The #1 Copywriting Mistake That Ruins You as a Copywriter

Let me give you a challenge, for example, if your client needs you to write a copy for their new state of the art vacuum machine. What benefits do you think you will write?

Will it look like this?

• It has the most updated, state of the art, features!
• It has a long and durable battery!
• It's wireless!

If it was like that, congratulations! You just made the audience say the most feared word in copywriting history, "So What."

Why? Because that is a series of features, NOT benefits.

Simple. Features are what the product has to offer. They are simply the attributes of the product and what the product has to offer.

Benefits are the VALUE that the customer WILL GET out of the feature.

For example, take a look back at the features in the beginning.

They are attributes of the product. They are what the product has to offer. It doesn't tell you what the product can do for the customer.

If you use the features above and write the benefits out of it, it'll look like this:

• The product makes the customer lives more comfortable with its most updated, state of the art, features!
• The product saves the customer time with its long and durable battery, so you don't have to keep charge because it ran out in the middle of cleaning!
• The product allows the customer to use it anytime, anywhere, because it's wireless!

Adding what the customer will get out of it makes it far more persuasive than just writing the features alone.

It's not that customers don't care about the features. It's because they don't have any reason for it.

Customers don't want what the product can do, they want what the product will do for them or in this case, Benefits.

This is because benefits trigger the customer's emotion into buying it. It paints a picture in their mind where they can imagine themselves using the product.

That's why you can have a state of the art product, but if the customers can't imagine/relate themselves using the product. It's not going to ring the customer's bells.

Let me ask you this, how many times in your life have you been bombarded by advertisement saying that they have the most high-quality product, long-lasting durability, and other so-called benefits and you didn't buy it. You don't even want to think about buying it because you don't care about it.

You don't have enough reason for it to care.

For example, if you go to a car dealer and they only offer you features, it'll look like this,

• It has the newest and most high-quality engine on the market!
• It can go for 200 mph!
• It can go for 700 miles on a full fuel tank!
• It has the most comfortable seats!

If you're like the rest of us, who's not really a car enthusiast. You'd probably say to yourself, "So What?".

This is why most customers do not care about the features, they can't relate to it!

Now, because you know, customers buy benefits, not features. There is a simple way to fix it.

First, you can spot if what you've written down is a feature If it has these words at the beginning:

• It does...
• It has...
• It is...
• We are...

Now, if you think those words have to be avoided, don't! It can actually help you immensely if you add a benefit after the feature. Usually, it uses the word "Which Means"

For example:

• It has the newest and most high-quality engine on the market, which means you don't have to worry about old cars' problems!
• It can go for 200 mph, which means you arrive at your destination quickly!
• It can go for 700 miles on a full fuel tank, which means you don't have to worry much when you're on a long day journey!
• It has the most comfortable seats, which means you and your family can feel comfortable both short-distance and long-distance driving!

As you can see, you can immediately insert the benefits right after you've written the features with the addition of "Which Means"

So the order of your feature section should be Features -> Benefits

There is still one more thing if you want to improve your copy. You can always add Advantages right after your benefits.

So the order now looks like this Features -> Benefits -> Advantages

Now, what is "Advantages"?

Advantages are what makes your product better than the other product on the market. Let's take one example from the copy above,

"It can go for 200 mph which means you arrive at your destination far more quickly than the other cars on the market."

This immediately makes your product more enticing to your customers because it separates you from the other product.

In conclusion, To write an excellent copy, you need to know the difference between features and benefits.

A feature is an attribute of the product, while a benefit is a value that the customer is going to get.

You need to combine the two of them to make your copy far more appealing to your customers

You can also amplify it by adding a series of advantages right after you written your benefits.

If you do have the time, I also have written an article talking about 3 Absolutely Free Websites To Help You Write Killer Headlines. I'm sure the article will also help you a lot with your writing!