Features, benefits, jobs-to-be-done, oh my!

“Buyers are experts in pain,

Vendors are experts in solutions” 

-April Dunford 

If you are refreshing your website right now, you should keep that in mind, particularly if you are a B2B company.

Why? 

• Your audience needs to quickly understand how your solution will solve their pain. They are not buying features, but a cure - your product should clearly articulate the job it can do. 

• If your technology is innovative and disruptive, you need to help your buyer better understand your industry and educational contact will be key.  

• Purchasing decisions are not purely based on logic but are also heavily influenced by emotions, including fear and hesitation. Social proof, credentials, and the right language will help reassure your target audience. 

How should you think about your messaging? 

Probably like a 3-layer cake

• Top layer: High-stake outcomes, the answer to a deep pain, that your audience is willing to spend money on. To help find these, you can use the jobs-to-be-done framework: When _____[Problem] I want _______[Solution] 

• Mid-layer: Benefits. Make sure to consider all the benefits you are bringing to your audience: Technical, Emotional, and Accrued benefits (how they compound over time)

• Bottom layers: Features (make sure to keep these digestible, a website is not about being exhaustive)

Wanna see what it looks like in the real world? Check out our carousel, which showcases a series of above-the-fold examples from different data platform companies’ home pages.