You’ve built your company to provide significant value to your customers. You’ve identified a problem, solved that problem, and produced the solution at scale. That solution and the value it creates for the buyer are the lifeblood of your business.
That’s where the term value proposition comes in.
Your value proposition relays why your product or service is valuable to your customers. When done properly, it can drive business through your doors. But a poor value proposition could have a detrimental impact. Read on to learn what a value proposition is, why you need one, and how to create one with perfection.
What Is a Value Proposition?
Your value proposition is a unique way for your customers to identify your business. It doesn’t just tell your customers what you provide; it does so in a way that clearly relays the value of your product or service.
Companies use their websites to get their value propositions in front of potential buyers. In fact, your value proposition should be one of the first things customers see when they visit your website.
Why You Need a Fiery Value Proposition
A solid value proposition does quite a bit for your business. Most importantly, it:
- Provides critical buying information: A quality value proposition is centered on providing a solution to a problem. As such, it gives consumers a reason to buy your products or services.
- Sets expectations: Your value proposition should relay the true value of your product without making any additional claims. When you find balance here, it can serve to set reasonable expectations for your customers.
- Drives sales: Ultimately, your value proposition is a statement that’s designed to help you generate more sales, revenue, and, ultimately, profitability.
What’s the Difference Between a Value Proposition and a Mission Statement?
At first glance, you may see your value proposition as something that’s interchangeable with your mission statement. However, that’s a misconception. In fact, the two are completely different things.
Your mission statement describes the mission of your company — your long-term goals to make a change in the world around you. Your value proposition describes the value your product or service provides to your customers.
For example, let's say you own an electric-vehicle battery company. Your value proposition and mission statement may be:
- Value proposition: Go further with extended-life electric-vehicle batteries at discount prices.
- Mission statement: We’re cleaning up the environment, one vehicle at a time.
As you can see, there are clear differences between the two.
How to Spark Your Value Proposition
Now that you know what a value proposition is and what it can do for your business, it’s time to start building yours. There are four steps to doing so:
- Identify your customer’s problem.
- Identify the benefits your products or services offer.
- Clearly describe what makes these benefits valuable.
- Connect that value to your customer’s problem.
Read on for the details on each one of these steps.
1. Identify Your Customer’s Problem
The primary reason your customers want to buy your product or service is to fix a problem, so it’s important to identify that problem. In some cases, the problem will be as clear as night and day. For example, if you’re a lawn service provider, your customers need you because grass grows, making unmaintained lawns look bad.
In other cases, the main pain point for your customers may not align with why you created your product. For example, you may have invented a night-light to help children sleep, but you may find out that adults use it more than children as a night-time reading light. So your product solves multiple problems.
Regardless of what your product or service is, the key here is finding the pain points it solves for your customers.
2. Identify the Benefits Your Products or Services Offer
Next, it’s time to identify the benefits of your product or service. It’s important that you work to identify all of the benefits, not just the obvious ones.
For example, if you provide a lawn service, the clear benefit is adding to the curb appeal for your customers. On the other hand, when you maintain your customers’ lawns, they get additional benefits, like:
- Fewer invasive weed problems
- Fewer snakes and pests
- Lower chances of tripping on something the grass grew over
And there may be many other benefits. Make sure you define all of the benefits your product or service comes with.
3. Clearly Describe What Makes These Benefits Valuable
Once you’ve written your benefits down, write descriptions for each of them, explaining what makes each benefit valuable. This is important because you’ll want to clearly articulate your value proposition to your customers on your website and in marketing materials.
4. Connect That Value to Your Customer’s Problem
Finally, it’s time to connect the value your product or service provides to your customer’s problem. Consider this connection as you write your headline, come up with a subheading or paragraph, and choose the graphics you’ll use to drive your point home.
Elements of a Quality Value Proposition
A quality value proposition has three core elements:
- Headline: Your value proposition should have a catchy headline that draws your audience in.
- Subheading or paragraph: Next, include a subheading or paragraph that offers more information as to why your product or service is valuable.
- Graphics: Finally, images are crucial to any online aspect of your business. When you create your value proposition, couple it with an image that shows either the problem you solve or the result of the solution.
Consider Using a Template
At first glance, creating a quality value proposition may seem like a daunting task. You may not even know where to start. That’s OK; there are plenty of tools available to help.
One of the best ways to get started is to use a template. Simply search online for templates and find one you like to get a head start on creating your value proposition.
Get the Pros Involved
As a business owner, you’re great at providing the right types of products and services to your customers. However, you may not be a professional marketer, and developing your value proposition may be difficult.
If you need help creating a value proposition that leads to conversions, reach out to the pros at Pyromaniac Digital.
