value propositions of business plan

How to Write a Great Value Proposition [7 Top Examples + Template]

Updated: August 06, 2024

Published: January 20, 2015

Your company’s competitive advantage lives or dies by its value proposition. If you can’t clearly distinguish your product or service from your competitors — and then deliver on your brand promise — why should customers choose you ?

The stakes are high, but writing a great value proposition shouldn’t strike fear into your heart. (And if it does — deep breath. We’ll get through this together.)

In this article, we’ll define what a value proposition is, and just as importantly, what it isn't . We’ll also break down examples from seven well-known brands.

I’ve also talked to a handful of marketing experts to bring you tactics and tips for creating value props that will help you lift sales, boost conversion rates , connect and engage with customers, and solve world peace. (Just kidding on that last one. But a good value proposition does address a lot of marketing problems.)

Free Value Proposition Templates

15 templates to help you brainstorm, write, and promote your value prop.

• Value Proposition Writing Templates
• Value Proposition Canvas Template
• Brand Hierarchy Template

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We'll cover:

What is a value proposition?

• Value Proposition vs. Mission Statement (vs. Others)

Elements of a Value Proposition

How to write a value proposition, 4 methods to build great value propositions, value proposition templates, value proposition canvas examples, value proposition examples, what makes a good value proposition.

• Value Proposition FAQs

A value proposition is a short statement that communicates why buyers should choose your products or services. It's more than just a product or service description — it's the specific solution that your business provides and the promise of value that a customer can expect you to deliver.

A value proposition, sometimes called a brand proposition or core proposition, might be the difference between losing a sale and closing it. In other words: A great value prop is an essential conversion factor.

For that reason, it‘s important to create one that accurately represents your products and services, distinguishes you from competitors, and makes it clear why you’re the best choice.

Let us help you make this process easier: Download our templates below and follow along with the rest of the post.

Your value proposition is yours — it distinguishes your business from your competitors, and it clearly communicates that to customers.

Without it, buyers won't have a reason to purchase what you sell. They may even choose a competitor simply because its marketing campaigns and sales processes have a clearer value proposition.

You might think: Isn't my value prop interchangeable with, say, my slogan?

Nope. It's easy to confuse your value proposition with other similar brand assets , such as your mission statement, slogan , or tagline. We break down the differences below.

Value Proposition vs. Mission Statement

Some questions you will ask yourself when using the HubSpot templates include:

• Why do you do what you do?
• How do you do what you do?
• What do you do for your customers?

Before you write the statement itself, it's important to create a value proposition canvas.

Value Proposition Canvas

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What Makes a Slogan Successful? [Infographic]

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Before & After: 11 Brands That Gave Their Slogans a Makeover

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15 free value proposition templates to help you brainstorm, write, and promote your value prop.

Marketing software that helps you drive revenue, save time and resources, and measure and optimize your investments — all on one easy-to-use platform

How to write a value proposition for a business plan

Table of Contents

What is a value proposition?

Aspects that make up your value proposition, how to write a value proposition for a business plan (and everywhere else), value proposition canvas, customer profile, the steve blank formula, tips to create a value proposition that converts, take your business to new heights with countingup.

A value proposition is an articulate description of why customers should choose your business over others. In other words, your value proposition is the foundation of your competitive advantage. So it’s important to highlight it in your business plan to show potential investors and other stakeholders that you’re worth their time and money.

This guide will show you how to write a value proposition for a business plan. We’ll cover the following topics:

• Why you need to include a value proposition
• Tips to write a value proposition that converts

In a business plan, your value proposition comes after your executive summary and company description, meaning readers already have a general understanding of your business. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, a value proposition describes the value you promise to deliver to your ideal customer or client. 

Basically, you use your proposition to explain why someone would invest in your business and solution over anyone else. You already know why your business is special, but the key is to make it clear to anyone who reads your business plan. 

Your value proposition is only a simple statement rather than a long message, such as Grammarly ’s “Great writing, simplified” or HelloFresh ’s “Take the stress out of mealtime ”. Both these companies tell you how they help you in just a few words. 

But don’t let the simplicity keep you from coming up with a good value statement in the first place. The important thing is that your statement answers the following questions:

• What problem or pain point does your business solve?
• What are the benefits people get from your solution?
• Why should someone invest in you rather than your competitors? 
• What’s your advantage over other companies?

When developing your value proposition for your business plan, make sure you consider and include the following elements:

• Vision – this describes the ‘why’ of your business, meaning why you do what you do. Your vision shares your aspirations and how they help guide your efforts.
• Mission – this is where you explain what you do and how you do it. Describe the strategies you use to achieve your vision. 
• Values – here, you describe your values as a business and what characteristics clients thank you for (or will thank you for). 
• Unique selling point – your unique selling point (or USP) is the distinct advantage you have over your competitors that makes you stand out in the market. It can be your price, quality, design, selection, or even words. Or perhaps you offer a highly efficient service because you have a system like Countingup that speeds up many of your internal processes?
• Ideal client – you need to know who your ideal customer/client is to clearly communicate why they need your solution specifically. Try creating an ideal customer profile where you add all the relevant information you have about your ideal client. The more specific your profile, the easier it will be to explain your solution’s value to that group of people.

