Ways to Create a Unique Value Proposition
Your value proposition is the determining factor in whether a potential customer makes a purchase with your brand, whether they stay on your website or hit the back button, and why they think your business has anything of value to them at all.
With this make-or-break potential, ensuring your value proposition is the best it can be is vital to the success of your business. Not only that, but it lays the foundation for customer value management. Here are ways to create a unique proposition designed to grow your engagement, sales, and brand.
Quality Elements
A value proposition is not a slogan, catch phrase, or positioning statement. It’s intended to be read and understood by mass audiences. It is a form of advertising written in the customer’s language, clearly explaining the value you offer them in their own terms.
Ideally, you’re looking at a paragraph with some graphics or branded imaging included. Paragraphs can vary wildly, but there’s a simple formula you can follow to construct your value proposition for the best readability before diving into its unique elements. That formula looks like this:
- Headline – Grab the customer’s attention and explain the end-benefit of your value in one sentence.
- Paragraph – In two to three sentences, specifically explain what your business does or offers and why that’s useful to the customer.
- Bullet Points – Give them three bullet points that highlight your key benefits.
- The Visual – This can be a product image, graphic art, branded imagery, or anything else that reinforces your point.
While crafting this message, you can ensure it is written in your customers’ language by utilizing the data your company has on demographics. It doesn’t hurt to interview your customers or use the same language they do in any feedback they’ve provided.
Making it Great
With the basics out of the way, it’s time to focus on more advanced aspects of your value proposition. First, and most important, make sure that the paragraph is clear. That means it is easy to read and your message is understood by all.
Your proposition needs to communicate exactly what a customer will receive by doing business with you. It should quickly separate your offerings from those of your competitors without using hyped-up language like “amazing” or “best.” It should be easily read and comprehended in roughly five seconds. At the end of the day, clarity is what separates good propositions from great ones.
Making it Unique
Your business probably offers something similar to the competition. This where even top-level executives start to wonder how they can make their products and services unique, but that line of thought misses the point of the value proposition.
The goal isn’t to make yourself unique to the world, but rather to the customer deciding on making a purchase. Neither the marketplace nor your competitors are making the sale, the customer is. All you need to do is look unique in the customer’s mind. Here are a few tips to help you stand out:
- Skip the stock photos, use something unique that customers won’t find anywhere else
- Make sure your images are prominent on the page and relevant
- Keep your phrasing succinct
- Use boosters that add value like social media proof, respected logos, and enticing elements like “customizable” or “free shipping”
- Provide a clear call to action specific to your offerings
