How to be More Successful at Selling-the-Benefits Marketing

Selling-the-benefits marketing is tough and doesn’t come naturally to most people. Salespeople and marketers from every industry fall into the trap of selling the features of a product, focusing on what the product can and can't do. But a buyer doesn’t want to hear what the product can or cannot do. They want to hear what's in it for them. How can the product/service help improve their life or business?

"Sell the Sizzle, NOT the Steak"

A marketer who simply lists the features isn’t much of a marketer at all. Infomercials are fantastic at selling the benefits of products. Sure, they talk about the features of the product, but paired with each feature is a strong benefit that keeps the viewer sucked in. In B2B marketing, this is especially powerful because the benefits can affect the entire company.

Remember the ShamWoW infomercials? They focus on the reusability of the ShamWoW (feature) compared to paper towels, saying “You’re gonna spend $20 on paper towels every month anyway. You're throwing your money away. The ShamWoW is only $19.95 and will last 10 years.” The benefit is stated in such a way as to let the viewer think this product won’t actually cost anything because they’ll already be spending $20. In fact, not getting the ShamWoW will actually end up costing you money! Nobody likes losing money.

Make It Simple

Plainly stating the benefit ensures no one misses it. Not all potential buyers can put the trail of breadcrumb benefits together. For example, when talking about selling a computer, a salesperson may say, “This model has the 64 GB hard drive (feature). This allows you to store a large amount of software and files (benefit)”. However, the customer may not know exactly why that is a benefit to them. It helps to add a little something extra to the end of that statement, like, “This ultimately saves you time and money by not having to take time out of your day to buy additional hard drives”. By adding this additional explanation, the potential buyer knows exactly how the product will benefit them.

Add a Call to Action

After you’ve paired a feature with a benefit, you can pair a benefit with a call to action (CTA). Building on the computer example above, the salesman might add, "Can I ring this item up for you?” Stating why the product will benefit them and immediately following it up with a CTA reinforces the idea that buying the product will benefit the customer, and it adds a sense of urgency -- it adds to the FOMO.

People are not interested in the doodads or doohickys; they're only interested in how those things affect them. People are inherently egocentric and that is okay. To be more successful at selling-the-benefits marketing, cater to the selfishness. Schedule your free digital marketing audit today and find out what else you can do to be a more successful marketer.