There are a few ways you can create a value proposition for your business. Here are some methods you can use.

This visual tool helps you position your solution around your customers’ needs. You can use the value proposition canvas to build your first statement or to enhance the one you already have. The canvas has two components: the customer profile and the value map. Let’s look at the parts that make up each component.

• Gains – the benefits your customer expects and needs that will increase the likelihood of attracting them to a value proposition.
• Pains – the negative experiences, emotions and risks customers want to escape.
• Customer jobs – the tasks customers try to perform, needs they try to satisfy, or problems they try to solve.
• Gain creators – how your solution helps create customer gains and satisfy their needs and expectations. 
• Pain relievers – how your solutions help eliminate customer pains.
• Products and services – the products and services you provide that create customer gains and relieves their pains. 

Explore each section from your customers’ perspective, imagining how each benefit increases pleasure or decreases pain for the person using your solution. 

For example, every self-employed person has financial management tasks they need to complete. By using Countingup , they can manage their finances from one simple app and minimise their time spent on these tasks. They’ll feel less stressed and more inspired to move their businesses forward. 

If you think the value proposition canvas is too complicated, you can try the simple formula by entrepreneur Steve Blank . He noticed many startup founders focus on features instead of benefits when attempting to create their value proposition. Instead of summarising how their company offers value to customers, leaders get stuck trying to choose which features to highlight. 

The Steve Blank formula gives you a way to transform your ideas into a simple sentence. Simply write down your ideas like this:

We help (X) do (Y) by doing (Z)

Let’s look at each component a little closer:

• We help X = Who is your ideal client, and what problem or pain point do they suffer with? 
• Do Y = Where does your ideal customer want to achieve by using a solution like yours?
• by doing Z = What value does your business deliver to the customer, and what makes you unique from your competitors?

When using this formula to come up with your value proposition, remember to go with your gut. Sometimes the first thing that comes to mind is the best. 

For example:

Countingup helps self-employed entrepreneurs manage their businesses efficiently by streamlining key financial processes. 

To wrap up, here are a few quick tips to help you create a value proposition that will inspire investors to keep reading your business plan and convert leads to customers. 

• Keep it short and concise – your statement needs to instantly tell people why they should buy from you. 
• Be precise – your value proposition should offer targeted solutions to specific needs.
• Focus on the customer – your goal is to prove how you solve customers’ problems, not your own. 
• Value takes many shapes – there are a bunch of ways you can deliver value to your customers, including money, convenience, time, and superior quality or service.

Countingup is the business current account and accounting software in one app. It automates time-consuming bookkeeping admin for thousands of self-employed people across the UK. 

Save yourself hours of accounting admin so you can focus on growing your business. 

Start your three-month free trial today. 

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How to Create an Effective Value Proposition

• 28 Jul 2020

Starting a business comes with many unknowns, but the value of your brand shouldn't be one of them.

Before launching a venture, all entrepreneurs should determine what market need their product or service fulfills, and what separates their offering from other available options. Without this differentiation and definition of opportunity, a new business isn't likely to succeed.

To communicate the need your product fills and its differentiating factors, you need to create an effective value proposition.

Before diving into how to craft yours, here's a look at what a value proposition is and why it's important for your business.

Access your free e-book today.

What Is a Value Proposition?

A value proposition is a statement that conveys what a brand does and how it differs from competitors. It's typically developed as part of a broader marketing strategy and no more than a few sentences long. The initial proposition can be bolstered with statistics and facts that prove the brand's stated value.

Having a value proposition is important because it clearly and concisely communicates what customers can gain from selecting your brand over that of your competitors. This statement can be used in several ways, including:

• On your company's website to help convert potential leads into customers
• When pitching your company to investors
• As an answer to the question, "So, what exactly does your company do?"

As an entrepreneur, it's your job to be your organization's number one advocate and garner the support of others. A short, clear value proposition can stick in the minds of investors, potential customers, friends, and relatives, ensuring your brand's value isn't lost in translation.

To begin crafting your brand's value proposition, start with an understanding of the jobs to be done theory.

Related: 6 Questions to Ask Before Starting a Business

Understanding Your Customers' Jobs to Be Done

The jobs to be done theory was developed by Harvard Business School Professor Clayton Christensen. It asserts that customers "hire" products and services to get "jobs" done, rather than purchasing them based on their attributes and buying behaviors.

"A 'job to be done' is a problem or opportunity that somebody is trying to solve," Christensen says in the online course Disruptive Strategy . "We call it a 'job' because it needs to be done, and we hire people or products to get jobs done."

One example of a successful brand that's used this framework is Warby Parker , founded in 2010 by Neil Blumenthal, Dave Gilboa, Andy Hunt, and Jeff Raider.

The eyeglass company got its start when one of the founders lost his glasses on a backpacking trip. Unable to swing the steep price of a new pair, he spent the next semester " squinting and complaining " to three of his friends, who realized they had been in similar situations.

