Power Copywriting - BENEFITS not Features

The last post on headlines stressed that the most likely headline to GRAB attention is: The major benefit your customer gets from the product.  For more on Benefits, check the June 12, 2010 post.

Remember your customer only cares about how your product can make their life easier or better... or how you can solve a crucial, nagging problem they have... or how you can
help them achieve a goal they desperately desire.


So why fool around with anything else? Use your headline to drive your advertising stake directly through the heart of your customer's most critical needs. It's simple and it works like wildfire. 

The following headline is from a sales letter for the Lifecycle:

Now you can cut your exercise time in half – risk-free for 30 days!
Plus receive a $199 home gym absolutely FREE –
No obligation!

Let's take a look at what kind of promises the advertiser is using in this headline and subhead. First, they concentrate on the major benefit "cut your exercise time in half."


Then they kick in another benefit, a "risk-free 30-day trial."


The subhead makes another powerful promise:
A bonus of a $199 home gym absolutely FREE.
They worked FREE into their promise too – a powerful motivator.


Now, let's take a look at one more example.


How To Sell Much More Of Your Software And Eliminate Your Two Worst Headaches!
....Now an ace copywriter (who is also a former software engineer) can kick your sales
into high gear – and make your life a whole lot easier at the same time


This example demonstrates how focusing on the key benefit and offering the solution to a critical problem makes a powerful combination. Also, notice how the subhead speaks directly to making the reader's life easier.

More on benefits in headlines in the next post, but don't forget to come and visit us at Bizwrite to learn more about writing compelling copy.