No shampoo company uses the pitch that their product will get your hair clean because everyone knows shampoo gets your hair clean and that won’t set it apart from any other product on the market. Instead, shampoo commercials feature attractive people with friends and dates… oh yeah, and great-looking haircuts. They do this because they want you to know that if your hair looks good, you’ll feel good about yourself and your life will be better. They’re not selling shampoo – they’re selling confidence in your appearance.
But saying that you’re selling more than just products/services and actually accomplishing that are two totally different things (especially for small businesses). So how do you sell a lifestyle rather than a product?
Focus on Benefits not Features
Every product has features that businesses can focus on, but focusing on benefits is far more appealing to consumers. Don’t tell your audience what your product is, tell them what it can do for them.
In the case of shampoo, people really don’t care if it has pomegranate oil in it or if it’s less sudsy than its counterparts. People want a shampoo that will leave their hair with fewer split ends or keep it looking shiner because those benefit their appearance.
Solve a Problem
Some of the best benefits that consumers can get from your products/services are the solution to problems that are plaguing them. This is especially true in the case of B2B products/services because solving problems means increasing efficiency, reducing pain points, and breaking down barriers to growth. But regardless of the product involved, everything solves a problem of some sort.
This is why shampoo makers target their products toward niches of people with specific issues. There are shampoos for dry hair, thinning hair, curly frizzy hair, color-damaged hair, flat hair – you name it! These shampoos solve the main problems affecting people with these hair types.
Use the End Result
Benefits are great, but often times they don’t tell the whole story. The “end result” is where the benefits of a product/service can take consumers. Sticking with this shampoo example, just having better-looking hair is a benefit for sure because no one wants to look in the mirror and feel ugly. But why do people really want better-looking hair? What is the end result that they are seeking?
Most people want good-looking hair so that they’ll get noticed – garnering compliments and attention from other attractive people. This is why shampoo commercials don’t show people standing in the bathroom looking at their reflection with a smile and then just ending there. They show people going out to lunch with friends, meeting up for a hot date, going to work and turning heads, etc. This is the end result that really motivates people to buy.
Source: lionsharkdigital.com ~ By Kate Pierce ~ Canva Pro