Dude, It's Marketing

Features versus Benefits, Why is this so Hard

This shouldn't be so hard but time and time again you see companies list features about their products but nothing about how it benefits their customers. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a feature as "a prominent part or characteristic" or "a special attraction" whereas benefits are defined as "something that promotes well-being" or a "useful aid".

Looking at this another way, the feature is what the product does whereas the benefit is how the feature helps them or why the customer should care about that particular feature. Even the most techy person among us, despite their strong objections, will buy benefits not features.

For example, listing the speed of the processor, the amount of memory, the resolution of the display, etc. are all features. The fact that you can do things faster, store more data, watch better quality videos are some of the benefits of the above. What do you think someone is more likely to buy, 16 GB of memory or the ability to store thousands of songs or photos?

Remember back when Apple launched the original iPod. The main marketing message was "1,000 songs in your pocket". Benefit. No mention of the size of the hard drive in the unit which is the feature that made this possible. Do you think the iPod would be where it is today, if Apple had talked about a 5GB MP3 player? (OK, I can hear the objections already, there was more to the iPod success than this tag line but it played a key role. Everyone understood how the iPod would help them.)

So here's how you develop the benefits of your product or service. Believe it or not, you start with the features. Write down all the key features for your product and, if you need to, add a short explanation for each. Now, think about how each feature helps the user of your product. This is not why you think it's cool but how it helps your potential or existing customers. Does the feature help them do things faster, do more, save money, make them money, etc.?

But you're not done yet, these are pretty general statements that many can claim. Make these benefits more specific, for example, can you now store 10x as many photos, can you save 20%, can you make $10 per subscriber. Apple didn't just say you could take songs with you but it was 1,000 songs in your pocket which was a lot, at the time, if you think that a portable CD player, which was larger is physical size, held a single CD which had 10-15 songs. More songs, meant more CDs and more size.

And that comparison between the iPod and a CD player illustrates another step too. Once you have your first list of features. Look at your competitors (direct and indirect) to see if your benefits are significantly different and better. If your benefits are not 10x better or something they do not offer then think about another way to position that feature or maybe it doesn't make the list at all.

You're almost there, with the final step being to simplify the list and the language you use so the prospect can quickly and easily see how it helps them. Following this process, you should have 3-5 key benefits for your product. That's all you want to talk about. The features are now relegated to some spec sheet someplace for the techy that needs to know (There is a time and place for features).

Now was that really so hard? So why don't all companies do it?

It is NOT About the Features, Creating a Solution Overview

In content marketing, we talk a lot about creating valuable content to get found and how that content needs to be educational and not product focused. However, there will come a time and place where you do need to create content that talks about your products as prospects will look for and need that information before they make a purchase.

But, the imporant thing to remember when developing this more product-focused content is that you still can't just talk about your product features but instead you must talk about how your product solves a specific problem for your industry. I call this piece of content a solution overview and I know from past experience that it can be a very powerful sales tools. Others may call it an application note or a product white paper. The name doesn't matter but the questions it answers does.

I was writing a solution overview this week and it reminded me of how the format for this collateral can be similar regardless of the product or service you are trying to sell. If you put yourself in the shoes of your buyer then it's easy to figure out the questions they are asking or thinking about when it comes to your product. Now there will be a more technical audience that may be more concerned with the features (that's a different piece of collateral) but you need to show the value of your solution before you get to that step.

Here's my standard outlined for a solution overview:

• The Problem:
  Define the issues that your audience face in their terms. At a high level, this could be the need to generate revenue, save money, minimize risk, etc. Find out what is keeping your prospects awake at night and show that you understand in this section.
• The Solution:
  This is not where you list a bunch of features. Instead, explain how your product solves the problems you defined in the previous section. More importantly, explain how it solves these problems differently or better, and it must be significantly better, than other products.
• How it Works:
  Depending on your audience or product, you may need a more technical section. This is it. Sometimes it may make more sense as an appendix so this section doesn't break the flow of the document. Talk about how your product works using diagrams and other visuals. Walk the reader through the steps so they can see how your product will help them solve the problem at a more detailed level.  
• The Advantages:
  While you should have covered why your solution is different and better throughout the paper, this is the section where you summarize why a company should work with you and use your product or service. Make sure you talk benefits and not features. You may also want to present some corporate background if that helps to build the case. In many cases, this section works as a great conclusion to the paper.
• The Results:
  Ideally, this section is a case study of how a similar company has implemented your solution and solved a similar problem. In the early stages of a start-up this may not be possible so see if you can do a "blind" case study where the results are from an actual company but it's not named. If that's not possible then illustrate the expected results, but the more real or proven your results are the better. 

