Writing The Ad The Importance Of Benefits

The key to writing successful ads lies in training yourself to turn features into benefits—and then to use benefits to sell the product or service.

A feature is anything inherent in your product or service, for instance, punc-tureproof tires on a bicycle, large type in an insurance policy, nonpolluting soap in a laundry. In essence, a feature is what you have put into your product or service.

A benefit tells the potential buyers what's in it for them if they use your product or service. For example:

• Are your bicycle tires punctureproof because they're made from uncomfortable solid rubber, or is the benefit that these state-of-the-art tires are so safe that riders won't need to carry patching kits and pumps?

• Large type in an insurance policy seems an obvious benefit for the elderly, but is it necessary if you're trying to sell to newlyweds? How about "No eye-straining tiny type, but a policy designed to be read and understood!"

• Surely you can develop six additional benefits of even greater value to the person you are trying to persuade, no matter what you wish to sell.

How to Develop Benefits

Even though you want to end up with benefits, begin with features, because they are what you are likely to know best. List each individual feature at the top of a 5" X 8" index card. Start with what you know, then enlist the help of anyone who has knowledge you may lack or who might catch an item you've overlooked. Once you're satisfied that you've captured all the features, call an old-fashioned brain-

THINGS TO REMEMBER IN BRAINSTORMING 21

storming session and explain your problem. You have all these great features, but the people you're trying to sell keep saying, "So what? What's in it for me?" It's the answer to these two questions that are your benefits.

Continue reading here: Yellow Pages As A Mirror Of A Market

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