Question for you …
What’s the one thing in your past you wish you could do over?
While you’re noodling on that breezy topic, I’ll tell you mine.
I wish I had spent a little more time in high school looking into different colleges.
And by “a little more,” I mean any. Because I treated higher education with the same gravitas as choosing a boxed lunch for an all-day seminar.
Whatever got the job done while producing the fewest cramps was fine.
For me, it was a school close to home with plenty of parking and a decent basketball team.
I applied Early Decision and by Christmas of my junior year, I was in. That left me with a year and a half to do little more than avoid jail time and stay alive.
Still, I had to keep my grades up. So, I scanned the course list for anything with minimal risk of perspiration. And nothing said “no sweat” more than Music Appreciation.
What I didn’t know is that we’d be studying the one kind of music I appreciated least:
Classical.
So much for an easy A.
Exams were kinda like the gameshow “Name That Tune.” But instead of having to guess only the piece of music based on the snippet our instructor played, we had to name:
🤨 The composer
🤔 The composition
😣 The movement
🤬 And two stylistic characteristics from that time period
It was as brutal as it sounds. But I ended up getting that A. And here’s why …
Because we were forced to go deep into every note.
Anyone can memorize a song. But knowing the demons that haunted a composer, feeling how the emotion shifted across a piece of music, and understanding how the state of the world inspired the work didn’t just make you admire the music …
It made you truly appreciate it.
But you came here for the marketing advice, not my adolescent triumphs. So, let me get to my point.
If you want your audience to see themselves in your marketing—to have them visualize an infinitely better future with your product or service—you have to go deeper than surface-level benefits.
You have to dig down to the emotional benefit to answer the question …
What is it really about for the reader?
I got that tip (plus a framework for finding emotional benefits) from the late Clayton Makepeace—the world’s highest-paid copywriter.
But you don’t have to be the world’s highest-paid copywriter to use it.
You don’t have to be a writer at all. Just a smart marketer willing to put a little extra time into thinking through the real why behind your business. Here’s what to do …
For every product feature, list your:
✓ Functional benefit
✓ Practical benefit
✓ Emotional benefit
Let’s do one!
Product >> Lawn fertilizer
Feature >> Contains a balanced mix of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium
Functional benefit >> Stimulates healthy root growth and greener, thicker grass
Practical benefit >> Creates a weed-resistant lawn that’s easier to maintain
Emotional benefit >> You get your weekends back
And another …
Product >> Statin medication
Feature >> Proven to lower “bad” cholesterol by blocking its production in the liver
Functional benefit >> Reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke
Practical benefit >> You no longer worry about every food choice
Emotional benefit >> Gives you hope for a longer, healthier life
OK, you do the last one.
No? Fine, I’ll do it.
Product >> Solar panels
Feature >> Photovoltaic cells that convert sunlight into usable electricity
Functional benefit >> Generates clean, renewable energy to power your home
Practical benefit >> Cuts electric bills and protects against rising energy costs
Emotional benefit >> Take an extra vacation every year
That wasn’t so hard, right? Now, before you start doing this on your own …
It’s important to note I made those emotional benefits up. That’s fine when you’re practicing. But if you really want to know what’s important to your customers at their most primal level, you have to ask them.
There’s no way around it. Otherwise, you’ll discover …
Most marketing fails because you never took the time to understand the buyer.
That means getting out of your head and into theirs.
Sure, it’s a little extra work on the front end. But at least you won’t end up begging for a do‑over later.
Here’s a song to play you out >>>
If you want a fresh marketing nugget emailed to you every week (give or take), join here.
