip Advisor, and Am  track customer complaints. 

Social media - Social media is a powerful tool to draw public’s attention. Perform social listening to check if there are any customer complaints about your competitors. 

Keeping a tab on some of the platforms mentioned above will help you to understand your customer pain points and lets you optimize the sales pitch that best resonates with them. Gathering this data is only the first step. Deep analysis into niche areas using these data points enables you to profile and pitch to your customers better. 

Ask so what

To 'talk' to your customers through your writing, just ask, "So what?",  a simple yet powerful question that flips your features into benefits. This strategy aids in simplifying the content and answers the purpose of the product. Let’s see some of the examples:

Mp3 song player with 5 gigabytes storage
So what?
1000 songs in your pocket

SEO page optimization
So what?
Rank first in google
 
Portable wireless BlueTooth speaker
So what?
Carry the speaker anywhere you go
 
1.5 ton, 3 Star spilt AC
So what?
Bring Antarctica to your room
 
Analog, water-resistant watch
So what?
Be playful without removing your watch

When your content passes the 'so-what' test, it indicates that your draft is customer-friendly and focused. Feature or benefit is not the dispute. Both should be used wisely to craft a selling content. 

    Zoho Desk Resources

    • Desk Community Learning Series


    • Digest


    • Functions


    • Meetups


    • Kbase


    • Resources


    • Glossary


    • Desk Marketplace


    • MVP Corner


    • Word of the Day


      • Sticky Posts

      • 10 simple e-commerce marketing tips to boost sales

        Congratulations! You've finally set up that e-commerce store you've been thinking about for a long time. Hopefully it wasn't too difficult. Even if it was, the effort will be totally worth it when you start seeing some orders come through. Now that the store is live, let's take a look at some marketing tips you can apply for sales growth. 1. Avoid cart abandonment If you've ever shopped online, you might have added a product to the cart but then decided not to purchase it. This is known as cart abandonment.
      • Marketing in a post COVID-19 world!

        Consumers across countries are increasingly spending more time on a wide variety of digital activities, right from online grocery shopping, to video conferencing, to tele-medicine. There is a good chance that you performed one or more of the following activities during this lockdown, thanks to COVID 19: Cooked a meal Made a TikTok Video Signed up for a remote learning session Consulted a doctor online (or ordered medicines online) Shopped for groceries online A study by Hunter, a food and beverage
      • Inbound Marketing 101: The Foundational Blocks of Inbound Marketing Strategy

        According to a behaviour survey, 68% of the buyers use sources such as blogs to evaluate the product even before considering it. Before buying a product, we do a lot of research to learn more about the product through communities, blogs, social media,
      • How Zylker doubled their webinar registrations!

        Webinars are good educational resources to gather qualified leads for your product. But what if your visitors are dropping off from your webinar landing page without signing up? What more could you do to convert visitors into registrants? This is the
      • The ideology behind why features tell, but benefits sell

        Do you think there's any truth to this? Do features only tell, and benefits sell?  Well, let's see why we should focus on benefits rather than features as the great marketing wizards, David Ogilvy and Steve Jobs proved to be the best examples leveraging

      Zoho CRM Plus Resources

        Zoho Books Resources


          Zoho Subscriptions Resources

            Zoho Projects Resources


              Zoho Sprints Resources


                Zoho Orchestly Resources


                  Zoho Creator Resources


                    Zoho WorkDrive Resources



                      Zoho Campaigns Resources

                        Zoho CRM Resources

                        • CRM Community Learning Series

                          CRM Community Learning Series


                        • Tips

                          Tips

                        • Functions

                          Functions

                        • Meetups

                          Meetups

                        • Kbase

                          Kbase

                        • Resources

                          Resources

                        • Digest

                          Digest

                        • CRM Marketplace

                          CRM Marketplace

                        • MVP Corner

                          MVP Corner




                          Zoho Writer Writer

                          Get Started. Write Away!

                          Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                            Zoho CRM コンテンツ






                              ご検討中の方

                                • Recent Topics

                                • How to get the Dashboard page to be the first page when you open the app

                                  So when it opens on a tablet or phone it opens on the welcome page, thanks.
                                • Integration between Zoho CRM and Zoho WorkDrive

                                  I'd like to search Zoho for an invoice I've added as an attachment (pdf) to an account. The name of the invoice is 1388-advertiserx-July.pdf - but I can't find it using the search function for any of these terms: 1388 1388-advertiserx 1388-advertiserx-July.pdf
                                • Tip #17: How to mandate partial payment for your appointments

                                  When you require partial payments during the booking process, customers can only schedule with you after paying a certain amount in advance. This deposit acts as a commitment between both parties. Apart from that, it has many more advantages. Benefits
                                • Why option for 'include form submission in the body of the email' check box is missing

                                  Hi In all our forms we have configured an <Email Notification> (<Rules> <Form Rules>) In some forms, there is an option to <include form submission in the body of the email> in the <Additional Options> section, however, this option is not available in
                                • Mozilla Vault extension will not Unlock even once.

