Effective marketing doesn't just mean talking into the void about your products and hoping people respond. It means making a connection with consumers in a way that will resonate with them the most and ensure that they make a purchase.
To persuade consumers to make a purchase, brands need to convince them that their products are worth trying or that it is superior to others.
To achieve this, marketers can highlight either the features of a product or the benefits it provides.
media update's Joreke Kleynhans clears up any confusion surrounding features and benefits of marketing.
Defining Features and Benefits
Features are facts about a product that describe what it can do, its technical specifications, or even its visual characteristics. Features are concrete, measurable aspects of a product that are usually used to compare it to its competitors.
Feature marketing frames the product while focusing on the brand, not the consumer.
For example, watch this ad and note how it is focused on the smartphone's technical aspects:
Benefits, on the other hand, are less concrete, less literal selling points of a product. Benefits are usually a result of the product's features and are used to frame the product with a focus on the consumer and what they can gain from the product.
The benefit of a lip gloss might be that it provides shine and plumping effects. That benefit is derived from the feature that is moisturising and plumping ingredients.
Watch this lip gloss ad and compare its focus to that of the above smartphone ad:
Why the Distinction Matters
It is important for marketers to know the difference between features and benefits in marketing because they have different purposes. Many marketers believe that benefits are always a better marketing tool than features, but that could not be further from the truth. They simply differ in terms of their purpose and impact.
Additionally, different audiences require different approaches to reach them effectively. The same goes for marketing different types of products.
There is a time and place for both benefits and features in marketing and knowing when to use which starts with knowing what each can achieve.
Different Powers, Different Purposes
Features can be used in marketing to appeal to more fact-oriented buyers. For example, consumers who are shopping for expensive items tend to evaluate and compare the features of a product extensively.
Not to mention that today, consumers like to do research before buying and are no longer fooled by unsupported claims. They need to be persuaded to buy with concrete evidence. Brands need to clearly communicate the value of their products to their target markets and informing them of products' features is an effective way to do so.
Benefits can be used in marketing to connect with consumers on an emotional level. Because benefits frame products to emphasise the consumer and their experience with the product, it can help consumers envision themselves using a product.
Benefits get consumers' imaginations working on how it would be to own something and how it will impact their lives — making the experience more personal from the start.
TL;DR
The basics of features versus benefits in marketing are as follows:
When using features in marketing, the brand in question goes, "Look at me, look at me!"
Benefit-focused marketing, however, is the "So what?" that comes after a brand lists everything that makes it great. Benefits therefore bridge the gap between what a product does and how it affects consumers' lives.
There is a time and place for each of these, but a well-balanced approach is always best. Brands should aim to include a mixture of benefits and features in their marketing to ensure that they not only reach a variety of consumers but also connect with each shopper in multiple ways.
In other words, it is not necessarily a question of which to use, but rather of what the ratio should be.
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*Image courtesy of Canva