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"Free" is Not a Benefit Statement
In listing benefit statements in your website copywriting, it might seem like one of the best benefits to customers is
when something is free.
- Free product
- Free bonus item
- Free training videos
- Free shipping
Truthfully though, when something is offered up as “Free”, that’s not a benefit. It’s a feature that you offer within your content marketing.
As business owners, you may think that it’s a benefit because we understand the value behind the offer. Specifically, it benefits from our experience and we know it’s designed to get someone to act on something. From a content marketing perspective that sounds a lot like a benefit.
From a customer perspective though, they may not clearly see the benefit.
Think of the definitions: Features are products or service characteristics which are centered on you and what you offer. In the case of benefit statements, those are something your client or customer gets from using your product and engaging with your company.
If something is free, it’s not a benefit of using your service.
When you mark things as free at the core of your content marketing strategy, in your mind you think it’s a benefit. This is why a lot of marketing strategies we see around the web involve stockpiling these kinds of offers on long form sales pages. While “free” can work in some regards, it’s the cop out kind of advertising and content marketing that offers less in terms of a payout to you.
Instead of coming up with benefit rich content, you’re settling on the most readily available, least-time-consuming method to get someone to sample your product or service.
The best way to see “free” is in the form of a gift. It only becomes a benefit when it is used, learned, put into practice and provides quantifiable results to your audience. However, when your “free gift” remains you-centered and it’s all about your product and service (and never about providing a solution or a path to a solution) then it NEVER becomes a benefit.
The question is now: If you’re giving something away, is it truly a gift they can benefit from or is it just another feature you’re offering to drive sales?
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