Move beyond benefits for better results

Most people with a basic understanding of marketing know that you should turn features into benefits. But if you’re stopping there you’re severely limiting the persuasive power of your promotion. To take your copy to the next level, translate those benefits into motivations.

Features are attributes of a product or service. Benefits are what those features do for people. Motivations are what the benefits mean personally and emotionally to the prospect. Here’s an example.

A feature of a credit card offer might be a low APR on balance transfers. The benefit of that feature is saving money. The motivation might be freedom from the burden of debt.

Sounds easy, right? But it can be challenging when there’s multiple potential motivators per benefit. Going back to the example above, the motivation for saving on balance transfers might be more about greed than salvation for the people you’re reaching. By saving money, they’ll have more to spend to achieve the lifestyle they desire.

Finding which motivation works best for your project requires an intimate knowledge of your target markets and creative testing. But you’ll find the results are will worth it.