Did you know that most marketing messages are NOT read by your prospects and clients? Don’t believe it? Ask a few people that have seen your marketing materials – see if they can recall the message. But, there is something you can do to change that fact.

Here are the ways to get others to read your marketing message and listen to what you have to say.

One of the ways to compel people to pay attention is to speak in benefits, not features. It is Marketing 101, but sometimes we all forget the importance.

Definition of Features: Features are factual statements about — often distinctive characteristics of — a product or service. Features are a means of providing benefits to customers; for instance, “I have a CFP® designation” or “I have 25 years of experience” are features.

Definition of Benefits: Benefits are value statements about the feature of a product or service, with an emphasis on what the customer gets. A benefit answers the question, ‘Why should I care?’ A benefit tells you that you should care because of the result. For instance, “In 25 years in the financial industry I have seen many down turns of the market. I have developed a long history and a lot of experience helping to protect clients’ money during difficult times.”

The benefits are the key. What people get that they may actually want is what they may pay attention to. We have to give ourselves the best chance to get people to pay attention or we may lose the opportunity to serve them.