I talk a lot about promoting your company’s features on your website, and I always finish that sentence by telling you to make sure you tie those company features back to the benefit the customer receives by doing business with you. But I have had questions in the past from contractors who were confused about features versus benefits. Let’s talk about it

As a marketing guy, it’s easy for me to seamlessly swerve in and out of the two concepts, but if you’re having trouble distinguishing between your features and benefits, then help is on the way.

Most contractors decide what business they want to start based on two things: 1) what they are good at, and 2) what they think people will buy.

This is usually fine, but what most contractors fail to do is convey to their website readers (or in any of their marketing for that matter) what is in it for them –the consumer -- or why they should buy their company’s product or service.

Instead, the contractor already  assumes that the prospect knows, which causes the contractor to simply state “facts” about his service without representing what the value (not in dollars) is to the consumer.

Let’s review: What are features?

  • Powerful chainsaws
  • Remote-control shower starters
  • Painter’s tape treated with PaintBlock technology
  • Independently adjustable beds

Each feature above is a factual statement about the product being advertised. But the features or “nuts and bolts” of the products are not what is going to move people to buy, and that is where most content and advertising goes wrong. By providing the customer with a benefit or something of value, you can turn your so-so content into lead-generating hits. For example, the benefit to the user of a powerful chainsaw is less time spent cutting up trees. The painter using PaintBlock painter’s tape doesn’t have to worry about paint seeping through and ruining his job. And after a hard day bringing home the bacon, having a bed that adjusts to my liking has a better chance of giving me a good night’s sleep so I can go out and do it all again tomorrow.

Ask yourself: What is my copy saying?

Are you spending more time talking about you, your company, and your services and not enough time on how you benefit your client or customer? Then it’s time to make some changes. —Darren Slaughter runs a boutique website design and marketing shop that serves only contractors in the home improvement space. darrenslaughter.com