Know what drives effective marketing?

B-E-N-E-F-I-T-S.
Your prospects don’t care about all the fab bells and whistles your services feature. Nor do they care about how great (you think) your services happen to be. They care whether or not your services can solve their problems and fulfill their needs.
WIIFM: “What’s in it for me?” That’s your prospects’ end game. Period.
So if you want your marketing media – from websites, email and social media to print ads, brochures and direct mail – to actually SELL, you absolutely MUST lead with B-E-N-E-F-I-T-S.
The concept – WIIFM – is stock simple. Yet soooooooooo many businesses, even great brands, get it dead wrong.
Here’s one such example…

Do you do the vitamin thing?

My wife and I do. (Or should I say, Wifey conjoled me into it, and I’m all the healthier for it;-)
But there’s a downside to vitamins. The cost…astronomical is the word that comes to mind.YIKES! Those little nuggets might be health-improving, but they also cost a pretty penny.
Brick and mortar vitamin stores aren’t that prevalent these days (the internet basically killed their biz). And they’re mad expensive, anyway (which is WHY the internet killed their biz).
Grocery and drug stores are another option, but selection and prices vary wildly.
Whole Foods offers an AMAZING selection. But their prices… Well, let’s just say around my household we refer to the venerable Whole Food as: Whole Paycheck (and that pretty much says it all).
So where’s a price conscious shopper to turn for broad selection of affordable vitamins?
We were at a loss, until my wife discovered Vitacost. (AKA Wifey to the rescue, yet again.)
An online e-tailer, Vitacost sells exclusively via their web store, and offer an exhaustive selection of vitamins, at highly competitive prices.
But as great a business as Vitacost happens to be, they’ve got a thing or two to learn about effective marketing.
I discovered this recently after the direct mail postcard (pictured below) showed up in my mailbox. Now, Vita cost isn’t totally off base. They got some things right. But also made a clear misstep — chiefly in their lack of focus on those all-important B-E-N-E-F-I-T-S.


Let’s take a closer look and uncover a few vital marketing lessons you can apply to your biz…

What Vitacost Did Right

Employing Direct Mail To Stand Out From the E-Tailor Crowd
First of all, I commend Vitacost for acting against type and using direct mail. Far too many online businesses rely solely on search traffic, email and other purely digital mediums.
In doing so, exclusively digital marketing-driven businesses lose out on TONS of potential business (think of all the older folks who could benefit from Vitamins, but don’t live online – Hello AARP mailing list partnership anyone?).
Direct mail also helps Vitacost stand out from all the online vitamin e-tailors relying exclusively on digital marketing.
Gorgeous + Captivating Design
Secondly, the postcard is beautifully and intuitively designed – it’s gorgeous! And that’s important. Well-designed, visually appealing print media attracts the eye and captivates prospects.
The Offer
Finally, the postcard’s display side offers a 15% discount on 13,000 vitamins, supplements and herbs. 15% off already rock bottom prices on a HUGE selection is a legitimately compelling offer.
So far, so good. But here’s where things go off track…

Where Vitacost Went Wrong

The postcard-mailing side serves up “Hot Tips for a Healthy Summer.”
Sounds great, right? Summer’s here, so ‘tis the season. And I’m a vitamins buyer, so obviously I’m interested in good health.
OK, your headline’s got my attention. Let’s check out these hot tips:
Tip #1: Shop for specialty formulas – Find non-GMO, organic & gluten free supplements
-Hmmm… Is that really a “tip?” Sound a lot like “buy our specialty vitamins.”
Tip #2: Trust in Top Brands – Shop New Chapter, MegaFood, Garden of Life, Vitacost brands & more
-Again, not a tip. Rather an enticement to “buy more of our wares (‘cause got the good stuff).”
Tip #3: Store Products Safely – Lengthen the shelf life of your supplements by shielding them from heat and moisture.
-A tip? Yes. But a healthy tip? Not so much. It’s a product-focused tip, that while constituting good advice, has nothing to do with health.
A legitimate healthy summer tip is something like… “Take vitamin X to counter common summer condition Y.*” (*More on this later.)
The Mistake Here is Two-Fold
1. The headline is disingenuous – It promises “healthy summer tips,” but instead shills for more products.
2. The so-called “tips” ignore the all-important “Lead With Benefits” mantra – Customers can discover the “formulas” and “brands” when they peruse Vitacost’s online store. But “What [healthy-benefit] do I get if I buy vitamins X, Y + Z?” is what customers REALLY care. So if Vitacost really wants to SELL those formulas and brands, they need to educate customers on the benefits they provide.
And that brings us to our next point…

*How Could Vitacost Have Done a Better Job?

