How to Craft a Clear and Compelling Value Proposition

WRITTEN BY: Jennifer Strout, Founder of MotivateU

As a business owner or marketer, you know how important it is to create effective marketing messages that resonate with your target audience. However, it's equally important that your message clearly outlines the benefits of your business, product or service.

A good value proposition should clearly and briefly communicate the distinct value; it’s essentially the foundation of your brand and the driving force behind your sales and marketing efforts. The goal being to define your promise to your prospective customers and set you apart from your competition.

In order to craft a solid value proposition make sure you have a firm grasp on the following, and if any areas feel weak then it's time to go back to researching and interviewing your target audience so you can ensure that your message resonates.

1. What your business, product or service does: Your value proposition should clearly explain what your business, product or service is, and what you offer. In other words, how do you solve your customer's problem? One popular way to test this is to consider if the framing of your solution is simple enough that a child would understand what you are offering.

2. Who your target audience is: A strong value proposition should identify your target audience and explain how your business, product or service is tailored to meet their specific needs; emphasis on “specific”. You want to get as specific as possible, even down to locations or regions, even if you do not have a physical presence.

3. What sets you apart from your competitors: Your value proposition should clearly communicate what makes your business, product or service better (faster, stronger, or cheaper) than your competitors. This one is often overlooked, but it's critical that you set your solution apart or otherwise why would someone take the risk to switch to your product or service? Equally important to note that you do not need to name competitors in order to highlight your differentiators. 

4. The benefits your offering provides: Your value proposition should clearly explain the benefits your offering provides to your customers. What are they going to gain by doing business with you?

5. What action you want the customer to take: Be sure to include a strong call-to-action that urges your prospective customers to take action. You don’t want to provide all that value just to forget to provide a clear next step. 

6. Keep it simple and straightforward: Your value proposition should be easy to understand and communicate the value you provide in a clear and concise manner. This goes back to the ability for a child to understand your offer. Making the explanation overly complex does not help bring on new clients, instead it just confuses them.

7. Focus on benefits: Put yourself in your customer's shoes and focus on the benefits they will receive from your offering. People care much less about how something is done, and much more that they gain the expected value. Often as founders we can get caught up in the how, but it's important to view this from the perspective of our clients and focus more on the benefits or outcomes.

8. Be specific: Avoid using vague or generic statements. Instead, be specific and highlight what makes you unique. Basically, you want to avoid cliches. 

9. Use persuasive language: Use language that speaks directly to your target audience and that will make them feel confident in choosing your offering.

10. Test and iterate: A value proposition is never set in stone. Continually test and refine your value proposition to ensure that it resonates with your target audience.

In conclusion, a clear and compelling value proposition is a crucial aspect of your sales and marketing efforts. It helps differentiate your business, product or service from the competition, and outlines the benefits your offering provides to your target audience. By following the guidelines above, you can create a value proposition that resonates with your target audience and drives sales for your business.

Want to learn more about what MotivateU had to offer, check out our value propositions on any of our product pages.

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