Problem Separating Benefits from Features

[The Niche Man]

What's a simple question you can ask yourself to separate a Benefit from a Feature?

[Oxbloom]

What does it do for you?

[AcmePLR]

Fill in the blanks:

"If you use this _________, the results will be (or you will experience)___________."

If it goes in the first blank it's a feature; in the second blank, a benefit.

Maybe a bit simplistic but I thought I'd take a shot at it, just to give a general idea.

[Alex Cohen]

Feature - what your product has
Advantage (also known as Weak Benefit) - what your product does
Benefit - what your product means to the prospect

For example, a diet product:

Feature - all natural ingredients (has)
Advantage - helps a woman lose weight (does)
Benefit - she looks better in her jeans and feels good about herself (means)

Alex

[mindmarketing]

Perhaps an oversimplification, but features are the blades of a fan while the benefit is the cool breeze they produce.

[Ken_Caudill]

Originally Posted by The Niche Man

What's a simple question you can ask yourself to separate a Benefit from a Feature?

Use "so."

The widget has ergonomic styling so you feel right at home with the controls.

[fasteasysuccess]

Basically, the easy way to remember is...a feature is what it is and the benefit is what it gives you in return or how it benefits you. Like heated seats in a car is the feature, but the fact that it keeps you warm in the winter is the benefit. Focus on the benefits in your copy and you'll always be better off.

[John_S]

Whenever you're talking about the product, it's a feature.

Whenever you're talking about a target customer, it's a benefit.

That's why companies love talking features. They have the illusion they can sell to anyone, for any reason, be anything to everyone.

[Jay Cummins]

Here is another way to look at it.

Benefit=Y
Feature=X
What's important about X
Which means that... Y
Which means that... Ultimate Y

This is the way that if finally made sense to me.

Jay

[tobyR]

For me its simple a benefit is what it does for you, features are what add up to give you the benefit - make sense?

[Loren Woirhaye]

A hand saw for example:

Feature (Benefit)

13 tpi rip teeth (makes a clean and speedy cut)
hardwood handle (heftier and "feels better" than cheap plastic)
hardened teeth (stays sharp longer)



Beyond that the benefits usually have implied benefits,
for example, the clean cut of the saw could make you
a more efficient sawyer or actually seem to improve
the quality of your workmanship because the cutting
action is more predictable, or easier to control.

The hardwood handle can be shaped and refinished
to fit one's preference.

The fact that the teeth are hardened and stay sharp
longer than other saws implies: "goes longer between
sharpening," or "never needs sharpening" (if a replaceable
blade model) which implies less time maintaining the
tool and more time doing productive work with it - which
further implies more enjoyment of the sawing, quicker
completion of woodworking projects, and so forth.

[davechan]

How does it help you?