OK, now we know what Vitacost did wrong. So how could they correct course and craft a more compelling, less self-serving marketing message?
Here’s a quick example of a postcard with alternative copy that incorporates both Vitacost’s sales pitch, and the benefits of their products:
On the mailing side…
-Lead with the genuinely enticing 15% (As I said, they nailed the offer)
And highlight…

• 13,000 vitamins, supplements & herbs (including multivitamins, fish oil & probiotics)
• Non-GMO, organic & gluten-free options
• Top brands including New Chapter, MegaFood, Garden of Life, Vitacost & more
• Free Shipping for orders over $49

On the display side…
[upper third] Headline: Top Tips for a Healthy Summer
-To avoid heat exhaustion + sun-stroke this summer – Don’t OD on the sun, drink plenty of water, and take hydrating vitamins and supplements X, Y & Y
-To shed those unwanted winter pounds and get your body bathing suit + beach ready try vitamins and supplements X, Y & X
-To boost your summer work out and get body back in top form after months in cold storage, try vitamins and supplements X, Y & X
-Summer storage instructions: Lengthen your vitamin and supplement’s effective-life by shielding then from moisture and heat
[lower third left column] Headline: Get Weekly Healthful Tips + Special Offers!
-Signup for Vitacost’s email list at vitacost.com/healthfultips
[lower third right column] Headline: Get Promo Codes for Flash Sales + Daily Specials (And lots more)!
-Follow us: Instagram.com/vitacost + Facebook.com/vitacost + Twitter.com/@vitacost
Footer: Don’t forget to take advantage of 15% off our selection of 13,000 vitamins, supplements + herbs!

The Marketing Takeaway

At the start of this post (wow doesn’t that seem FOREVER ago!?), I  defined effective marketing as Benefits Driven. In other words “what’s in it for me?”
That’s the single great factor (and often the ONLY factor) your prospect’s REALLY care about.
Marketing that ignores benefits, and focuses on features, “We’ve got a HUGE selection!” and self-serving messaging, “Buy more of our great stuff!” – falls flat.
It leaves prospects, like your + me, scratching our heads, wondering “How is ‘buy these formulas and great brands’ a ‘healthy summer tip?!’”
And what’s missing, almost entirely, from Vitacost’s approach? B-E-N-E-F-I-T-S.
Sure, 15% off already rock bottom prices is strong enticement, and a genuine financial benefit. But that’s where the benefits end in Vitacost’s pitch.
Bottom line: It takes more than a strong offer to convince a prospect to buy.
So show me the B-E-N-E-F-I-T-S!

Am I nitpicking here?

Perhaps a little.
Vitacost is generally on the right track. And as far as e-tailers go, they’re doing a solid job.
But effective marketing is cumulative. Each tiny increment… One email … One postcard … One social media update … Adds up to an larger image that reflects your overall brand.
Cumulative messaging that blabs about fabulous features your great services embody winds up projecting your brand as completely self-serving.
And that’s a #MarketingFAIL.

Does Your Marketing Focus on B-E-N-E-F-I-T-S?

Try an experiment. Ask 10 people – family, friends, professional associates or anyone else you feel comfortable with – to review your website, your most active social media channel, and two or three pieces of your preferred marketing media (email, direct mail, etc…).
Ask them to describe, in their own words, the benefit(s) your services provide. If they struggle to sketch a description, ask for further clarification, or describe something that doesn’t match your intention, you’ve got a problem…
After giving this experiment a shot, stop by my Google+ page and share your results. If your marketing fails the benefits test, we can brainstorm solutions to make your marketing more benefits-driven.
Look forward to seeing your there!