“Benefits, benefits, benefits,” or as I prefer to call it, “Benefits, shemefits.” How often do you see — or probably write — a grocery list of benefits in your white paper? I’ve done it myself, but now I see the light.
Of course people need to know what your offering is going to do for them, but a dry list of bulleted phrases doesn’t cut it.
Let’s look at the difference in an IBM white paper and web page about SmartCloud. If you break down the listed benefits you get something like this:
- Schedule and hold online meetings.
- Safely share files.
- Chat with other approved users.
- Manage your projects.
- Network with prospects.
Granted that in a real piece of content there would be some explanation after each bullet point. But you would still have a dry bulleted list of unrelated information that doesn’t paint any pictures. So instead of a benefits grocery list, IBM wrote this:
“The SmartCloud Notes solution was designed to let you work seamlessly with people inside and outside of your organization. You can meet online, share files, chat, manage projects, network with potential clients, schedule meetings and send and receive mail anywhere, anytime. Whether you work remotely, manage remote teams or need one place to bring colleagues, partners and vendors together, our offerings help you transform your business into a social business.”
Is it great literature? Hardly. Is it kind of vague? Kind of. But does it illustrate a complex offering’s benefits in the context of the prospects’ environment? Yes. And that’s the point.
There’s an adage in fiction writing that works very well: “Don’t tell. Show.” In your white papers — heck, in most of your content — illustrate the benefits. Tell the stories. Present the facts and persuade; argue rationally, sum up neatly. And punch it up with stories, visuals, and a human approach.