There was a recent post on the ThinkBlog that discussed the difference between features and benefits. This distinction is of paramount importance when it comes to marketing your company, because customers typically are not interested in the features of your product or service, at least not directly. When you think about the cell phone industry, for example, telling people that you have a high resolution camera is one thing, but the reason why they would be interested in such a camera phone is because it is able to take good quality pictures. That’s the benefit.

Think about some of the commercials that you see on television. Car companies will boast about having the best in-class fuel economy, but what they’re really trying to sell you on is that their car will save you money. That’s a huge benefit. Truck manufacturers will take about the largest towing capacity — a feature — but they’re really selling you on the truck’s ability to help you do your job better (benefit). When designing your own marketing strategy, you have to ensure that you are emphasizing the benefits rather than just the features.

You may have seen a TV ad spot for London Drugs wherein we are presented with a computer geek that talks about all the features found on the PC behind him, mentioning the numbers involved with the processor, hard drive, and all the other components that go into a computer. The commercial then cuts to a London Drugs sales professional asking if you want “computer advice you can actually use.” Why would a customer want more RAM, a bigger hard drive, or a speedier Internet connection? London Drugs is taking the focus away from the features, emphasizing the benefits of their customer service.

Die-hard enthusiasts may nit-pick over the features, but for mass market appeal, you need the potential customers to appreciate the benefits of your product or service. Make sure your advertising campaign reflects this.