How Benefits Link Your Brand with Reward Seeking Circuits In the Brain

The world is full of businesses, all striving to convince prospects that their product or service is better than the rest. So no matter what industry you're in, you're bound to have some stiff competition.?

I talk to a lot of clients who are intimidated by the idea of marketing. And what's the number one reason?

You guessed it: they worry about being drowned out in a sea of advertising noise.

Who can blame them?

After all, in a world full of companies vying for attention, how do you even begin to set your brand apart??

To do that, you need a marketing message so clear and relatable, it’s irresistible.?

One that makes a special connection in your prospect’s brain and motivates them to buy.

In this article, I’ll show you how to get there, with one small tweak to your marketing copy.

This tiny shift will set your brand apart and captivate potential customers.

And it's such a simple change.?

All you have to do is focus on benefits when marketing, rather than on features.

What's the difference between features and benefits?

Features are basic details about a product or service, bare facts only. As in, what’s it made of? What color is it? How is it powered??

Most often, features are physical characteristics, or in the case of a service business, specific tasks that will be carried out.

Benefits are another thing altogether.?

A benefit is the experience provided by each feature, and the positive impact that ripples out into your buyer’s life as a result.?

Which is why talking about benefits is an important way to motivate your customer to buy.

How Benefits Work to Set You Apart

"Well, that's not true," huffed Sonia, a friend of mine who makes a small fortune selling used cars. "Not for everything. In my business, people buy because they need a car; they have to get around. They want to know about the car before they buy it."

"I get that," I agreed, sipping my coffee. "But there are three used car dealerships from here to the highway. What makes people buy more from one than another?"

Sonia pulled a face because I'd hit a nerve.

You see, a new dealership had opened a year earlier, two blocks up. They'd taken over a space vacated by an older dealership that had gone out of business.

At the time, Sonia had been... well, kind of cocky.

She'd attributed the failed dealership to the competition she presented.

"They won't impact us," she'd said of the new dealership. "We've been here forever, and we sell more than all the other used dealerships in town. We just get better cars."

A year later, she was getting walloped.

So we looked at her marketing, because it wasn't working as well anymore. At the same time, we looked at the dealership up the road that had upset the local market, to see how they were marketing.

"This is very fact-based," I pointed out to Sonia, poring over her social media. "I mean, it's informative, that's great. But it's feature-heavy."

"I've done it that way for years," Sonia shrugged, looking dubious.? "It's never failed me before."

I pulled up the website for her new competition.

The hero image was a local family loading their young kids into their new (to them) car. The first thing I noticed was how happy they were, basking in the excitement of their new ride.

A little blurb beneath the picture talked about how roomy and comfortable the car was. A quote from the mother explained that with her kids packed so tight into her old car, things had been stressful.

Another quote, by the father, gushed about how easy it would be to fit everything in for cottage weekends. The focus was on stress relief and positive emotion; it was easy to see how this car was a game changer for this young family.

"This is benefits-focused," I explained to Sonia. "Nowhere is anyone talking hard facts about the vehicle; that's in the fine print. But this image appeals to every family who dreads carting their young kids around."

?Sonia nodded. "Okay," she agreed. "Let's try it.”

Benefits and the Brain: It's All About Reward

When you focus on core benefits, you elicit a positive emotional response from your audience. In turn, this motivates people to buy.

And that’s because benefits-focused copy triggers a positive response in your prospect’s brain.

How?

When you talk about benefits, you create a picture in your customer’s mind that stimulates reward-seeking circuits in the brain. This creates an anticipatory response, and the expectation of reward drives people to take action.?

Now, it’s important to note that you need to talk about the right benefits to get this response. And to do that, you need to know your customers.?

But once you hit that sweet spot, you’ll create a strong link in your prospect’s brain between your brand and reward .?

And that’s something you can’t do with a plain old list of features.

It’s easy to get started with benefits-focused marketing. You can do it in just three steps:

1)? ? ? Make a List of Physical Features

Take time to make a list of all the physical characteristics of your product. For example, if you sell boots, what colors do they come in? What are they made of? Are they waterproof? Orthopedics? What temperatures are they good for?

Get it all down.

If you run a service business, write down everything you do; all the things a potential customer can expect when they buy from you.

These are the facts about your product or service.

2)? ? ? Ask Yourself, ‘So What?’

Now consider how each feature translates to a benefit for the customer. It can be helpful to do this in a simple, two-column chart format; beside each feature, simply write down the corresponding benefit.

Don’t forget that features can have more than one benefit, and take the time to pull as many as you can from each feature.

To make this easier, you can use the ‘So what?’ technique.

For each feature you list, ask yourself ‘So what?’ in order to clarify the benefit for your customers.

So your boots are waterproof.

So what?

Well, that means your customers can wear them out in the rain without worrying about wet feet or their boots getting damaged.?

That’s perfect for someone who’s an avid, all-weather hiker or camper, or for anyone who works outdoors.?

The ‘So what?’ technique helps you extract every benefit from your product or service.

3)? ? ? Include Your Benefits in Future Copy

Include these benefits in the copy for all your future touchpoints with your customers. By doing so, you’ll build a picture in their minds that triggers their reward-response circuits.

And that will in turn motivate them to buy.

How did it go for Sonia?

Six months after switching to a benefits-oriented marketing strategy, she’s giving the new dealership a run for their money. And as a bonus, she’s far more in touch with her customers and their buying goals.

Want to know more about how to translate your features into benefits? Get in touch today! The best way to reach me is through a DM right here on LinkedIn.

Rachelle Smerhy is a freelance copywriter in the alternative healthcare industry; she specializes in lead generation and content marketing and has written for businesses all around the world. Rachelle is also the co-founder of iApotheca Healthcare.