"We were amazed at how hard it was to find a pair of great frames that didn't leave our wallets bare," Warby Parker states on its website . "Every idea starts with a problem. Ours was simple: Glasses are too expensive."

This statement describes the job to be done discovered by Warby Parker's founders. They realized people had a need to purchase affordable eyewear and, after some research, found there weren't many options in the market.

"Understanding that the same company owned LensCrafters and Pearle Vision, Ray-Ban and Oakley, and the licenses for Chanel and Prada prescription frames and sunglasses—all of a sudden, it made sense to me why glasses were so expensive," Gilboa explains in an interview with Forbes .

The team decided to take things one step further by adding a social justice component to their business model. For every pair of eyeglasses purchased, Warby Parker donates a pair to someone in need.

"There's nothing complicated about it," the company states on its website . "Good eyewear, good outcome."

This satisfies another job to be done: providing customers with a convenient means of helping others. This dual-pronged jobs to be done framework proved to be a success, as the team hit its first-year sales goal in just three weeks .

Warby Parker continues to build its value around jobs to be done and can expect its customers' needs to "purchase affordable eyewear" and "help others in a convenient way" to endure.

"Because a job to be done remains stable over time, it provides a North Star in innovation," Christensen says.

When crafting your brand's value proposition, think about the job to be done it addresses. How does its value center on a persisting need you can fill in a unique way? It's this positioning that can allow your brand to provide the same value for customers as the market advances.

Related: Jobs to Be Done: 4 Real-World Examples

Creating a Value Proposition

You can use the jobs to be done framework as a starting point to craft your brand's value proposition.

Ask yourself:

• What is my brand offering?
• What job does the customer hire my brand to do?
• What companies and products compete with my brand to do this job for the customer?
• What sets my brand apart from those competitors?

For example, Warby Parker's founders could answer these questions as follows:

• Warby Parker offers affordable designer eyewear, including contacts.
• Customers hire Warby Parker to provide high-quality eyewear at affordable prices and give back to the community in a convenient way.
• All other eyewear brands compete with Warby Parker.
• Warby Parker's commitment to giving back to the community and its affordable prices set it apart from competitors.

Next, summarize your points in a clear, concise value proposition. Continuing the example above, Warby Parker's value proposition, as published on its home page , is:

“Buying eyewear should leave you happy and good-looking, with money in your pocket. Glasses, sunglasses, and contacts—we’ve got your eyes covered.”

This value proposition is reinforced throughout the company's website, along with its stated commitment to social justice :

“Warby Parker was founded with a rebellious spirit and a lofty objective: to offer designer eyewear at a revolutionary price, while leading the way for socially conscious businesses.”

To ensure your value proposition is effective, consider running it by a few people who are unfamiliar with your business. If confusion arises, edit your statement to address those points.

Once you have a value proposition you're proud of, make it known. Publish it on your website, incorporate it into your marketing materials, and memorize it for sharing during networking events, pitch opportunities, and dinner conversations.

Related: 3 Disruptive Strategy Skills For Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders

Setting Yourself Up for Success

By positioning your brand as a solution to a job to be done, you can set your company up for success. Creating a value proposition is a reflective exercise that prompts you to take stock of the need your brand fills, who your competitors are, and how you provide a different experience from other products and services.

Condensing these reflections into a succinct value proposition can enable you to convert leads into customers, effectively pitch to investors, and communicate the value of your brand at scale.

Do you want to craft winning, innovative strategies? Explore Disruptive Strategy , one of our online entrepreneurship and innovation courses . If you aren't sure which course is the right fit, download our free course flowchart to determine which best aligns with your goals.

About the Author

How to Write a Value Proposition (+ 6 Modern Examples)

Leaders often work tirelessly to improve their company’s product or service, thinking that it’s the most valuable role they can play. But for your business to “click” with your target audience, you need to stay just as close to your customers as you do to your offerings.

The details of customers’ needs and wants should be just as familiar to you as the features of your product or the details of the service that you provide. A value proposition serves as the bridge between these two aspects of your work. It’s a mantra that unites the two halves of the whole business.

We’ve demystified the nuts and bolts of how to write a value proposition, complete with examples, so you can ensure that all your hard work manifests in value for your customers every day.

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What is a value proposition?

A value proposition is a simple statement that summarizes why a customer would choose your product or service. It communicates the clearest benefit that customers receive by giving you their business. Every value proposition should speak to a customer’s challenge and make the case for your company as the problem-solver.

A great value proposition may highlight what makes you different from competitors, but it should always focus on how customers define your value . Likewise, conversations around brand strategy and taglines should stem from a value proposition, but they aren’t one and the same.

You may be wondering: Why bother learning how to write a value proposition? It’s like investing in the foundation of a house. You may not see the foundation, but everything you do see — and the long-term safety and security of your home — rest on it having a strong place to start from.

How to write a value proposition: 3 options

If you’re intentional about creating a value proposition, it can help clarify the way forward for your entire company. However, including too many voices early on can water down your intent in an effort to make everyone happy, and, ironically, the results won’t work for anyone.

