How to Create a Unique Value Proposition: Examples & Best Practices

As you make your first steps into the business world of Silicon Valley, you will be surprised by how some of the most successful companies use their value proposition to convince customers that their product is the right choice for them.

Simple qualities like being cheaper, faster, and better can be easily conveyed using a unique value proposition. The way you explain things to your customers matters a lot. Read on and learn how to write value proposition statements and why they are important for your business to excel.

What Is a Value Proposition

It is a short statement explaining what your company does and why it is better than what your competitors offer. The statement also communicates the idea to customers and convinces them to go with your product or service.

Although it is often confused with a product description, it is much more than that, as it represents the whole business. In short, the brand value proposition is specific, exclusive, and focused on your plan.

Elements of a Value Proposition

A value proposition will mostly appear on the homepage of your website. Apart from that, you can include it in marketing campaigns, landing pages, or brochures, but the homepage remains the first. So, paying equal attention to every part is necessary.

Headline

The first section is the headline, the most prominent part. It clearly describes the benefits of buying products or services from your business. So, the headline must be catchy and creative while being clear and to the point.

Subheadline

This comes next to the headline and discusses in detail what value your company offers, what its products and services are for, and why the reader should opt for them. So, the subheadline section can explain the information in the headline section.

Visual Elements

A good value proposition is more than just a text. Sometimes, visuals end up delivering the idea much better than text. So, you can enhance the message with visual elements like video, image, or nephrographic. It helps grab customers’ attention as well.

Bonus: Here is a comprehensive guide on how to monetize your business mobile app.

How to Create a Value Proposition: Guide + Templates

Your business value proposition must be concise and clear while delivering a powerful message to the reader. Being new to the marketing field may make it feel like something complex, but if you understand your audience and business value, it can be extremely easy to write. You start by identifying all the dots and join them up as in the steps below:

1. Identify customers’ problems using a value proposition canvas

A value proposition canvas helps you identify the core elements of your proposition more efficiently. It helps with the audience and market analysis. You will create a customer profile describing their problems and needs. It consists of three main parts:

• Customer’s needs or what task they want to complete with your product.
• Their expectations of your business and products.
• Pain points for the proposition to be pain-focused.
  
  

2. Identify the benefits your product will be offering

Next, you need to identify the benefits your product will be offering to your customers. You must be clear with this section and refrain from mixing benefits with hype.

3. Describe what makes your product valuable for customers

Describe how your business brings them value by creating a value map depending on the following factors:

• Gain creators — the features of your product that make customers happy.
• Pain relievers — the features that will help customers overcome specific pains
• You may only be able to mention some of the lists of products and services, including the most important ones.

4. Connect the value of your product to the customer’s problem

Now you have all the factors required to create your brand value proposition. You may need to do a little word molding to connect your customer’s problems with your business value.

5. Differentiate yourself from other providers

The last step will be identifying and delivering your unique selling point. This is essential as it convinces customers to choose your business over your competitors. So, be creative here and stand out in every customer’s mind.

Alternative Method: Value Proposition Template

An alternative method to create your value proposition in business involves using a template. This method may work better for some users than many value proposition canvas examples.

It is because, with a template, you must only work on gathering the points according to its demands, considering your product value proposition. Below are some of the best value proposition templates you may use. 

Geoff Moore Method

This template comes from Geoff Moore’s book, which is:

For (customer) who (needs), our (product or service) is (industry category) that (benefit)

Filling in this template will get your brand proposition ready.

Steve Blank Formula

This is much more straightforward, and here is how this template goes:

We Help (X) to do (Y) by doing (Z), where X represents the customer, Y represents the needs, and Z represents the USP and business value.

Peter Sandeen Approach

This template focuses on two questions, which are:

• What makes your business/product valuable?
• How can you prove it is valuable?

Answer these two questions, and you will have all the information required to create the key value proposition.