                                  I have been using the Vault extension in Chrome based browsers for years, yet after installing the Mozilla Extension in Firefox, it will not unlock. Initially it did redirect me to log into my account, and then enter the master password. However, it did
                                • Unable to Download CRM Contact Data: WorkDrive Integration Issues

                                  ## Problem Description We need to let users download contact information from CRM as CSV files to their local computers. Since we couldn't implement a direct download option, we're trying to use WorkDrive as a workaround - but we're encountering issues
                                • Sort mail by name and subject

                                  I don't see sort function on columns FROM and Subject. I see only sort functio by date. Could add it ?
                                • Zoho Creator monthly roundup - September 2024

                                  Hello all, We're back with an exciting set of new features and enhancements that will elevate your Creator experience even further. In case you missed it, we’ve recently revamped our Product Roadmap page, now with a refreshed design and showcasing all
                                • Kiosk Studio Session #1: View paid customers in the same industry

                                  Update | 15 Oct 2024: Session #2 is now available here! Hello everyone! We're excited to launch our new series of posts on Kiosk Studio today. Called Kiosk Studio Sessions , these posts will be packed with actionable ideas to help you get the most out
                                • Issues hosting Zoho Desk Web Form on SharePoint and/or Power BI

                                  Zoho Desk onboarding support has no experience with embedding their web form in either SharePoint or Power BI. Microsoft states that SharePoint and Power BI only support iframe HTML. And unfortunately, the web form embed code that Zoho generates is not
                                • "Send with Zoho Sign" broken

                                  Our company uses hyphens in our file name conventions. Our users have been sending the files from other modules with the "Send with Zoho Sign" shortcut in the upper right buttons. Since around June 10, 2024, this stopped working. Our users can send the
                                • Not able to change colors help center

                                  Hi. How can I change the orange color in the help center? You can change everything besides this font color And how can I remove the part on the bottom?
                                • Transform Numeric Values using st, nd, rd, th or Convert Numerals to Ordinal Form - Deluge

                                  Please Use this sample Code This_Day_Date = zoho.currentdate.toString("dd"); value1 = "th"; if(This_Day_Date.right(1) ="1" && This_Day_Date != "11") { This_Day_Date = This_Day_Date+" "+"st"; } else if ( This_Day_Date.right(1) = "2" && This_Day_Date !=
                                • Kaizen #166 - Handling Query Variables in Zoho CRM

                                  Hello, Code Enthusiasts! Welcome to another week of Kaizen! This week, we'll dive into handling variables in Zoho CRM Queries and see how they can be deployed in Kiosk to dynamically retrieve data. This technique is especially useful for integrating data
                                • Automate User Invitations on Zoho Desk with API

                                  Automate User Invitations on Zoho Desk with API Hello Team, We are excited to announce that you can now automatically invite users to the Zoho Desk portal using the API! ### How It Works For example, when a contact is created in Zoho Desk and you enable
                                • Is there a way to add clients who don't have organisation in Zoho Books/Payroll/Expense ?

                                  The Zoho Practice software is only allowing a total of 15 such clients who are not organisations in Zoho Books/Payroll/Expense. i.e. 5 organisation in each of the software by creating a new organization for them and adding the accountant as the admin
                                • Email with attachments saving attachments into Zoho CRM from Zoho Mail

                                  Hi, I get a lot of emails from prospective clients asking if we would bid their project. Those projects usually have many documents associated with them that I link to.  I would like to have those documents be saved as an attachment in my Potential or Contact or Account. I don't see a way to do that that isn't multi-step. As of now I do the following: 1.) Open email 2.) If email sender isn't in my Zoho CRM database I enter them creating a Potential 3.) I download the attachment and save it to a different
                                • Fixed assets recording

                                  Hello there, I recorded a bill for a vendor contain (Computer) so the PC is a fixed assets, do I need to do a manual journal to include this PC under the fixed assets category (furniture & equipment)? If yes, please take me through the manual journal
                                • Multi-Select lookup field has reached its maximum??

                                  Hi there, I want to create a multi-select lookup field in a module but I can't select the model I want the relationship to be with from the list. From the help page on this I see that you can only create a max of 2 relationships per module? Is that true?
                                • Zoho Sheet-Pulling in Data

                                  I have a module where we track POs, Bills etc (its easier for us this way). In this PO Module, we have a task related to a Job/Deal and various fields for costs. A Supplier on a Job might have several POs in this module for the job. I want to generate
                                • Can't get ZFS file ID of a field via specific module record

                                  I have a `fileupload` field on a custom module that I need to replace the file for but I don't know how to get the ZFS ID from the module record. # Getting the current fileupload GET https://www.zohoapis.eu/crm/v7/<MODULE>/<ID> # Response { data: [{ //
                                • Contemplating moving my site from WordPress to Zoho Sites

                                  Hi Everyone, We currently find ourselves in a situation where we ant to review and update our current sites content. We are small business owners, not developers. We currently use a wide range of Zoho products. We sometimes think about the possibility of either moving or just starting from scratch on Zoho Sites. I would like to know if anyone has done this and of course the things that need to be considered. We have spent quite a bit of time getting our current site positioned organically and I guess
                                • Multiple Salesperson against an invoice

