Yesterday I talked about the difference between features and benefits. After re-reading the post, I came up with an even easier way for you to determine the difference between the two. Benefits answer the “What’s in it for me?” question every consumer has when looking for a home improvement contractor.
That’s why your marketing has to be about results
A customer’s perception of each of your features is what moves them to action. When someone chooses a self-cleaning pool vacuum, the assumption is that the benefit is convenience, and the results are that they won’t have to clean their pool as much.
When you only talk about features, the customer is responsible for figuring out how it is going to either give them pleasure or remove pain. But people are lazy…or busy, or whatever, so make it easy for them by spelling it out for them, because that is the advertising they are going to be drawn to.
How to apply this to your contracting business?
Easy…there are 3 things to do that you are probably already doing. 1) Know exactly who you are selling to. Get as much information on your ideal customer as you can; age, sex, income, home value, number of people in the home, and so on) as well as a buying hot button, otherwise known as the offer, or what offer moves them to become buyers.
2) Keep the end in mind. In other words, use your features to set the table for your consumer by showing them the final result. If you are a pool cleaner, show them a happy family lounging by the pool on a lazy afternoon. If you are an HVAC contractor, showing a nice warm family inside while the snow piles up outside sets a perfect tone for your services.
3) Look at all of your marketing as if you were the buyer. Go back and highlight all of the areas where you only talk about yourself or your services in your current marketing. Why? Because I don’t care what type of contractor you are, you are sure to think you are great at what you do, and that’s because you completely understand what you do for people. Now I want you to assume you are explaining what you do to a 5-year old and write down all of the questions you think they would ask you about what you do. Or better yet, get yourself a 5-year old and do the above exercise, it will be very enlightening I assure you!
The point is you are marketing to a bunch of 5-year olds when it comes to them knowing what YOU do. So make it easy for them by explaining it in their terms.
4 responses to “Contractor Marketing Ideas: What Are Benefits?”
So many great points in this post. My fav:
“When you only talk about features, the customer is responsible for figuring out how it is going to either give them pleasure or remove pain. But people are lazy…or busy, or whatever, so make it easy for them by spelling it out for them, because that is the advertising they are going to be drawn to.”
Honestly, I liked it because it points out the obvious that no one wants to say out loud (yet you do): People are lazy (and busy) – thus they need to be spoon-feed. Make sure you are connecting the dots for them!
Thanks Tess…that means a lot coming from a fellow marketer!
Admittedly I need to work on or develop this more. Sometimes my head just spins and have no idea where to begin. Perhaps I should go back over these 2 posts when I haven’t too many other things weighing on my mind.
On the topic of ‘spoon-fed’ as Tess put it….my version… goal is to condense the bytes (intentionally spelled and pun intended) in more palatable servings and lovingly shove it down their throats saying this is good for you :))
Okay, this was a half joke, but anyone have a youngin I can borrow for this assignment?
I have a very inquisitive 6 year old that would be happy to put anyone through their paces!