What Is a Value Proposition?
A value proposition is a concise marketing statement that communicates the primary benefit a product or service offers customers. Its core purpose is to articulate why customers should buy a product and the benefits they stand to gain.
While value proposition is technically a marketing term, businesses must think about the value proposition when developing any product or service. They need to make sure that it will actually be valuable to prospective customers.
A good value proposition is deployed to differentiate a business from its competitors. This could be the product’s quality, service delivery, or customer experience.
A compelling value proposition should be:
- Specific: It must clearly define the unique benefits that a product or service offers to its customers.
- Solution-Oriented: It should articulate how the product or service effectively resolves customer problems or enhances their quality of life.
- Exclusive: It should demonstrate efficiency, highlight competitive advantages, and explain why the product/service is superior to the alternatives.
How to Write a Value Proposition
Below are the steps on how to write an effective value proposition:
1. Identify Customers Problem
Conducting research is a must to uncover the true cause of customers’ issues. For in-depth insights, it’s important to record and analyze input from customer service representatives, sales attendants, and market specialists.
2. Identify All the Major Benefits that the Product or Service Offers
Every product or service must feature specific benefits that are important to customers. Conveying these benefits to prospective customers is just as important as the benefits themselves. All if the most important benefits should be identified alongside their appeals to various types of customers.
For example, when developing a value proposition for a CRM software product, its benefits to various user bases, including e-commerce platforms, tech startups, etc., must be identified.
3. Describe What Makes These Benefits Unique
Following the product or service benefits description, include an additional portion that explains why your product is better than everyone else’s. This is vital for beating the competition.
For example, if a company provides e-commerce automation tools with AI integrations designed to help for business owners it should include it in its value proposition to make it unique.
4. Connect Identified Value to Buyer Problem
The next step is to pair customers’ problems with the identified elements that make a product or service valuable. Questions such as “Do they align?” and “Will this solution be effective?” should be answered.
Repeat the above steps if they don’t align until the values discovered match customers’ problems and proffer solutions.
5. Differentiate Your Brand as Best Provider of the Value
Finally, make sure that your value proposition is distinct from your competitors. Include any additional benefits or value that your product offers that your competitor’s product doesn’t.