                                  Hello, Against a particular invoice, we have multiple sales people working. The reason we combine the invoice is becuase we are an exporter and often consolidate cargo for our customer to save them freight costs. How do I capture the contribution of each
                                • Allow a brand to connect multiple facebook pages at the same time

                                  Our company have multiple facebook pages to represent, every branch, right now we can only link one facebook page, so we can only recive messages from one branch. It would be nice to be able to connect all pages.
                                • Whatsapp reply not reflected under Tickets for offline agent

                                  Hi, We are encountering a situation where WA response from customer is not reflected under tickets (if the agent handling the case previously is not active due to off day/ MC). The ticket will remain in the offline agent's queue until agent is back to
                                • Select CRM Custom Module in Zoho Creator

                                  I have a custom module added in Zoho CRM that I would like to link in Zoho creator.  When I add the Zoho CRM field it does not show the new module.  Is this possible?  Do i need to change something in CRM to make it accesible in Creator?
                                • Send Whatsapp with API including custom placeholders

                                  Is is possible to initiate a session on whatsapp IM channel with a template that includes params (placeholders) that are passed on the API call? This is very usefull to send a Utility message for a transactional notification including an order number
                                • Increase Round Robin Scheduler Frequency in Zoho Desk

                                  Dear Zoho Desk Team, We hope this message finds you well. We would like to request an enhancement to the Round Robin Scheduler in Zoho Desk to better address ticket assignment efficiency. Current Behavior At present, the Round Robin Scheduler operates
                                • Separate One-Time Mentions from Ongoing Ticket Following in Zoho Desk

                                  Dear Zoho Desk Support Team, We are writing to request an enhancement to the mention functionality within Zoho Desk. Currently, when an agent is mentioned in a ticket, they receive notifications for all subsequent activity on that ticket, similar to being
                                • Mass update Accounts in Zoho Desk

                                  We used the integration feature to bring in all of our accounts from Zoho CRM. While all of the names and links are in place, on the Zoho Desk side the email, phone, website, and address fields are blank. By going into each account I can select "Update
                                • Vivaldi will not open the Zoho Mail app when I click a email link in the browser

                                  I'm running Vivaldi on Arch with the Plasma desktop and have under default applications Zoho Mail set as my default email client. Whenever I click a email link in Vivaldi I get the below when it should be launching Zoho. Any ideas on rectifying this issue?
                                • Digital publisher

                                  Kinetic Digital Publisher provides comprehensive digital publishing services, including eBook creation, formatting, cover design, and marketing. We help authors publish and promote their work across online platforms with ease.
                                • Time Zone Correction with Daylight Savings Time

                                  Hey, I'm writing a series of reports where the source data is synced from an external source which stores the date/time information in GMT, but I want the reports to be in local time. Now, I understand there is the CONVERT_TZ function which allows me
                                • Load form in iframe without header

                                  I am trying to load a form into an iframe without the header, but I am not having any luck. I am using openUrl() to load the iframe with the form URL and zc_Header set to false, e.g. #Form:Add_Case?zc_Header=false but it is still loading the header. Any
                                • Filter embedded report

                                  How to filter embedded report in a page, below code is not working. dateField => startDate & dateField=< endDate The report should print on page containing records from startDate to endDate. params='zc_Header=true&amp;Service_Date__gte=<%=startDate%>&amp;Service_Date__lte=<%=endDate%>'
                                • Creator Simplified #5: Set file upload restrictions in Zoho Creator

                                  Hey Creators, Welcome to the next post in the Creator Simplified series. Today, we’ll explore how to implement file upload restrictions to limit user submissions to specific file types. By implementing an allowed list for file uploads, you can optimize
                                • Field Type: Address, Change District/State to Dropdown with picklist??

                                  Using the Address Field type, is there a way to make the District/State field be a dropdown with a picklist so the users can select rather than type the state name every time? I know this can be done if I use a drowdown field for the State (or entire address information), but that isn't as tidy as using the address field type. I apologize if this is a duplicate. I posted this question the other day, or so I though. Can't find that post.
                                • cutomized fields are not showing up in zoho creator from zoho crm

                                  We have customized fields in zoho crm under accounts module like "Last production upgrade" --> This field is a date. When created a solution in zoho creator i couldn't find any of the customized fields. Would you please help me on this matter? Thanks
                                • How to Add Bulk Data in Zoho Creator Forms Using Deluge Without Exceeding Execution Time Limit

                                  I have a database form with a column named 'Product Name' containing 8000 values in a Zoho Creator form. In another form named 'Returns Data,' I have a column with the same name, 'Product Name.' How do I add these 8000 values to the 'Returns Data' form
                                • Open New Free Zoho Account

                                  Hi Team, Do you guys offer a free email hosting? I do have a domain already. If yes, what is the process to open the new account? Thanks,
                                • Next Page