How to create a winning value proposition

Getting customers to buy from you, rather than a competitor, requires a fair amount of preparation and work. How do you get people to see the value in what you offer, and happily decide to purchase from you, time and time again? While there are many sides to producing a quality product or service and marketing it, it all boils down to your value proposition. In fact a recent PR report reveals that 83% of Millennials feel it’s important for companies they buy from to align with their beliefs and values.

What is a value proposition?

It is the compelling reason you give consumers, as to why they should part with their hard earned money and choose you. That doesn’t mean telling people your product has been tried and tested, and then sitting back with the hopes that people will swarm to your website. You need a well-thought out value proposition that sets you apart from your competitors and genuinely speaks to a customer’s needs.

There’s no hard and fast template to creating the perfect value proposition, but there are a few important steps to help you create a winning one for your business.

Identify your audience’s larger problem

Identifying your audience’s problem/s needs a bird’s eye view approach. It is more than the literal features of your product and requires you to understand why someone would see your brand, and click your call to action. How will you solve their current dilemma?

It goes beyond offering someone a home food delivery service because they need to eat, for example. Why do they need a food delivery service? Perhaps they work long hours which makes it difficult to cook healthy meals, or they do shift work and planning food for their family is impossible. What would prompt someone to look for your type of business?

Focus your solution to meet these needs

Once you’ve identified your audience’s problem/s, you can provide a well-thought out solution that directly addresses their needs. This doesn’t require listing features, unique selling points or big statistics. The solution in your value proposition is to describe why your brand will bring value to the lives of your audience.

If you offer a home cleaning service, your solution is not that you can clean someone’s home when it’s dirty, but that you can solve their problem of having to do the cleaning themselves when they have little time for it in the first place.

Identify what sets you apart

While there may be similar brands on the market, identifying what makes you different in the eye of the consumer makes you more memorable. It’s no easy feat, but it can make the difference between making a sale, or not. Remember there are no limits as to what sets you apart, it can be your expertly built e-commerce website that allows for flexible payments when your competitors don’t, or your donation to charity for every purchase made.

If you have something that provides more value to consumers than your competitors, it’s a vital part of your value proposition.

Showcase your value where it matters most

Now that you’ve refined your value proposition, it’s a matter of making the most of it, where it counts. How you present your value to consumers is key to how they perceive you and whether they take action or not.

From using the right voice and tone in your website and marketing copy, to using high quality images that enhance the look and feel of your offering, showcasing your products in the best possible light will only enhance your value proposition.

A strong value proposition helps you stand out from the crowd, it need not be complicated, but provide the right answer, to the right people, at the right moment in their purchase journey.