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10 Ways to
Write More Effective Ads
Emphasize
Benefits, Not Features
What are features? They are descriptions of what
qualities a product possesses.
·
The XYZ car delivers 55 miles per gallon in the city.
·
Our ladder’s frame is made from a lightweight durable steel
alloy.
·
Our glue is protected by a patent.
·
This database has a built-in data-mining system.
And what are benefits? They are what those
features mean to your prospects.
·
You’ll save money on gas and cut down on environmental
pollutants when you use our energy saving high-performance
hybrid car. Plus, you’ll feel the extra oomph when you’re
passing cars, courtesy of the efficient electric motor, which
they don’t have!
·
Lightweight durable steel-alloy frame means you’ll be able to
take it with you with ease, and use it in places most other
ladders can’t go, while still supporting up to 800 pounds. No
more backaches lugging around that heavy ladder. And it’ll last
for 150 years, so you’ll never need to buy another ladder again!
·
Patent-protected glue ensures you can use it on wood, plastic,
metal, ceramic, glass, and tile…without messy cleanup and
without ever having to re-glue it again—guaranteed!
·
You can instantly see the “big picture” hidden in your data,
and pull the most arcane statistics on demand. Watch
your business do a “180” in no time flat, when you instantly
know why it’s failing in the first place! It’s all done with our
built-in data-mining system that’s so easy to use, my twelve
year-old son used it successfully right out of the box.
I just made up those examples, but I think you
understand my point.
By the way, did you notice in the list of
features where I wrote “steel alloy?” But in the benefits I
wrote “steel-alloy” (with a hyphen). Not sure off-hand which one
is correct, but I know which one I’d use.
Here’s why:
you are not writing to impress your English teacher or win any
awards. The only award you’re after is your copy beating the
control (control being the best-selling copy so far), so take
some liberty in grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure.
You want it to be read and acted upon, not read and admired!
But—back to benefits…
If you were selling an expensive watch, you
wouldn’t tell your reader that the face is 2 inches in diameter
and the band is made of leather.
You show him how the extra-large
face will tell him the time at a glance. No sir! He won’t have
to squint and look foolish to everyone around him trying to read
this magnificent timepiece. And how about the way he’ll project
success and charisma when he wears the beautiful gold watch with
its handcrafted custom leather band? How his lover will find him
irresistible when he’s all dressed up to go out, wearing the
watch. Or how the watch’s status and beauty will attract the
ladies.
Incidentally, did you notice how I brought up
not squinting as a benefit? Does that sound like a silly
benefit? Not if you are selling to affluent baby boomers
suffering from degrading vision. They probably hate it when
someone they’re trying to impress sees them squint in order to
read something. It’s all part of their inner desire, which you
need to discover. And which even they may not know
about. That is, until you show them a better way.
The point is to address the benefits of the
product, not its features. And when you do that, you’re focusing
on your reader and his interests, his desires. The trick is to
highlight those specific benefits (and word them correctly) that
push your reader’s emotional hot buttons.
How do you do that? Read on!
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