Rather than get everyone involved, start with a small group of people (no more than three) who can set aside the time to hone a few compelling options.

Here’s how to write a value proposition three different ways, from complex mapping to a simple formula. Start with one or try all three in a workshop to refine your ideas with greater precision.

1. Map out a value proposition canvas

Peter Thomson’s value proposition canvas explores the different components of a company that contribute to a strong value proposition. Thomson believes that a process like this can help team members get to “minimum viable clarity,” which can be whittled down into a one-sentence value proposition.

Thomson calls a value proposition “a crunch point between business strategy and brand strategy,” and he created a model that syncs the two strategies. There are seven areas to explore, each of which takes up a section in the map:

When you explore each section of the canvas, do so from the perspective of the customer. While writing out the benefits of your product, imagine how it increases pleasure or decreases pain for the person using it. Approach the features and the experience that way, too: How do the features make the customer’s life better? How does the product experience make a customer feel?

Next, you’ll dive into the customer’s wants (emotional drivers), needs (rational motivators), and fears (undesired outcomes). Remember that even when consumers are making purchases or investments on behalf of a company, they can still be guided by emotions .

In particular, try to understand whether a product or service affects a buyer’s perceived likelihood of failure, their anxiety, or their reputation at work. You can use Bain & Company’s 30 “ Elements of Value ” and its B2B counterparts as a roadmap for articulating the ways your company gives the customer value within this context.

2. Ask Harvard Business School’s essential questions

Harvard Business School’s Institute for Strategy & Competitiveness simplified how to write a value proposition with just three prompts. Just as Thomson does, Harvard argues that a value proposition serves as the connection between a company and its customers:

“While the value chain focuses internally on operations, the value proposition is the element of strategy that looks outward at customers, at the demand side of the business. Strategy is fundamentally integrative, bringing the demand and supply sides together.”

To create an integrated, cohesive value proposition, start by brainstorming as a group around these three questions:

Which customers are you going to serve?

Which needs are you going to meet?

What relative price will provide acceptable value for customers and acceptable profitability for the customer?

Depending on your product and service, it may make sense for you to start with the first or second question in the list. Together, all three create a triangle that can lead you closer to a succinct value proposition.

As you move through the exercise, consider which one is the primary “leg” of the triangle. For example, is the greatest value that you offer in cost savings? Or is it that you’re offering a better product or experience at a premium?

Also, think about whether your company is expanding the market by meeting a need that hasn’t been realized. Harvard’s experts use a great example — the iPad. Apple created a new demand that hadn’t existed before the technology hit the market.

3. Try the Steve Blank formula to distill your insights

Steve Blank , a former Google employee who runs the Lean Startup Circle , noticed that many startup founders emphasize features instead of benefits when they try to transform more detailed insights into a succinct value proposition. Instead of summarizing how a company offers value to customers, leaders often get stuck in the weeds.

Blank saw the need for a simple formula to transform a brainstorm into a simple sentence. We love distilling more detailed insights with his method:

We help (X) do (Y) by doing (Z).

Use Blank's intuitive template to come up with your own value proposition. Remember that the first thing that comes to mind may be the best. Your gut instinct could be spot on here, and that’s what makes this simple solution so valuable.

Here’s my value proposition for my copywriting business, for example:

I help marketing teams to resonate with their target audiences by communicating with clarity and compassion.

Your local coffee shop may have a value proposition that’s similar to this one:

We help our local customers to feel good and do good by fueling them up with artisanal coffee in a community-focused space.

Although you may have brainstormed as a group with the other two methods, this time, ask team members to complete this exercise individually. Comparing and contrasting answers afterward can yield helpful insights about each person’s priorities.

Most importantly, as you draft your value proposition, use the language your customers use. At Help Scout, we say things like “emails slipping through the cracks,” because that’s what our customers say about the problem we help solve. If you don’t write your value proposition the way your customers would write it, there will be a big gap between what you say and what they hear. When you use their voice, you cut through the noise.

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6 value proposition examples

Beyond grasping how to write a value proposition, it helps to see how a strong statement influences and infuses a company’s strategy. Because value proposition examples aren’t necessarily the same thing as brand copywriting , we don’t have access to the exact words a company uses internally.

However, if a company does a great job situating their value proposition within the market, you can tell because their message resonates far and wide. Here are six modern value proposition examples that will help you to understand how value propositions can help you break into a market or create a new one.

Slack is a collaboration tool for teams with a simple, easy-to-use platform and instant message capability. The platform is equally beloved by enterprise teams and scrappy startups for its ability to keep work flowing, no matter the everyday barriers or the complexity of a project.

Everything that the company does hinges on their value proposition: Slack saves time by tearing down communication and systems silos. Their product aspires to take the pain out of working together online — and maybe even make it fun. That’s something no other product has tried or claimed to do.

Because they’ve built such a powerful value proposition, Slack is perceived as an enjoyable alternative to the dreaded email inbox and other tools. Their approach works. Slack is the fastest-growing SaaS startup ever, and it’s used by 77% of Fortune 500 companies.