As you read this outline, do you think it will work for the solution overview for your product or service? It may not be exactly right but with the appropriate tweaks, I'm sure it forms a good foundation. The biggest difference between solution overviews is the detail that you go into and this is more a function of your audience rather than the content.

As I've said many times on this blog, you need to know your audience and develop content for them. In many cases, you can create 2 different solution overviews of different length and detail to address these different needs. Wouldn't this type of collateral help you market your product?

The Most Important Elements of Compelling Content

Last post, I talked about how a start-up marketing plan can be summarize in four simple words: create content, get found. And, while I touched on some of the tactics that can be used in both of these areas, I thought it would be valuable to explore each in more detail.

I'll start with content as I believe that needs to be the cornerstone of your marketing efforts. However, you can't just put up any old content to address this need. The content needs to be valuable to your audience. Great content that people are compelled to share will do wonders for your start-up.

I recently discovered the Internet Marketing for Smart People podcasts by Copyblogger Media and listened to a recent episode called How to Constantly Create Compelling Content which was very timely given my topics recently.

This got me to think about what the most important elements of compelling content and I came up with three: Relevant, Educational and Interesting. There are no doubt others but these are the top three in my mind. Let me explain.

Relevant

First and foremost, your content must be written for your audience. This may seem obvious but I've seen cases where technical content is presented to a business-focused audience and I'm sure vice-versa. The content must also be relevant to the problems your audience is facing or need to solve. Timing is also important to the relevance of your content. Whatever you write, it must be relevant for your audience first and foremost.

Educational

Not only does the content need to be relevant but it must also be educational. The content you produce cannot always be about your products and services. It needs to show how problems are solved, talk about market trends or explain difficult concepts. Your audience wants to learn and you need to position yourself as a subject matter expert and thought leader. There will be a time and place for product-focused content but that is not what will be shared or help you get found. Educate your audience and they'll reward you for it.

Interesting

I almost had well-written as my third element but thought that would go without saying. However, you do need to make sure your content reads well and is not written as a colleague of mine once said "like a 2-year old". But let's assume the content is well written, at which point the third element is that it needs to be interesting. There is absolutely nothing wrong with writing an ebook or white paper or some other piece of content that uses a story to explain a concept.

A friend of mine once wrote a technical white paper and added a sex scene to make sure it was read by the reviewers. It worked because it was interesting and explained the concept in a novel way to say the least. Unfortunately, if memory serves, the scene was too graphic and got cut in the published version. Too bad. You may not want to, or be able to, add a sex scene to your content but remember the best non-fiction books are not only interesting because of the topic but also because how it is presented and how the story is told. Your content should be no different.

Brian Clark (@copyblogger) asked on the Copyblogger Facebook page recently "What’s your biggest challenge when creating compelling online content?" and found that the two elements that lead to reader engagement are meaning and fascination. As you can see, there are some similarities between these and my elements of relevant and interesting. What do you think are the most important elements of compelling content?

Create Content, Get Found

In the last post, I wrote about how social media is not your only marketing tactic which raises the question as to what marketing tactics are best for any start-up to pursue. The answer, unfortunately, is "it depends".

It depends on your target market, objectives for the marketing campaign, the product and service you are trying to promote and the big one, budget. With start-ups, more times than not, it is this last one, budget, that ends up determining the tactics and that's why social media is so appealing. But, let's take a step back and figure out what would be most effective and cost-efficient rather than follow the crowd.

For me, I think the start-up marketing plan can be summarize in four simple words: create content, get found. I believe this is the cornerstone of most marketing initiatives today and there are tactics that you can use to make this possible without breaking the budget. 

