Technical Writing – Split Your Features From Your Benefits

Technical writers don’t just write manuals, they write sales and marketing copy too. Even in manuals you’ll still be selling the benefits of the product, unless of course you want your readers to spend their time cursing the “pain” of setting up their purchase.
In order to write effective sales copy you need to understand the difference between the two, and how to structure your documents accordingly.
What’s a Feature?
A feature is simply something that the product does. For example; if you write manuals for mobile phones, you may find that one is a built in camera.
What’s a Benefit?
A benefit is something that the feature does for the end user. Going back to that camera, it’s that you no longer have to carry a phone and a camera because now you have both in one device.
Generally people don’t care about features, they care about benefits. So you need to spend a little time planning your document around both. Make a simple table with the features listed on the left hand side and the benefits on the right hand side.
How do I tell if a benefit is really a feature?
It’s a common mistake to make, features somehow creep into the benefits column though never vice-versa. If you want to test your benefits; try asking the question “and so what?” if you need an explanation – change the column.
Then Write How You Talk
Don’t spend too much time thinking about how to write up the two, write in the way you would tell a friend about them and you won’t go far wrong. People like material that talks to them rather than lectures.
Use the Second Person
In keeping with a conversational them, people like to know what’s in it for them, not for other people. So use sentences like;
“With this great camera in your phone, you’ll never need to carry two devices again.”
“The auto focus function means you never have to adjust the lens to get a great picture.”
Call to Action
It’s important if you want people to use your product that you encourage them to do so. Action oriented language gives the user permission to get started with your offering so always invite people to start working with it.
“Get started today by taking a picture of yourself and texting it to your friends!”