Despite this legendary growth, Slack famously said it was a business with a pared-down sales team, which is only possible because of the foundation they set with a formidable value proposition.

2. Bloom & Wild

Bloom & Wild is an online flower delivery company that simplifies the process of ordering and receiving luxury flowers. Aron Gelbard, founder and CEO, explained their value proposition in their 2017 funding announcement: “We’re enabling [our customers) to order flowers and gifts from the palm of their hand with better product, designs and payments.”

Bloom & Wild makes it possible for customers to deliver flowers in under a minute using their smartphone or computer; going from thought to action is almost instantaneous. As Gelbard says, “Our mission is to make sending and receiving flowers a joy, using technology to turn emotions into an action in the simplest and most beautiful way possible.”

The flowers are just as simple to receive. They’re packed in flat boxes so they can be delivered through letterboxes (or mailboxes) so there’s no need for someone to be on hand to receive them, and they’re sent as closed flower buds for a longer bloom.

While many companies deliver flowers, Bloom & Wild differentiates itself by offering a smooth customer experience for everyone, as well as competitive pricing, with significantly cheaper blooms than average.

Bloom & Wild communicates its value proposition so clearly that its customers perform much of the hard task of marketing for them through word-of-mouth referrals.

When Airbnb began to disrupt the hospitality industry, it needed to market to two separate groups: guests who wanted a place to stay and hosts who wanted to rent out their spaces. Their two-in-one value proposition: Travelers benefit from a truly local experience and hosts benefit from extra income.

In their own words, “Airbnb exists to create a world where anyone can belong anywhere, providing healthy travel that is local, authentic, diverse, inclusive and sustainable.”

Their rooms often have more character than hotels, and they’re usually located in neighborhoods people live in. Guests learn from local knowledge shared by hosts and feel at home wherever they go. These different sources of value wrap together into Airbnb’s tagline: Belong Anywhere.

As a business goes through different stages of growth, its value proposition is likely to change, too. Originally marketed as much cheaper than staying in a hotel, Airbnb has now become an experience-driven, mainstream staple with a premium wing called “Airbnb Plus,” with its own value proposition.

4. Fjällräven

The classic Swedish outdoor clothing and equipment company Fjällräven was founded by Åke Nordin in 1960. He designed functional (and warm) products for professional researchers taking expeditions into northern Scandinavia.

Now, the 60-year-old brand is experiencing a resurgence amongst younger generations across Europe and North America. Their core proposition is that they sell high-quality, sustainably made products that balance form and function. Yes, customers look great wearing their backpacks and they can still hike up a mountain in the middle of winter.

Their commitment to sustainable business practices appeals to the same conscious consumers who value the outdoors, which fortifies their value proposition. Fjällräven manufactures many of its own products using its own G-1000 material, as well as its own Greenland Wax, contributing to its value proposition of offering quality and durability.

Because they “craft products for a lifetime of memories,” customers are more than willing to pay their premium prices.

5. Juniper Print Shop

When Jenny Komenda launched her first blog, Little Green Notebook, in 2007, she was a young designer sharing her DIY projects with the world. An entrepreneur at heart, Komenda evolved her skillset and online following into another award-winning blog, Juniper Home, and its beloved counterpart, Juniper Print Shop .

Komenda built a cohesive brand that championed affordable design and spoke to a key value proposition that motivated her customers: helping non-designers create a beautiful home without breaking the bank.

Her content answers this question in thousands of different ways, and the new arm of her business offers a simple fix for finding affordable art — one of the most difficult challenges along the way. She launched a print shop featuring the work of women artists and photographers with simple digital downloads and physical prints that are cost-effective and easy to install.

Juniper’s value proposition comes to life in the details of the print shop — from links to affordable IKEA frames — and Jenny’s one-of-a-kind suggestions (buy a vintage frame, invest in a custom mat).

6. Found My Animal

Found My Animal is a company for rescue dogs and their owners. In 2006, Bethany Obrecht and Anna Conway met by coincidence — they both had rescue dogs named Walter, and they quickly became friends.

Their shared interest in crafts (and a fisherman relative) led the two dog moms to design and create leashes from nautical rope that withstand hundreds of pounds of pull. Each leash has a brass tag with the word “FOUND” written on it in simple font.

The company has since expanded their product lines to include other dog accessories and supplies like dog beds, totes, and toys.

Found My Animal’s value proposition is simple: Support a company that donates a portion of its profits to animal rescue groups by outfitting your own rescue in quality products. The company has given money (and leashes) to over 64 nonprofit organizations that help abandoned or neglected pets, so customers know their purchases are making a difference.

This value proposition is baked into every aspect of Found My Animal, especially their marketing. Their team features rescue dogs in need of homes front and center on their website and their social media accounts. Plus, their social media tag #foundmyanimal brings awareness to animal adoption.

They even launched The Rescue Orange Project: A buy-one-donate-one leash program. For dog owners who are as devoted to rescuing other pups as they are to their own, buying from this company is a no-brainer.

