How many times have you heard or read that:
“You should focus on the benefits of your product, not its features.”
Features & Benefits, these two words have been thrown around so often that it’s not surprising how many brands use them incorrectly.
When it comes to compelling your visitors to take action, your product messaging is crucial; that’s why knowing the difference between features and benefits could have a significant impact on your conversion rate.
Let’s dive in:
What are Features?
Features are the physical characteristic of your product/service. These are facts that describe what your product does and sometimes how it does it (e.g. the technologies it uses.)
If communicated correctly, features add credibility and substance to your product and allow visitors looking for a specific product or service to know if yours is right for them, especially when considering other alternatives.
When listing out your product features, it is important to look out for those that give your brand a competitive advantage.
What are Benefits?
It’s not enough to tell prospects what your product does. Here at the CRO company, we have a saying:
“People don’t care about you. They only care about what you can do for them, and how your product can make their life better.”
This statement is the reason why benefits are so compelling. They describe the things your market care about and give them a reason to buy from you.
If your product doesn’t provide real-life advantages, then it will be nearly impossible to convince your market to pull out their wallets.
Here’s why features alone are not that impressive.
Most visitors will not understand why your product features matter, but you can help them connect the dots and care about your technical features by including benefits.
By “connect the dots,” I’m referring to understanding how your product features solve their problem.
Let’s dive into an example. In this case, consider one of my favorite water bottles, Swell.
Features:
- Made with a triple-layered, vacuum-insulated construction
- Made from 18/8, food-grade stainless steel.
- Condensation-free exterior
- Size: 9oz
I took the features above and made them matter, by clearly stating their benefits.
Benefits:
- Thanks to our patented Therma-S’well technology, you can now keep your beverages colder or hotter for longer.
- Made from food-grade stainless steel to ensure lifetime use—no more worrying about a new water bottle that doesn’t last.
- Tired of bottles that sweat in your hand or bag? We added a condensation-free exterior to ensure our bottle remains dry.
- Perfectly sized for seamless portability because staying hydrated shouldn’t be a burden.
Conclusion
Benefits are not better than features however, assuming customers will get why your product features matter is a conversion killer! That’s why you rely on product benefits to compel your customers further.
Because in the end, customers only care about how your product can make their lives better.