Defining and Marketing Your Products and Services

The Basics —

What does it do? “Features”

Why Does Anybody Care? “Benefits”

Once you have identified a problem or need, and have developed or found a product or process to solve it — you need to promote your solution to your targeted market.

That is usually where Pleiades Publishing Services comes in. Our clients are often surprised to learn that their website is actually a graphic representation of their business and marketing plans. To successfully reach and sell to your potential market you will need to identify your product’s unique features and benefits for your advertising campaign.

Products may be described in terms of their features and benefits.

Features are product characteristics; benefits are customer needs served by those features. Some examples of features are size, color, horsepower, functionality, design, hours of business, and fabric content.

Benefits are less tangible but always answer the customer’s question:

“What’s in it for me?”

While product features are usually easy to define, product benefits can be trickier because they exist in the customers’ minds. The most compelling product benefits are those that provide emotional or financial rewards. It’s not the brighter smile that the toothpaste offers that is its benefit; it’s what the smile might bring you (more friends, a better job, etc.).

Emotional rewards run the gamut of human emotions, but basically allow the buyer to feel better in some way. For example, sending flowers to a friend or family member allows the buyer to feel supportive or loving. Buying products made from recycled materials offers the buyer the chance to feel environmentally responsible.

Products that deliver financial rewards allow the buyer to save money (e.g., a discount long-distance phone plan) or make money (e.g., computer software for managing a home-based business).

• Can you make a list of both the features and the benefits of your product or service?
• Are you featuring your product or services’ benefits in your current marketing campaign?
• Can you think of any new ways to reach more clients with your product or service?