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What Is A Value Proposition?
A Value Proposition is a statement to help potential customers understand the value of your company’s offering, and why they should purchase from you as opposed to your customers. It’s typically the most prominent message on your main product pages and sales pages.
Why Your Company Needs a Value Proposition
Think of as many reasons as you can for someone not to buy exercise equipment.
The machines are big, bulky, difficult to rearrange or maneuver around, and can be incredibly expensive. There is nothing particularly novel or convenient about the equipment itself…
So why do people continue to purchase it?
In their minds, they’re not buying something that will take up half the living room. They’re buying the benefit that comes with using it—better health.
A strong value proposition can help the prospect understand what your company does, who they do it for, and the specific benefit of making a purchase. Not only can it inform how your company presents its product or service, focusing on it can lead to new or unique opportunities.
In seeking ways to deliver on its value proposition of delivering entertainment, Netflix pivoted its business model from mail-order VHS and DVD rental to video streaming, and then again to content, in the process becoming one of the world’s largest companies.
How to Create a Value Proposition
In crafting a compelling value proposition, it’s important to understand that it’s not simply a marketing tagline for your homepage, and that it’s not necessarily meant to position your company against your competitors.
Rather, it needs to clearly communicate:
1. Who your company’s customers are.
Who specifically is your company’s solution intended for? Making a general statement may increase the number of potential customers, but this comes at the expense of lesser qualification.
2. What problem your company solves for them.
How do you make their lives easier? What are you doing for them that no one else is? Part of WordPress’ value proposition is “create your new website for free”, establishing them as an alternative to paid web hosting.
3. Why you’re better than your competitors.
This can be a bit tricky because you shouldn’t mention exactly who your competitors are. Part of workspace tool Notion’s value proposition is “Notion is all you need – all in one tool”, with the implication being that customers would have to use multiple other tools to approximate the software’s features.
4. The specific benefit of purchasing your company’s offering.
It can be really easy to get bogged down talking about features, such as product design or specifications, but prospects generally won’t care if something is a quarter of an inch thinner, or if it can be installed on any machine. They will care if it allows them to connect with loved ones, or saves them time for other things.
While a value proposition can be longer than one sentence, it should be as brief and direct as possible. One persuasive and impactful statement does a lot more to convince potential customers than pages and pages of factual information. Avoid jargon, flowery language, or anything that doesn’t create an immediate sense of your company’s value, because ultimately, your value proposition is your company.
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