The best value propositions evolve with your customers

Now that you can answer the question “What is a value proposition?” a few different ways, you’re ready to get to work. Even if you already have a value proposition in place, consider carving out the time to revisit it.

As customers and markets change over time, your company should evolve as well. Rather than make assumptions about your community based on their past needs and buying behaviors, create feedback loops so you’re always in the know.

By listening to customers in real time, you set your company up to evolve its value proposition and meet the needs of your community as it grows.

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Liz writes about business, creativity and making meaningful work. Say hello on Twitter or through her website.

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10 Best Value Proposition Examples (and How to Create a Good One)

Consumerism in 2022 and beyond is serious business.

Shoppers are inundated with options, which means competition among businesses can get pretty fierce.

According to research, you only have 15 seconds to wow a new website visitor before they potentially lose interest and leave.

That’s why your value proposition is so important – if you can’t prove your worth fast, you’ll unfortunately be left in the dust.

But what is a value proposition , and how do you go about ensuring that you’re nailing yours?

That’s just what we’ll do in this article.

I’ll define the term and walk you through 10 awesome brand value proposition examples. Then, I’ll give you some pointers on how to create a value proposition for your own business.

Let’s do this.

What Is Value Proposition?

In a nutshell, your value proposition is a succinct explanation or illustration of why a customer should do business with you.

Your value proposition should cover three elements:

• The promise of what you’ll deliver to your customers
• The benefits that your customers will reap
• Why they should choose you over your competition

There’s no “correct” approach to creating a value proposition.

But there’s a big rule to follow: your business value proposition should be among the first things website visitors see when they interact with your business.

This means that you should aim to put this information above the scroll on the homepage of your website, which is the area that visitors see first when the page loads, before they scroll down the rest of the page.

And those messages should be reinforced throughout many – if not all – of the touchpoints in your customer’s journey with your brand.

If you have one, your value proposition should also include your unique selling proposition , or the thing that sets you apart from all of your competitors.

To give you a better idea of the many ways to express a strong value proposition, let’s look at some awesome examples.

10 Best Value Proposition Examples

Shopify’s customer value proposition essentially says that it can do everything you need it to, all on a single platform.

This speaks to some of the fundamental needs and concerns of someone who’s starting a new business : it can all get real overwhelming, real fast.

But Shopify soothes that anxiety and comforts visitors in knowing that they have a helping hand.

The company’s website says that the platform supports customers “from first sale to full scale,” and features everything you could need to start, sell, market, and manage your business.

To back it all up, those four items have their own page in the website’s main navigation, allowing users to directly explore how Shopify can help with each of those facets of starting, running, and growing a business.

2. Luxy Hair

Luxy Hair does a solid job of “selling” its clip-in hair extensions below the scroll on their homepage.

The product value proposition starts with an “As seen and featured in” section that lists out all the big names that have promoted the brand, like Teen Vogue, The Huffington Post, BuzzFeed, and Glamour.

This technique is called social proof , and it’s a slam-dunk approach for generating trust fast.

The site goes on to give five strong points that explain the product, its benefits, and how it solves the common pain points that many people face when looking for the right hair extensions.

It also shows great “before and after” photos for a visual display of real results.

3. charity: water

The non-profit organization charity: water is dedicated to providing communities around the world with clean drinking water.

The company’s leaders state that they believe they can end the water crisis during our lifetime. Above the scroll of the website, you see a headline that says that 100% of your donations will go to the cause.

This is an example of using their company value proposition to cut straight to the heart of controversy in the non-profit sector. A lot of organizations use donations to cover their operational costs, which can upset some donors when they discover that only a portion of their donation went to the cause.

4.  Crossrope

Crossrope is a unique jump rope with a very clear product value proposition. They flat-out say that they’ve perfected the jump rope with “meticulous engineering” and “hours of testing.”

It’s clear that the makers behind the Crossrope have put a lot of work into it, and they clearly explain the elements of their design that make these workout tools unique and high-quality.

Right below the fold on the homepage, you’ll see four points that support why it’s the perfect jump rope: they’re weighted, durable, interchangeable, and they have high-performance handles.

The company also has clever names for the two types of Crossrope: the “Get Lean” set and “Get Strong” set. These differentiate the two types while clearly stating the benefit for the customer.

5. Evernote

Everyone is busy. Evernote’s homepage showcases right off the bat how it can help save you time and boost your efficiency on a daily basis.

It immediately speaks to the key desires of their customers, which include things like effortless organization, taking notes anywhere, sharing them with anyone, and finding all of their information faster.

Anyone with their notes scattered around various physical notebooks, emails, and Word docs can attest that this is an inconvenient problem, which makes Evernote’s promises all the more appealing.

Plus, the call to action (CTA) button brings you straight to a free signup, which is extremely useful for proving value in the face of competitors.

6. ClassPass

Above the scroll on the company’s homepage, ClassPass swiftly gives you the key benefits of their business model:

• There’s no need to commit to a single gym or type of workout
• You can choose any gym or workout directly through the ClassPass app

This tool fulfills a specific niche in the health and fitness industry, which is that some people find it inconvenient to limit their fitness options to a single location or type of gym or studio.