Vlaskovits and Cooper Method

This follows a Customer, Problem, and Solution model to create a value proposition. You need to identify the customer, their problems, and how your business solves them. Creating a value proposition for a company with this template is that simple.

Remember that these templates may make the process easier for you, but they are only the best for some businesses.

Evolution of Value Proposition

Now that you know what a unique value proposition is and understand the different ways to create one, it is time to work on its evolution. It isn’t something that stays the same forever. Customers and market trends keep on changing, so revision is necessary.

As market trends and customers change, your company must evolve. The best way to do this is by conducting market research and making informed decisions with calculated risks using research result insights and customer feedback. This real-time data can help evolve your value proposition example in the best way.

Unique Value Proposition Examples from Well-Known Companies

The best assistance for you while creating your proposition statement will come from successful examples. So, here are some examples of great propositions from well-known companies.

WordPress

WordPress welcomes its users, saying it has the most popular website builder in the world. This statement already differentiates it from other website builders, saying that it is the best even when others may have better features. It uses its positive points about the specific types of users and its presence in Fortune 500 companies.

Slack

Slack makes a few statements, but all focus on better productivity through an easy collaboration interface. Users are drawn in by the sweet tagline describing the pleasant experience it offers. The proposition itself includes feature and layout visuals to make a better impact.

Stripe

This digital payment tool has a little technical proposition that clearly explains the value users get from its services. The subheadline is a bit more detailed, along with a visual element to bring more value.

Grammarly

Grammarly uses a simple and easy-to-understand value proposition of great writing, simplified. It shows users that they can easily write professionally using Grammarly and eliminate errors in no time. The company has also ensured that its platform is easy to use for everyone.

Trello

Trello uses its proposition to showcase how it is different. Trello explains that it solves the collaboration and remote working problems for teams in the office, as well as those working entirely on a remote working model.

Airbnb

Airbnb addresses its hosts and guests with equally powerful and separate propositions, which allows it to gain trust and scale. You can separately address your target audience to show the value you offer to each party. The company clearly explains all its value propositions to new and existing customers.

The Airbnb app lets you talk to your Host, get up-to-date information about your booking, and make the most of your trip by getting the best local information that only expert Hosts would know. With the new Trips tab, all the important information about your trip is in one place.

Twitter

Twitter’s leading value proposition is to allow people to connect in real time. Thus, they click Join, which makes users feel like they are not making social media accounts but joining a conversation and contributing to something significant happening in the world.

Quickbooks

The unique value proposition is what a brand wants to set it apart from others, enable customers to understand the brand’s position and strength and remember it as a special impression.  Quickbooks - a well-known accounting tool is doing the same when it comes to terms such as “smart, simple, and online accounting software for small businesses”. Retailers can track, customize invoices, run reports, and even integrate Quickbooks with POS systems to operate all from one place.

Evernote

Evernote’s value proposition is designed to deal with two problems simultaneously. If you desire to be better and faster, it is the platform you need to invest in. With Evernote, you will always stay organized without making any effort. It helps you become more productive and efficient with time.

Khan Academy

You can learn everything and anything at the Khan Academy because its value proposition is to educate everyone. Detailed lectures and easy-to-understand topics attract users to sign up for their teaching services. They give their users the information and confidence required to excel in class.

Shopify

It delivers the message of building your business by maintaining the shortest syllable count. However, it misses clarity, and if a user needs to learn a lot about them, they may lose a customer’s action.

Bonus: Here are the top 7 e-commerce brands successful because of their mobile application.

Conclusion

Writing a value proposition is only some of what you need to do. To develop a value proposition that addresses your customers’ pain points and offers a good sales pitch, you need to go through a lot of testing. Remember that a proposition statement changes and grows along with your business, so you may need to reevaluate, meaning it is not a one-off.

So, the best way to stay on top of the market is by working on your customers’ real-time demands and converting this statement accordingly. At every instance, you need to focus on all the elements and evolution needs of the proposition. Looking at these unique and successful value statement examples can also help a lot.