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Effective web copy is all about the benefits

Written by: Tammi Metzler

Article Overview: People don't buy products. Yes, you read that right. Here's the truth: People buy results, experiences, status, not the products and services themselves. You won't sell many products and services online unless you learn this secret: it's all about the benefits.

Effective web copy is all about the benefits

Browse any advertising book worth its salt and you'll find the following words (or something similar): "People don't buy products."

Yes, you read that right: People really don't buy products (or services, for that matter). They buy the results they'll get from using products and services.

Think about it: you don't buy shampoo just for the sake of buying shampoo; you buy it so you can have clean hair. You don't buy movies so you can own another DVD to fill your entertainment center; you buy an experience that you can capture over and over again from the convenience of your own home.

People don't buy luxury cars or brand-name clothing because they enjoy spending loads of money; they invest in a certain status level that those items represent (and, of course, some of the other benefits those products offer).

It's the same thing with services. Customers aren't looking to hire a business coach just so they can say they have a business coach. They may not even know that they want (or need) a business coach. They just know that their business phone isn't ringing, they're broke, and they have no idea what to do.

It's your job to convince them that you're the answer to their problems. You have to show them that through working with a coach (specifically, you), they can become successful or happy or (fill-in-the-blank with your own benefits).

To put together your own benefit-rich, attention-grabbing web page, you'll first need to brainstorm the benefits you provide to your clients. Then write an intro paragraph followed by a simple bulleted list of benefits, each with a one- or two-sentence description. End with a strong call-to-action that entices visitors to contact you/sign up for your newsletter/etc. If you fill your own website (especially your home page) with benefits, you'll generate interest and excitement from the readers who matter most: your current and prospective customers.

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Article Tags: benefit, brand name clothing, business coach, business phone, convenience, entertainment center, excitement, intro paragraph, job, loads of money, luxury cars, own website, prospective customers, sake, sentence description, shampoo, web page



Related Forum Posts
Re: Hello from a San Diego-based marketer - Welcome aboard Aaron, if you don't mind, how have you distributed your "benefits-oriented marketing copy"?
Make Yourself Attractive - I've found that its much easier to find joint venture partners when you make yourself an attractive JV partner. What benefits are there for the people that you want to partner with? This list of benefits should grow and become stronger over time. Shri
Why can't I copy and paste anymore? - I used to read someone's post, and if I wanted to respond to it I would copy the relevant sentence or paragraph, then go to the bottom of the page, hit repy, paste what I'd copied, and then do my reply. Now it seems all the posts are copy protected or something, so all you can do is QUOTE the entire post and respond to it ... and like Buzz I can't copy from my own post to put something lower down in the same post... For whatever reason you've instituted this new feature (were people copying posts and putting them on other websites?) it's kind of annoying.
Re: Best incentive to offer employees - [quote="Evan":31y2csyt]What's the best incentive to offer employees? Is it more health benefits? More vacation? Health club memberships? Paying for training? Cash / non-cash bonuses & rewards? I'm preparing a new package for my company and would love to get your thoughts! Thank you in advance![/quote:31y2csyt] A tough part of this is that different people have different needs. I used to work at a local hospital and we had great benefits, but there were a number of things I just never used. Is it possible to offer several different options? I'm thinking kind of like a cafeteria style insurance plan where you pick the benefits that you need. The initial planning would be a pain, but that way the employees would each be able to chose the benefits that fill their personal and/or family needs. You could also make a list of the sort of things you are thinking about and send out a survey to get thoughts from your people. See what they need and would respond to. Shri
Equipment leasing - Equipment leasing has many benefits, such as tax benefits, conserving money and always having up to date equipment to stay competative to name a few. Obviously, it's partially dependent upon what type of business you have as to whether you will benefit more than someone else but... Do you think it's worth leasing your equipment rather than purchasing it? Can you think of any other reasons you can benefit from it or any reasons this is not a good idea?


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