PGP Tip: 3 Things to Avoid in Your Marketing Materials

To improve the quality and effectiveness of the messages in your marketing materials, train yourself to avoid three things:

1. Listing product or service features without translating them into benefits. This forces the prospect to figure out why a feature is important or how it might be useful. Don't let this happen - the prospect may miss an important benefit or ascribe a benefit that doesn't exist. To determine the benefits associated with a specific feature, name the feature and say the phrase "what this means...."
2. Providing vague and unmeasurable benefits. A vague benefit is one that can't be quantified, such as "reduces cost" or "improves productivity". Make benefits tangible by attaching a numeric value that the prospect can calculate: "reduces cost by $3 per item" or "improve productivity by 37%". Any business can make a vague claim. Set your business apart by using a concrete example.
3. Describing benefits in generic or jargon-laden words. A benefit description written in industry jargon risks confusing the prospect or causing him to lose interest quickly. It also fails to articulate why the benefit is unique.