Sometimes you just wanna take a Krav Maga class on Monday and a Bikram yoga class on Wednesday. And no one’s judging you for that.

As you scroll down the homepage, you find more juicy benefits and unique selling points like the ability to save on drop-in rates and the ability to stream classes from home for free.

7. hardgraft

Hardgraft has a beautiful website that showcases everything that it promises it’s about: “luxury lifestyle accessories with down to Earth aesthetics.”

The headline also notes that the company is “driven by instinct,” which suggests that the products are a natural extension of the lifestyle they cater to.

It instills confidence in the reader by saying something like, “Relax, we’re experts. We’ve got this.”

This is a good example of a brand value proposition that’s short, but extra sweet – too many words here would probaby lessen the luxurious image they’re after.

8. Crazy Egg

Crazy Egg is a website optimization platform that offers heatmaps and A/B testing .

Above the scroll on the homepage, the website says that you can instantly make your website better.

I don’t know about you, but that strikes me as a pretty enticing offer.

Of course, you’ll need to be sure that you’re putting your money where your mouth is when you make a bold claim like this – which is what Crazy Egg goes on to do.

The next line says that over 300,000 customers use the platform, and how they make their websites better (improving what’s working, fixing what isn’t, and testing new ideas).

This follows right into the ability to get a 30-day free trial to see for yourself.

9. Manitobah Mukluks

Manitobah Mukluks has a more purpose-driven story and brand value proposition than many other ecommerce stores .

On the homepage of the website, you’ll learn that the company is Indigenous-owned, with products that are handmade by Indigenous artists who receive 100% of the proceeds.

The company states its vision above the scroll, which is to build a vibrant brand that impacts Indigenous communities.

Throughout the website, the team at Manitobah Mukluks does a great job of weaving the stories of their ancestors throughout the brand’s products.

It’s building a more intimate relationship with visitors, and appealing to those who want to feel more connected and contributing to the brands they choose to do business with.

10. Mailchimp

If you’ve never heard about Mailchimp, it’s a popular all-in-one marketing platform that had a humble start as an email marketing platform.

After it exploded, it expanded into a full-service marketing company.

Above the scroll of the homepage, Mailchimp shows its key customer value proposition of helping businesses scale and grow.

As you scroll down the homepage, you see four key benefits that the platform offers for growing businesses, with the option to click each one for more information.

The company goes a great job of addressing the needs of a growing company while clearly showing how it can help fulfill those needs.

Now that you’ve seen some juicy value proposition examples, let’s go over a few tips for writing a value proposition for your own brand.

Tips on How to Write a Value Proposition

Clarify the purpose and vision of your company.

If you want to create an effective value proposition, you need to identify who you are and why you’ve set up a company in the first place. The easiest way to do this is by documenting your:                                                                                            

• Mission statement, which explains why your business exists
• Vision, which includes the current and future objectives of your business
• Core values, which are the key principles that guide and direct your company and its culture

This simple measure will help you define your value proposition with better clarity, which is crucial to creating a more powerful identity for your business.

Research your audience

Your value proposition isn’t written to appeal to you. It’s written to appeal to the audience you want to do business with. It is, therefore, crucial to understand who your buyers are and what motivates them. This can be done with the help of interviews.  

You can interview your existing or prospective customers about:

• What companies they like
• What they look for in an industry-specific product or service
• What type of language resonates with them

This research will help guide the language and voice you’ll use to communicate with your audience .

Conduct a competitive analysis

Your interviews with existing or prospective customers may reveal other companies they’ve worked with before discovering your business. Analyze those businesses and figure out whether they’re in competition with your firm.

If the analysis reveals any potential competition, consider using your value proposition to communicate how and why you’re different from other similar businesses.

Examples of differentiators include higher quality, better service, and cheaper or faster shipping.

Jot down the benefits of using your solution

Consider what challenges or pain points your customers have and how you are addressing those problems. Think about both the practical and psychological benefits your solution provides.

For example, if you’re a property management firm, you aren’t just buying and selling real estate on behalf of your customers. Hopefully, you also offer specific advice that makes them feel their money is safe and well-invested.

Reiterating exactly how you can make people’s lives better and more fulfilling will help you guide your value proposition clearly. 

Whether you’re on track to becoming a million-dollar company or you’re the proud owner of a startup, taking these measures will help you put together a compelling value proposition every time around.    

A Strong Value Proposition for a Strong Business

In the wide world of business – especially ecommerce – you only have a sliver of time to prove that you’re worth a customer’s attention, let alone worth their hard-earned money.

When it’s clearly defined and clearly communicated, a customer value proposition can be the make-or-break between winning a customer over and falling into obscurity.

What makes you so great? Why are you the better choice over all the others? Customers need to know these answers ASAP, and a strong value proposition is one of the best ways to do so.

Whether you’re just starting a new business or looking to improve and strengthen your existing business, take some time to think critically about the value that you provide your customers and how you deliver that value.

