Sell the benefits
This absorbing ad isn’t describing the car or its features – it doesn’t need to, because it communicates so clearly the experience of owning the car. Voila!
Details vs. benefits
So often when people write copy, they write details.
They describe all the features of their product/service. But they don’t touch on the benefits that buying will bring.
People don’t buy features. They buy the benefits that your product/service brings them, because of those features. When you’re writing, write to a customer who’s thinking: ‘What’s in it for me?’
What are you communicating that will overcome the obstacles blocking your potential customers from purchasing? – whether those obstacles be them doing it themself, not doing/buying it at all, or buying from someone else.
I heard a fantastic ad on 3AW the other day. It was just a standard radio ad – no fancy dialogue, no music, nothing attention-grabbing at all. It was for a carpet company over in Moorabbin. Now, I am not the slightest bit interested in buying carpet (nor in listening to 3AW for that matter – unfortunately my 17-year-old brother seems to have inherited the soul of a middle-aged man). But I stopped to listen, because right away I knew that it was a great ad.
The ad focussed on how easy the company makes it for you to buy carpet. It stated that the roll you see in the shop is the roll you buy. This company has recognised the fear associated with ordering carpet. People are concerned that what is eventually laid down in their home will be a variation in colour, or not the same quality, or have a fault. The company is addressing that fear head-on. It is essentially saying to its customers: ‘With us, you don’t have to worry. What you see is what you get.’ And that is a benefit to the customer. There’s a fair chance customers will feel more comfortable buying from this company than from the company down the road – the one that’s offering quality carpets in a wide variety of textures and styles.
Details are dry. And more often than not, consumers have heard it all before. Benefits go to feelings and emotions – which how the majority of people make their purchase decisions.
Write benefits, not details.