No matter what your product or service is, if you are running a small company or you are the CEO of a major corporation, you need to create a clear and effective value proposition that expresses your company’s value to your target audience.
Writing a unique value proposition will help your business differentiate from competitors and will also let your customer know that your product or service is better than the others on the market. But before we go further, what is a unique value proposition?
A unique value proposition is a clear statement of the promise of value to be delivered. This statement expresses the distinct selling points from your products or services so that your audience can understand them. Likewise, it explains the specific benefits for the customers and why they should choose you over the competition.
A business usually displays its unique value proposition on its website homepage and it includes a headline, subheadline and a visual element. The headline describes the benefits the customer will get after purchasing your product or service. The subheadline typically is a paragraph that explains in detail what your company offers, and the visual element in some cases can be an infographic, image or video that reflect what your unique value proposition will deliver.
While your unique value proposition will share a message with your audience, please keep in mind that is not a mission statement or slogan. Those types of copy are essential to your corporate brand, but your potential customer will not choose you only based on these elements. That's why your unique customer value proposition has to be clear and express all the relevant information so that your potential customer can choose you.
Creating a unique value proposition takes time and effort. If you want your value proposition to be really meaningful, you have to research to know your target market and your business. The more you know about your customers' pain points and how your solution helps solve these points, the clearer your message will be.
Since writing a clear and compelling message is clear for any business, we would like to share four steps needed to create a unique value proposition.
1. Identify your target market
To create a unique value proposition you should start by understanding who your customers are. In other words, you need to create a buyer persona profile of the ideal customer you are aiming to reach. Instead of relying on what your gut tells you, do some market research based on the customers that you already have or on potential customers.
Try to be as specific as you can, you don’t only want to understand their pain points, you are also interested in their income statistics, demographic information, age, professional education, interests and motivations. The more you understand your target market, the more you will know how to find them and help them satisfy their needs.
You can’t create a unique value proposition alone or just based on your thoughts. After doing the research you can go out and test it. Share it with a small group of people or people you think might be your target market, to see what they think and use their feedback to improve your unique value proposition.
2. Why should your customers buy from you
After knowing your target market you need to separate yourself from your competitors, so you will have to know who they are and what is the value they offer. Researching your competitors is as important as researching your buyer persona, because if you know your competitors' benefits you can create a unique value proposition that differentiates you.
Don’t assume you don’t have any competition, every business has competition and if you don’t find them it's maybe because the product or service you are offering is not viable or doesn’t have enough market. When you have all the information you need, try to write why your customers should buy from you instead of your competitors in less than one paragraph.
3. Connect your mission and purpose
What is your mission? What is your company’s purpose? Those are big questions that will take you some time to answer. But once you figure it out and have a clear answer, try to see how you can connect your mission and purpose into your value proposition.
One question that is useful is, what do you want your customers to remember about your company? Write down a few sentences and refine them. Ask yourself how you can integrate this information with what you already have and this will help you create a really unique value proposition.
4. Focus on clarity and specificity
The next step is to ensure your target market can quickly understand the message so craft a single and clear message. Forget about a long or philosophical speech, rather use straightforward language and explain your value in a language that anyone can understand and connect with. Not every pain point or benefit should be listed here. Keep it simple.
Lastly, just because you worked to create a unique value proposition doesn’t mean that it can’t change over time. Probably you may need to make adjustments as your company grows. You can change keywords, include new pain points or even fully restructure your unique value proposition if you feel it is necessary.
If you are interested in hiring an outbound agency with a team of experts focused on your lead generation and business development processes, feel free to contact us! Alternatively, you can schedule an appointment directly with us using this link.
“Before you can pick a social-media strategy, you have to think of your customer and what the value proposition is for them. Social media is a way to engage customers, not to give your business a 'shout out'."
Carol Roth
Sandra Fernandez is a Marketing Specialist with over seven years of experience in lead generation, digital marketing, market research, and market intelligence knowledge. She is responsible for targeting ideal clients through marketing strategies and digital advertising campaigns. Sandra works with the Port Group sales team to achieve success and increase B2B sales outsourcing services awareness.
