3 Tips When Writing Benefits
By Michael StelznerWhen writing to persuade, some of the most powerful statements are benefits.
These single sentences address the selfish desires of every reader. They answer the question, “What’s in it for me?”
Unique from a feature, a benefit has implicit meaning. It fully stands on its own without any need for further explanation.
Here are three tips to help you write your benefit statements:
- Ask what problems your solution solves: Let’s assume you are targeting writers and have determined that time management is a major problem for writers. If you have a solution for writers, a unique benefit might be: Cuts the writing process in half OR Increases writer productivity.
- Determine what features are unique to your solution: Assume you are writing about laptops and yours uniquely has a built in camera. A benefit might be: Eliminates the need to invest in third-party video cameras OR Streamlines the production of YouTube videos.
- Identify implications: Benefits can often be taken to the next level by simply asking yourself, “Why does this matter?” Simply take your existing list of benefits and go down the list and ask the question. For example, my above “cuts the writing process in half” benefit could be expanded to “Allows writers to take on more projects without working extra hours.”
Here are the benefits of using benefits:
- Helps readers quickly digest the advantages of your solution
- Improves the sales process by identifying reasons a product or service will benefit a reader
- Increases value by making it easy for readers to quickly understand why they should adopt your suggestions
Now I want to hear from you? Do you use benefits statements in your writing? How do they help and what other tips might you add?
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