Do you truly understand what your customers want from you? Are you delivering?

Understanding that copy is the secret to sales success is a great starting point. Knowing how to engage your readers with attention grabbing headlines is important and at the same time, it's not enough to really create a relationship, build trust and eventually win a customer or client. You must clearly outline your features and benefits by showing your prospects the "What's in it for me." factor. This will establish interest, trust and value.

So, let's start thinking from your customer's perspective because the bottom line is they matter far more than you do. I know sometimes that's a hard pill for business owners to swallow. Get over it and start connecting today by really examining your marketing message.

Once you know what you want your promotional copy to do, who you want to talk to and how you need to say what you want to say to get results, it's time to explore features and benefits.

Simply put, tell your readers/customers what's in it for them.

Features by definition are a distinctive element, a special attraction or a prominent characteristic.

In copywriting, features are what you have to offer. What makes your product or service different?

Benefits by definition are a service or right or something that promotes wellbeing.

For copywriting purposes benefits are what your customer gets from the product or service. How does your product or service positively impact your consumer?

Your goal, and the goal of your copy, is to build relationships that move your customers towards the sale by speaking to them in a way they'll relate and respond to. Again, it's all about them. Paint a picture using the "what's in it for me factor".

Think about your customers likes and dislikes, figure out what makes them tick and incorporate that information to build relationships and move them towards the sale.

Connect with your customers on their terms with language they'll relate to. Of course, your background and expertise is important but it's not the most important thing to consumers. People want to know "what's in it for me (WIIFM)". While they may be interested in your credentials, this isn't solely how people make decisions on who to work with.

• What feature or benefit could be a hot spot that your customer's identify with?
• When thinking of features and benefits don't forget to include emotions. What emotional triggers connect consumers with your offerings?
• What makes your audience tick?

Take a moment to review your marketing materials today. Are you really conveying the "what's in it for me factor" to your intended market? Are you building relationships that entice people to choose you, your business, product or service over someone else?

Author's Bio: 

This article may be reproduced in its entirety with the following inclusion: Lisa Manyon specializes in POWERFULLY communicating your marketing messages to increase results. She?s a Professional copywriter and Marketing strategist. Her work has been featured by the National Association of Women Writers, Absolute Write, Copywriting TNT, Lewiston Tribune and more. Manyon works directly with Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero as the Red Hot Communications GOLD Copywriting Mentorship Managing Director, is the first professional copywriter in Idaho to earn Glazer-?Kennedy's Creating Copy That Sells certification and the Copywriting Expert for the Association of Web Entrepreneurs. Manyon specializes in making life easier for business owners and entrepreneurs by knocking one more thing off their ?to do ?list. She accomplishes this with her copywriting expertise and commitment to long-term business relationships. Get a Free Copywriting Action Plan & discover 7 Power-packed Insider Tricks of the Copywriting Trade to Dramatically Increase Sales of your Products & Services lisamanyon.com