(Part Two) Messaging Workshop: Features and Benefits. They're not dead yet.

(Part two of a three-part series on message development.)

I know. You heard they were dead. Dead and buried and stomped on. You read several articles that said the service economy and the relational nature of marketing that is emerging in the shadow of Web 2.0 have finally and forever done for features and benefits. Old Skool marketing at best.

Well, not quite. It is true that a straight discussion of pure benefits is no longer enough to persuade people, but no matter how they're getting their information, people still want to know what's in it for them.

Why should they buy your product?
Why should they give time or money to support your non-profit?

The whole features/benefits thing can be especially fraught for non-profits....most of my clients are non-profits and they fall into the trap -- easy to do -- of thinking that their features are benefits.

A quick review: A feature is defined as a characteristic of a product or service. A benefit is what that feature does for the audience.

"The car is white" is a description of a feature. But if you say, "Studies show that drivers of white cars get fewer speeding tickets and are considered smarter, sexier, younger-looking, and thinner than drivers of tan cars," well, there are some benefits to owning a white car.

This is where it can get complicated for non-profits who are generally selling a project (in support of a cause) rather than a product. You need to make sure you are communicating the benefits the work of your organization provides.

Let's say you work for a conservation organization and have to figure out how to make people care enough to give you money to buy land along a pristine river.

Preserving that river is a characteristic of your organization's work, a characteristic of conservation. Articulating the benefits of preserving that pristine river is where you will persuade and connect with your audience. (SeeMessaging Workshop: Audience for more on this.)

It's important to choose your benefits to resonate with the value system of your audience. The benefit of preserving that pristine river could be, for example, protecting the water supply for local communities, or providing recreational opportunities -- canoeing, kayaking, fishing -- or preserving an important cultural resource. (What will be most persuasive to your audience?)

The feature is usually "what" the organization is doing. The "benefit" is usually why the organization is doing it. Sometimes you can experiment with putting the benefit statement first: To help protect the water supply for thousands of people in southeastern Georgia, the Conservancy is working to preserve the Altamaha River.

So even though benefits and features no longer seem to hold pride of place in marketing strategies, it is still very important to understand what they are and how to deploy them most effectively to persuade your audiences to action.

Monday: Message Workshop: The Five Questions your messaging should answer.