I talked about how creating valuable content can make your marketing more credible in the past but it's more than that. Content can and should be the foundation for all your marketing campaigns. Creating compelling content can position you as a thought-leader in your industry and helping prospects solve their problem with educational information will lead them to your product.

This content can take many forms and in a lot of cases you can reposition the same content in multiple formats to appeal to a wider audience. Obviously, a website that is deep in content is a good place to start and a blog can go a long way to help accomplish this goal. You can also publish eBooks, white papers, videos and tutorials that are even more detailed. Writing these will take some time but the tools are available to publish these very inexpensively.

Once this content is created you need to make it easy for your prospects to share which is a key way for you to get found. Social media, including Facebook, Twitter and others, can make sharing very easy and once again the tools are free or inexpensive. You can also look into sharing this content on other sites that are specific to your industry or depending on format Slideshare, YouTube and others are a good platform to consider.

But most important to getting found is search as illustrated in a recent study reported on Search Engine Land that nearly 60 percent of cases that end in a purchase begin with search. I've read where that percentage is even higher but the point is that ranking high in a search result is key to getting found so putting some precious money or time into search engine optimization or even buying ads on search engines is a very effective way to getting found. The good news is that producing new content helps you rank higher so one leads to the other.

At the same time, combining tactics to help you get found will also drive more conversions. This same report found that “40 percent of consumers who use search in their path to purchase are motivated to use social media to further their decision making process” so combining search with social media is a win-win proposition to turning the prospects you find into purchasers of your product.

The idea of creating content to get found seems so simple yet many start-ups focus on the latest tactics or feel compelled to try more expensive marketing initiatives and break the budget. Don't do it. These tactics are a good foundation for any marketing plan. Let me know what low-cost and effective marketing tactics you have used successfully with your start-up.

Social Media is Not Your Only Marketing Tactic

More and more organizations are using social media for marketing and in many other ways. It's becoming quite common for a company to have a blog, a Facebook page, a LinkedIn page, a Twitter account, etc. This is great as it allows the company to reach out and communicate with its customers and prospects effectively (if used properly) and without a lot of expense (which is really imporant for a start-up).

However, I've recently read some blog posts asking whether companies should not have a web site anymore and use their Facebook page instead. Some have even said social media is killing marketing as Brian Clark (@copyblogger) and Robert Bruce discuss on this episode of Copyblogger Radio.

In other cases, companies become obsessed with social media and it becomes their entire marketing program. I'm sure it is possible that there are companies where this works and it may even be the best plan for them but I believe these companies are few and far between and would argure that most companies cannot use social media as their only marketing tactic.

There are many marketing tactics that can be used to communicate your message, build awareness, generate leads, move prospects through the sales funnel or reach whatever objective you have set for your marketing program. Some of these tactics include media relations, analyst relations, email marketing, webinars, tradeshows, direct mail, advertising, SEO/SEM, content, AND social media, etc.

One of the most important things in marketing is to develop the appropriate mix of these tactics to reach your audience and meet your objectives. To do that though, you can't start with the tactics but you need to develop your message, know your audience and define your objectives so you can select the right tactics for that program.

For example, imagine you need to generate some leads for a new product that targets an audience which is not on Facebook or Twitter. If you start with the tactics and decide you are going to use social media for this program I will guarantee that it will not be successful as no one who may be interested in your product will ever see your message and offer. By knowing your audience and objective, you can see that something more traditional like direct mail, advertising, tradeshows (if the audience attends), or maybe email, will likely be more effective in this example in generating leads.

I'm not saying companies shouldn't use social media. Blogs, Twitter, Facebook and others can all be very effective marketing tools. They may even be the cornerstone of your next marketing program. What I am saying is they can't be the only tactic in your marketing mix and they won't kill marketing.

As John Jantsch (@ducttape) puts it in his post The Social Media Party Is Over, "Marketing fundamentals have not changed, the tools available to both marketer and consumer have changed." I couldn't have summarized this any better. Use marketing fundamentals to develop your next plan and then decide on the tactics that will work best.