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Communicating benefits and results is the cornerstone of effective advertising. This article explains ways to communicate your benefits more effectively and remain highly focused on your customer.

Have you ever noticed that despite all that's been written and said about selling benefits, not features, many if not most ads are not sufficiently focused on the customer. That's a shame, because a strong customer focus is the number 1 technique for making ads and promotions profitable.

Take a quick look at your ads. Do they effectively communicate the added benefit or result that your customer will enjoy by giving you their business?

Do your headlines project a strong, unique benefit? Does the content of your ad explain the reasons why YOU are the only logical choice, and not your competitor? If not, you may be leaving a lot of money on the table.

Here are a few tips for cranking up your customer focus:

Make sure you use the word "YOU", or at least imply it, in your headlines.

List "bullet" points of benefits, and where possible pepper them with facts and figures. Don't just say "double riveted", say "double riveted for 53% more strength."

Try to avoid trite, overused phrases, like "Great service and low prices". If your service really is great, take some time to explain the reasons why that's so, and contrast what you offer with your competition. For example,

"Most smash repairers inconvenience you by taking 5-7 days to get your car back on the road. At Jiffy Smash Repair, our average repair time is 2.5 days, and we'll even save you a taxi fare by giving you a lift to and from our premises."

Taking some time to reword your headlines and content to be more customer-focused on your customer can be a very high return investment. Or if you have better things to do, ask a professional copywriter to do it for you.

After all, advertising can be expensive. You owe it to yourself to ensure that your ads pay for themselves in terms of increased customers, sales and profits.