Use Your Audience’s Language

When federal agencies communicate with the public, they are required to use plain English. Increasing numbers of state governments are also implementing this policy.

Use your readers’ language, not yours. Try to use the words people are searching for. Remember that the thing you care about most may be a turn-off for your audience. To your audience, you are not the center of the universe, your website is one among many.

Describe Benefits and Not Features

People are naturally motivated by what is of use or interest to them. No matter how good your product or service, if you can’t tell people why it benefits them, you won’t advance your cause. You must translate your features into benefits.

Features are qualities or characteristics of your product or service.

Benefits are the favorable results that your prospective customers gain by using your product or service.

The best way to get your message across is to focus on the benefits you offer.

Features vs. Benefits

If a feature does not have a companion benefit, your customers won’t care. For example, you could tell prospective customers that your business is located in Stockton. That tells them nothing of value. But when you cite your close proximity to the San Joaquin River Delta, and you happen to sell marine supplies, they better understand the benefit your location offers them.

When using the Internet to search for products and services, they are usually very task-oriented. They don’t care what we have to “sell” them, they care whether what you have meets their needs. We have to cite benefits that meet their needs.

Creating Benefit Statements

Benefit statements are often referred to as selling the “sizzle”, not the steak. You can tell prospective customers that your business, like so many others, offers quality customer service. The fact itself stirs virtually no interest. But when you offer testimonials from customers that describe how you have gone out of your way to serve them, the fact gains some sizzle.

As a business owner, you know your product or service well. Sometimes so well you may forget that others know nothing about you, your products or services. You have to make the extra effort to communicate how the products and services you offer distinguish you from your competition.

Business owners must focus on the benefits you offer prospective customers and then develop your marketing and communications strategy around those benefits.