Differenting between features and benefits is a key component of smart marketing and smarter copywriting. Here’s a quick trick to turn a feature into a benefit when your client hands you a laundry list of product features without much else:

Write the feature (like the pencil has a pink eraser) and then say to yourself, "The pencil has a pink eraser because why (it helps the writer erase errors easily) and that means what (you never have to settle on a bad idea, just erase and write a new one) and that’s important because (you’re a copywriter and you need to make a decent living!)

You can do this with any product, consumer or B2B, all features can be turned into benefits — some big, some small — just extending the questions outward from the first feature statement.

And if you’re not sure what the answers are to the questions you pose? Contact the client and work through your feature list one by one and have him/her answer them for you. You’ll find this can be a great way to kick start the copy. Maybe even find a nugget or two for your promo headlines.

Maven’s Maxim
A feature is just a fact, a starting point. Use leading questions to identify the obvious benefit and, if you can, use even more questions to get to the meta benefit where your reader’s emotional hots pots reside.

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