3 builders who never spoke to each other · contested
Sell the state they end up in, not the mechanism
Buyers want the brighter smile rather than the better toothbrush, so write about the situation after the product has done its work and leave out the machinery, even when the machinery is the part you are proudest of. A useful ratio is roughly three times as much space on what the buyer gets as on what the thing contains. Frame the value as forward movement in their life rather than as innovation, since nobody buys a faster processor for its own sake.
Where this splits
Most members say lead on the outcome and keep the mechanism out of it, while Jason Cohen argues some buyers shop on specifications and want the numbers stated plainly, with the benefit promised only one level above the feature.
side 01 · 8 claims
Lead with the outcome and hide the mechanism
Dru Riley · Harry Dry · Justin Jackson · Katelyn Bourgoin
- 1Lead with the value the customer ends up with rather than the product itself: the thing being bought is the brighter smile, not the superior toothbrush.
- 2Nobody is interested in what you are capable of; write what it does for the reader.
- 3Write copy about the outcome the buyer gets, not the cleverness of what you built.
- 4Sell the consequence of using the product rather than an inventory of what it contains.
- 5Write copy about the state the buyer will be in after using the product rather than the mechanism that gets them there, even when the mechanism is the part you are proudest of.
side 02 · 2 claims
State the specifications buyers actually shop on
Jason Cohen
- 1Settle the features-versus-benefits argument by doing both at fixed positions: describe the product with features at the level the buyer is on, and promise the benefit from exactly one level higher.
- 2Some buyers want specifications, not outcomes: an engineer choosing a database or a tradesperson looking for an exact wrench size searches for the spec and wants to read the spec on the page.
What it returned
- 48
Slack's pitch is 48 percent less email, which Katelyn Bourgoin contrasts against listing percentages of fat or germs killed.
- 3x
Bourgoin's rule of thumb is a 3x ratio of buyer-relevant benefit talk to feature talk.
Illustrated with light bulbs: nobody wants the bulb, they want to see in the dark.
FrostBuddy worked out that nobody cares how the product keeps a drink cold, only that the drink ends up cold, and sells that instead.
Sources
- Bikeshedding - Why We Buy 🧠Katelyn Bourgoin · customercamp.co · After State > Features · undated
- Framing - Why We Buy 🧠Katelyn Bourgoin · customercamp.co · Tech Sell the consequence—not your contents · undated
- Customers don't care about your solutionsJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Customers don't care about your solutions · undated
- We all want progressJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · We all want progress · undated
- Using the Needs Stack for competitive strategyJason Cohen · longform.asmartbear.com · The solution to “selling benefits” vs “selling features” · 2023-06-04 · dissenting
- 7 practical ways to write copy that convertsHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · 1) Use value-based messaging · undated
- 17 tips for great copywritingHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · 3) No one cares what you can do · undated
- 🐴 Godfather of AI 🕒 3-3-3 Method 🚀 Product Launch ListDru Riley · trends.vc · 📘 Read This · 2023-06-06
the second source
Three plays a week, for the phase you are in
No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.
More in copy
- Keep the personality that drives some people off7 unconnected
- Interview buyers and write the page in their sentences6 unconnected
- Re-aim one durable claim at today's worry5 unconnected
- Answer the predictable objection with a specific4 unconnected
- Say the thing only you could have said4 unconnected
- Tighten the headline until only your segment fits4 unconnected