Are you familiar with the acronym WIIFM or “What’s in it for me?” Think about a movie you’ve watched where someone is trying to get another character to join in on his plan. Remember hearing that character say, “What’s in it for me?”
That’s not just in the movies. If anyone is going to give their time, energy, or money, they want to know how it’s going to benefit them. They evaluate “In what way is THIS particular action going to help ME?”
In business, the WIIFM isn’t about you and what you offer. It’s all about your customer. Your online content should always keep this in mind. A potential customer or donor reads a sales page, an article, or a blog post weighing is this what I want or is X compay that I was reading about better?”
When you really connect with your customers, anticipate what your reader is looking for and help them solve a problem, you can grab their attention. They may choose to read on, order, or sign up for more info.
On the other hand, if a website primarily foccuses on describing all the detailed features of your products or service without showing how those benefit the reader, you can hear the click of that mouse, and whoosh – they’ve moved on to another site.
How are Benefits Different than Features
Are you clear on the difference between features and benefits of your product or service?
Features are the specific qualities or characteristics of your product or service. Features are often focused on functionalities and tangible aspects. For example, if you are describing the newest cell phone, features would include screen size, camera resolution, durability, processing speed, and storage.
Benefits are about how that product or service fills the customer’s need, solves a problem, or helps them create something faster and easier. In the example of the cell phone, the benefits could be amazing photos, fast performance, long battery life, and plenty of storage for all their apps and documents. Benefits are how your visitor evaluates “What’s in it for me?”
Answer the WIIFM Question by Showing How You Help
When it comes to WIIFM in marketing, customers are interested in benefits. Yes, many of the features of your product or service are what make it outstanding. Just lead with the BENEFITS those features bring to the customer so the “What’s in it for me?” is crystal clear.
If your business has won various awards, or you are a community leader, there’s a place for that on your website, but always keep the customer’s perspective front and center. Communicate that you want to help them and show them how you can do that.