How To Craft a Value Proposition

The first thing that needs to be understood is exactly what a value proposition is.

A Value Proposition:

1. Distinguishes you from your competition 
2. Clearly coveys to customers why they want you
3. Delivers a promise to the customer that sets expectations

A Value Proposition is not:

1. Your company's history
2. Vague and generic positive statement 
3. Self promoting 

Value propositions want to get to heart of what matters for customers. Value propositions are targeted to customers and focus on communicating the benefits of choosing your product or service.

Here are some positive things you can expect to see with a well written value proposition. 

1. Increase in customer list
2. Demand higher prices
3. Longer customer retention
4. Cheaper customer acquisition 

Your value proposition serves as the foundation for promotional and marketing material.

It is clear that most of the market does not have well developed value propositions. That's why most business owners end up using some of the following methods:

1. Discounting services
2. Haggle with customers over deals
3. Spend more on advertising
4. Run at a lower profit margin

Here are 3 of the main topics you should focus on when crafting a value proposition

1. Identify a customer problem 
2. Provide a clear solution 
3. Give them a reason to act

Before you begin the value proposition, you need to collect some prerequisite information.

Things such as:

1. Main desire of your customer
   1. SWOT Analysis
      1. Strengths
      2. Weaknesses
      3. Opportunities
      4. Threats
2. Exclusivity
   1. Awards and/or proprietary property
   2. Guarantees or promise
3. Credibility
   1. Social Proof (Media)
   2. Seals
   3. Frame
   4. Testimonials
4. Clarity

Take a period of time 2-6 weeks as refine your value proposition. Continue asking questions that help answer the fundamental question for your customer and that's, "why should they buy from you and not your competitors?"

Each stage of your marketing plan should be touching on this value proposition and continuing to encourage the customer through your sales funnels.

Next, test your value proposition through a/b testing. See if different value propositions get better or worse response with clickthrough rate, engagement, and conversion. 

After some time and some testing, a quality value proposition can be woven into your business and completely transform your marketing and promotional material!

Consider spending some time this week refining your value proposition. Create a few pieces of promotional material that could help set the tone for current and future customers.

What's your value proposition?

What elements do you think make a great value proposition?

Thanks for reading this post!