• Your value proposition should help your customers understand who you are and what you do at a glance (within five seconds).
• It should clarify the benefits of your offer that your customers need to know to convince them to continue with purchasing.
• It will clearly define why they should buy from you instead of the competition.

The perfect value proposition is your chance to answer the question, “Why should a customer buy from me instead of the competition?”.

And to do this effectively you need to understand everything you can about your customer, your business, and the competitive market in which you operate.

You need to begin with some serious research. Here’s what you need to uncover:

Customer Research—who are they (existing and potential) and what do they want from you?

Why you need this research

Consumers choose brands that help them to develop, extend, or portray their self-identity. A successful brand value proposition should reflect their needs, values, interests, and opinions—so we need to understand what these are.

And the knock-on benefits will extend far beyond your value proposition—including better customer engagement, and being able to speak to your customers in their own words.

Some things you may need to know

• Who they are: gender, age, marital status, household income, and locale
• What they want from brands in your market
• What they are not getting that they want and need
• How they feel about your brand
• How they feel about other existing brands in your market
• What type of pricing, features, and benefits do they want
• Where they spend time online
• What keywords do they use to search for products in your market

The only way to do this is to talk to your customers and pay close attention to their feedback.

Company Research—why you exist (not just to make money!) and how you make life better for your customers

Why you need this research

A successful value proposition needs to be authentic—rooted in a truth. It is crucial to understand all of your business and your competencies to discover what sets you apart. This enables you to communicate your value proposition to your customers and establish you as a preferred brand.

Knowing your company in depth will allow you to unlock what is truly special about it and reflect it back to your customer.

What you need to know

• Your company history
• Why the company was set up
• Important people in your existing organisation
• What you are passionate about
• How you would describe yourself
• What your values are
• What your vision for the future is

Competitor Research—who are your competitors and how you are different from them?

Why you need this research

Understanding your competitive market allows you to look at and compare similarities—and what sets you apart from your competitors. This is the key to unlocking your unique value proposition.

You may match a competitor on every element of value except one—and if that is the case, you must excel in this. And, that difference will help you become the best choice for your customers.

What you need to know

• Who the big players are
• Their value propositions
• What unique opportunities are open to you
• What threats exist that could impede your path to success
• What benefits can you offer that differentiate you from your competitors

Once you’ve done your research, you should be able to craft a value proposition that makes a difference.

Here are some guidelines that should help you.

‍

1. Use your customers’ exact language

Use your customer insights to craft a value proposition using the words and phrases they use. First write copy around the desires and outcomes you expect to hear; then revise it around the desires and outcomes you actually hear.

You want your customers to say “Where have you been all my life? This is exactly what I’ve been looking for!”.

2. Make your value proposition clear as day

Every new visitor to your website asks themselves “Where am I? What is this?”. Your value proposition has to answer this immediately to reassure them that they are where they need to be.

Your full value proposition may be a title, a subtitle, and a paragraph of text—however, when it comes to portraying this information online the message must be above the fold and as it should be read and understood in less than five seconds.

And remember—visitors can land anywhere on your site—so make sure your value proposition is on all landing pages.

3. Details matter

Each element contributes to your value proposition, e.g., “design classics” communicates something different from “classic design”. So be careful about your wording.

Your entire website needs to reflect and communicate your brand proposition effectively. This involves imagery, language, and customer experience including post-purchase and packaging.

4. Test your value proposition—regularly

Once you are happy with your value proposition, it is time to test it with your audience. A/B test what you originally had (A) against your newly created value proposition variation (B).

Also, iterate your tests—as the market changes, so do your competitors and consumers—so you will have to review your value proposition and make sure it still does what it needs to.

And finally…

Your value proposition is your “raison d’être”—the very reason for the existence of your business and that is why it is worthy of attention. It’s not something you can rush at; it takes considerable thought and crafting and, as we’ve outlined here, don’t skimp on the data.

You really do need those insights to get to the truth of the matter … to uncover a value proposition that feels authentic and delivers real, tangible value to your potential customer.

Read on to… Have you optimised for inbound calls?

‍