How to Create a Unique Value Proposition

Your business value proposition is the promise of value that you make to customers which you have to deliver upon. It’s what captures attention, explains what you offer in an instant, gets the phone to ring and customers through the door. Without a strong value proposition, your business will struggle to grow at a sustainable pace. 

This article will give you three steps to create your value proposition or evaluate your current one and then improve it. 

Step 1: Do your prep

In order to establish your business value proposition you need to do the prep. Discuss and write down what it is that your business does. Now, this sounds very simple but it should strip back your business to the core of its purpose.

It’s helpful to imagine that you would be explaining this to someone who has never heard of your business before. For example you could be a tech business offering innovative solutions or a construction company who specialises in sustainability.  

This is a brainstorming exercise where everyone on the board should be involved. If you are a sole trader, the process is just as easy. Either way, you have to write down everything your business does and what you think you are really good at. 

When doing this you must be honest as a business, exaggeration or modesty won’t be beneficial here. Think about the problems your business offers solutions to. 

If you’re stuck, a useful tactic is to think back to when you started your business and remember why you did it? What gap in the market did you see and seize upon? 

This process is beneficial for your business in terms of evaluating where you are. If you are struggling to define or get down ideas of what your business does then perhaps it is the case that what you do isn’t that clear. This may lead you to re-assessing your business to really clarify what it does.

Step 2: Create your headline

The headline is effectively all of your prep put in a single sentence. What is it that your business does in a single sentence? 

This sentence should make clear to those reading what the end benefit is of what your business is offering. If you can mention the product and customer within this sentence then you are in a strong place. 

Once you’ve condensed your value proposition into a single sentence, now look at it and see how you can make it catchier. You want this sentence to grab the attention of a potential customer and stick in their mind.

You should also consider how your headline affects your digital marketing as you will want your audience to find you through the internet. An effective way to do this is to think of what a customer might google, in relation to a problem that your business solves, and then use those words in your headline. 

Of course SEO is more complex than just this but you should consider how your value proposition message is used throughout your marketing communications.

Once you have created a single sentence that grabs the customer’s attention and effectively conveys the promise of value from your business, you can create your sub-headlines. 

Your sub-headlines are two or three sentences that give further information to the customers, once their attention has been piqued by the headline. Here you can give some more specific information about what your business does and why it’s so good at what it does.

Step 3: Design your visuals

Both your headline and visuals need to be aligned with the prep you did on your value proposition. Image-based marketing communicates with your customers much faster than words so your visuals need to be strong and on point. 

This is where you’re likely to first grab your customers’ attention so that highlights the importance of your imagery. Hero shots are always good for your visuals. Where you photograph your product or service with purposefully chosen backgrounds and lighting which creates a mood and feeling as well as giving your product or service some context.   

If your branding and value proposition go hand in hand then your company will be clear and memorable. 

To sum up

In order to have significant business growth that connects with an expanding audience, your value proposition needs to be clear and consistent within your business. 

To create your value proposition you need to get to the centre of what your business does. What do you offer and why is it so good; and then bring that into your attention-grabbing headline. 

Your visuals need to be consistent with your value proposition and headline for it to have as big an impact as possible. 

If the process of creating your value proposition and messaging is proving difficult for your business then you could consider working with a part-time marketing director. They can not only help your team perfect this crucial aspect of your business but they can also help ensure your marketing strategy is focused on your growth priorities.

Author Bio – John Courtney is Founder & CEO of BoardroomAdvisors.co which provides part-time Executive & Non-Executive Directors and paid Mentors to SMEs. John’s been ranked #30 in CityAM’s list of UK Entrepreneurs, having founded 7 different businesses over a 40-year period.