Nobody wants to merely blend in with all the marketing noise. That’s how businesses die.
But if you’ve ever read even one marketing book, you might fall for a crippling misconception. You see, practically everyone knows rule #1: Emphasize benefits, not features. This is an important rule, but if you leave out its counterpart, you will be crushed.
When benefits work against you
If you’ve got a completely different set of benefits that nobody else is promising, then rule #1 might be enough. But what happens when all your competitors are touting the same benefits? Chances are you’ve been caught in this swamp before:
- Almost any real estate agent you ask will offer to sell your house fast, for the best possible price
- Most IT services will reduce downtime and streamline your workflow
- Every single copywriter in the world is going to promise you more clients, more sales, and bigger profits with less effort
If your benefits are the same as everybody else, a prospect doesn’t really have a reason to choose you, and they may fall back on the cheapest or loudest option.
Escape the “Me Too” Syndrome
Luckily, there’s an easy way around this “me too” syndrome: Start focusing again on the features.
How will you sell my house faster for a better price? Tell me the steps you’ll go through. Even if every realtor goes through the exact same steps, nobody has ever told me about them.
If you’re a personal trainer, explain that you spend half of each session doing resistance training at the weakest point in your client’s range of motion. List the 27 different muscle groups that you test and work with. Describe the weights and equipment you use.
Do you offer IT services that reduce downtime? Be sure to show that your software refreshes the data and scans for bugs 37 times per minute. That you analyze 29 data points on an hourly basis. That most problems are discovered and corrected within 11 minutes. Mention the names, model numbers, and versions of all your software and equipment.
All of this information will be meaningless to most of your clients, but it’s a billion times more refreshing than the overused term, “state of the art.”
I always start every project by collecting as many facts as I can about a client or their products. I try to get at least 100, or even 1,000 if I’m not in a hurry. One of my early mentors refused to write a single sentence until he had compiled 15 pages of facts about a product. Fifteen pages.
When everyone in your industry is boasting the same benefits, there’s only one way to stand out. Show your market, in a very concrete and tangible way, exactly how you deliver those benefits.
The old rule still applies. Benefits before features. But never leave out the features.
About Jacob Bear In a digital world filled with endless distraction, the key to success is to become so excited about something that you attack every obstacle and light up the path for your followers. As a copywriter and marketing coach, Jacob has been guiding entrepreneurs to uncover their unique story since 2006. In his new talk, “Finding Your Fire,” he shows you how to cultivate a sense of adventure that brings energy and originality to everything you do. His free Social Media Cheat Sheet shows you how to create authentic, perpetual content in nine steps. You can find the Cheat Sheet and other tools at JacobBear.com/FreeStuff.
