Are you focusing on features or creating experiences?
Generally speaking, it’s wise to avoid hyperbole. Say things straight and don’t exaggerate. So just know that what I say next, I say with reverence. Learning how to craft experiences is going to transform your marketing.
Let me say it again, learning how to craft experiences is going to transform your marketing.
Knowing the difference between features and experiences is critical in taking your business to the next level. Features have their place — in your copy and visual content — but the focus should be on experience.
A feature is a fact about what you do or sell. An experience is how your customer or audience is going to live with it.
If you're an artist who sells paintings, your list of features might be: original signed artwork, high quality framing, and free expedited shipping. If you sell candles, your features might be: all natural beeswax, organic fragrance, wood wicks, and always 100% nontoxic and pet safe.
You get the idea. It's really straightforward. It's a practical list of what someone gets when they work with your brand.
And often, people stop here. They trot out their list of features on their website and use them in marketing materials.
But the best brands take it a step further. They elevate from features into the realm of experiences.
It's about understanding how what you do will play a role in their life. And doing this one thing is going to help you graduate onto an entirely new playing field.
So here’s an exercise to help you start doing this for your own brand. The first step is to list the features of your offering. Again, this is the straightforward, practical list. It should be fast and easy to jot down 5-7 items off the top of your head.
(If this is difficult to do, you have some serious heavy lifting around clarifying what it is you do, sell, or offer.)
Next, what problem are you solving for your audience or your customers?
And now comes the fun part. For each feature you listed, think of how that feature links to an experience. How does it change someone's life? How do they live with it? How does it makes their days richer, more enjoyable, less frustrating?
This is the type of content I love creating and love helping you imagine for yourself. It can vary so much from brand to brand, but when done well it brings beauty, aspiration, and inspiration.
There is so much noise out there. So many ads and so many emails. This is your opportunity to carve out your own little space of meaning and personality.
In fact, as consumers, we're all more and more hungry for it. We're hungry for a little more humanity and personality in our interactions. Eager to spend time and money with brands that take the time and energy to create something enjoyable for us.
Want to see how this works with real brands? We have new YouTube lesson where we compare six real-life brands. By comparing three who are focusing on experience and three who are all about features, you can really see and feel the difference. The experience brands are on a whole different playing field.