What is the ‘language of benefits’ and why does it matter for your website?

All ends are beginnings – as they say – and it proved to be true for me too. Exactly 2 weeks ago I changed my relationship status, and as a result moved countries again. But there were hidden perks – I ended up moving into a kickass coworking space with amazing people and opportunities, one of which was to give a live webinar on content marketing in front of 21,000 people last Monday 😊

After the training (and also before 😉) a lot of people reached out to me with questions about how to embrace content marketing in their business. I tried to answer all the questions, I looked through quite a few different websites and … something caught my eye.

A lot of the websites I have seen were designed in a way that was not optimised for sales:

1. The copy has not been written in the so-called “language of benefits”
2. The layout of the content did not comply with the principles of “good information architecture”
3. Many websites did not even have any tools for converting visitors into leads – there were no forms to subscribe to the newsletter or popups;

Luckily, there are a few ‘Quick fixes’ for these issues that can have a tremendous effect on your conversion rates:

1. What is the “language of benefits”?

If you you’ve created an amazing product (or service 😉), you can certainly talk for hours about its benefits and functions.

This is not the point here. Your average visitor is looking for a specific solution to a specific problem.

This is what you should focus on – and what the language of benefits is all about – what benefits can the reader/customer gain from using your service (product)? (“WIIFM” – what’s in it for me – “What will I get out of it?”).

Instead of writing about product functions – focus on how your product (service) solves the main problem of your ideal customer.

The customer doesn’t really care about how technologically advanced the materials your compression socks are made of are. What I’m interested in is whether they help can me get rid of swollen ankles, improve blood circulation in my muscles, and help me run faster in races.

Texts written in the language of benefits have a clearly greater persuasive potential than texts written in plain language – because they clearly make the reader aware of their needs and the consequences of not fulfilling them (our product / service, of course 😉) We can also appeal to the reader’s ‘FOMO’ (Fear of Missing Out – fear of loss of opportunity, in free translation).

Let’s look at the examples below: in lines ‘A’ you have slogans written in “normal language”, in ‘B’ – the “language of benefits”:

A – Normal language (emphasis on the function / properties of the product / service)

B – Language of benefits (emphasis on a specific benefit, the purpose of a given product / service)

A – The colors of your products will be rendered accurately.

B – Your products will look just like in reality – we will make sure their colors on our photos look just like in reality every time!

Professional insoles for kids. Take care of proper development of your child’s feet! Our professional insoles prevent many instep defects and posture!

Oatmeal for athletes with dietary supplements.

The only porridge that will help you regenerate and increase efficiency thanks to the supplement complex designed exclusively for runners!

What makes a good coaching website homepage? 5 steps + Examples

I have analysed several websites of successful service entrepreneurs before working with my clients to create a ‘template’ of what a good service business homepage should look like. I based the template on websites of successful, recognisable coaches whose message really shone through their website.

Summary:

STEP 1: Big, Bold header with 5 fixed elements (your photo, your business tagline, your logo, navigation menu, signup form/button for collecting email addresses)

STEP 2: Introduction – who are you, what you do, your STORY + your WHY.

STEP 3: Show testimonials.

STEP 4:  Address your target client + s how the value of your services for them (“This programme is for you if…”)

STEP 5:  Present your services/ packages briefly using benefits language

HEADER: The header should have 6 fixed elements:

Your PHOTO a big, professional headshot of your face or full body – make sure it’s taken by a PROFESSIONAL photographer with a *good* camera.

Big, bold Business TAGLINE – the motto of your business 

A link to a SUBSCRIPTION form / embedded subscription form – to unlock access to a freebie in exchange for an email address

LOGO – with your name

5 must-have pages on the MENU: about, work with me (services/ packages), testimonials (/praise), blog, contact (+ if you have a Facebook group, you can add ‘community’ and your ‘free resources’ – if you have them already)

Social media icons

Final touches

How to finish your homepage?

I would suggest including/ choosing from the following:

• Contact form –yes, you’ll have it on your ‘contact’ page, but it never hurts to include it here as well if someone has a quick question after reading about the programmes; TIP: include consent for sending newsletters with the form to capture some emails for your subscription list.
• Freebies– add another sign-up form where the visitor (or a warm lead by now – they have now clearly warmed up to you if they got that far!) can get a downloadable in exchange for their email (If you want to get some inspiration for creating freebies – read this post)
• Social Media Channels– I would include them both on top (in the header) or in the middle (sidebar – as a floating bar of icons).

3) Tools for converting visitors into leads

As Danielle Sabrina said in her interview: “I’m always hyper focused on the moment a prospect or lead turns into a client, aka. the conversion. That’s where the digital marketing component comes in: what’s the point of having a dope creative activation that generates press or buzz and not have the proper funnels set up digitally that can follow up and nurture those potential clients until they become actual clients?”

To put it in plain language: your website needs to be integrated with an email marketing tool through sign-up forms/ pop-ups . This will help you grow and develop the relationship with your warm leads who are not ready to buy yet, but may be in the future (if you put in the work).

It takes roughly 7 points of contact to make a sale to your readers.

Good luck!

P.S: do you want to learn more about how to design and promote the perfect website? Have a look at my DIY Marketing Guide ebook below!