The secret I am about to share with you works for all types of marketing copy: long-form print advertising to tiny Google text ads. Do this one right, and you’re almost guaranteed to increase your Click-Through-Rate (CTR). 

Features are what your product/service is or does. They include all the bells and whistles you’ve worked so hard to develop. Benefits, on the other hand, are the emotional payoffs your customer gets from using your product/service. Let’s take a look at a few examples…

Features

The list of features for a bed bug treatment ad may include these items:

• Free Preparation Checklist
• Vacuum Treatment
• Commercial Heat Steamer
• Mattress Encasement
• Dust & Liquid Application

Benefits

But your list of benefits tells a potential customer how your product/service will improve their lives. Sometimes, there’s a little bit of crossover between these and your features:

• Sleep Soundly Once Again
• Get Instant Relief You Need
• Get Long Term Protection You Deserve
• Protect Your Family & Pets
• Safe & Proven To Work

There’s no way to pack all of this information into a Google text ad, granted. But the principle of separating benefits from features, and then tying them together is universal. Your Google text ad is about benefits (emotional payoffs) more than anything else. And if you decide to include both benefits and features, it almost always helps if you start with benefits first.

Remember, you don’t have to be an English major or literary genius to convince potential customers they will get something of value. Just state your case simply and clearly, and test to see if putting benefits first and features second will increase your conversions (leads and customers).