Do you have any favorite value proposition examples that we didn’t discuss? Let us know in the comments below.

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How To Write a Strong Value Proposition With Examples

Writing a value proposition helps you stand out from the competition in the eyes of your target audience—and a free template can guide your efforts.

Why do your customers buy from you? What motivates people to choose you, to choose your products over the hundreds of alternatives? What makes your company, and your products, better than the rest?

The answer: Your value proposition.

If you can perfect it, you can increase your conversion rate and improve your marketing strategies across many channels. Learning to present the value your company delivers in a compelling way is one of the most high-value, wide-reaching marketing activities.

In this article, you'll learn what makes a great value proposition, how to write a value proposition, and look at some real-world examples of unique value propositions .

Plus, a simple template with a winning formula you can use to craft your own powerful statement.

What is a value proposition?

A value proposition is a concise statement that communicates the unique benefits and value a product or service offers to its target audience . It highlights the specific problem it solves, the advantages it provides, and why it is superior to its competitors. A good value proposition helps differentiate a business and attract customers.

Three elements of a successful value proposition 

A compelling value proposition meets three criteria:

• It’s specific: What are the specific benefits your target customer will receive?
• It’s pain-focused: How will your product fix the customer’s problem or improve their life?
• It’s exclusive: How is it both desirable and exclusive? How well does it highlight your company’s competitive advantage and set you apart from competitors?

“At its core, a value proposition is a promise you make to your customer post-purchase,” Unbound Merino cofounder Dan Demsky says on Learn With Shopify . “You’re essentially saying, this purchase will outperform your expectations and solve the problem that needs solving.”

Don’t confuse brand slogans, catchphrases, or even a positioning statement with a unique value proposition, as they’re different things.

Your value proposition should focus on the superpowers that potential customers get, not the product. Rarely is your value proposition the product itself or its features. Instead, it’s the way the brand or product fixes a meaningful pain point, improves the lives of your target market, and the way it makes them feel (like they have superpowers, for example).

A value proposition should be front and center when a visitor arrives on your site. Although it’s often found above the fold on the homepage, you should be aware of other common entrance points (e.g., a landing page, category pages, blog posts, and product pages ).

Even if you manage to create an effective customer value proposition, it won’t drive sales if it’s tucked away in a dusty corner of your website or absent on high-purchase-intent pages.

Value proposition formula

The basic value proposition formula is:

Value proposition = [adjective] [product or service] for [aspiration]

This version of the formula is adaptable enough that any business can use it.

For example, here’s the value proposition from canned food brand Heyday Canning Co. :

“Create flavor-packed meals presto pronto with our line of canned (but never bland) beans.”

Compare that to the value proposition from underwear brand ThirdLove :

“In-demand bras that make you look great and feel even better.”

At first glance, the value props from Heyday and ThirdLove couldn’t be more different—one sells beans and the other sells bras—but they actually follow the same structure. Both value props position their product as the path to a better life, one in which you look and feel amazing in your bra while you whip up a meal in no time using canned beans.

How to write a unique value proposition

• Understand your customer and their voice
• Focus on clarity before creativity
• Emphasize benefits, not hype
• Use a template

Where to begin writing a value proposition statement:

1. Understand your customer and their voice

A good value proposition uses the exact words of your current customers to hook your future customers.

For example, if they were interviewed for a case study, how would your target customers describe your company's product? How does it improve their lives? How do they describe your company? Why do they choose to associate with your brand?

Interview your customers or send out a survey to better understand how they speak about you, both to other people and to themselves. Pay attention to common words and phrases they use. You can keep track of responses and phrases in a simple Google doc.

Your visitors should see themselves in your value proposition. The language you use plays a big role in shaping their perspective. If you want to go the extra mile, spend some time looking at value proposition examples of your competition. What are they doing right? What could they improve?

Take note of how your competition talks to their customers by signing up for their newsletters and email flows.

2. Focus on clarity before creativity

Above all, you must ensure your value proposition is clear. Sounds obvious, right? Your value proposition needs to serve many purposes, so achieving crystal clarity can be quite difficult.

When evaluating your draft, ensure it answers the following questions:

• What product are you selling?
• Who should buy your product?
• How will buying your product improve the visitor or their life?
• Why should the visitor buy from you and not your competitors?
• When will the value be delivered?

Your value proposition should be relatively short—two or three short sentences, maximum. Every word should improve clarity or make your main selling point more compelling, otherwise it needs to be cut.

3. Emphasize benefits, not hype

How many “World’s Best Coffee” signs would you see in store windows walking down just one busy New York City street? Dozens. Each sign you encounter would make it a little more difficult to believe the previous one.

Hype, which can come in the form of superlatives (“best”) and exaggerations (“world’s best”), can be dangerous. Instead, focus on distinct benefits and the concrete value your product delivers.

If you need to use hype to sell your products, it’s a sign that your value proposition is not well defined. Or, perhaps, even that your product is not as valuable as you think. Don’t let the love for your product or service get in the way of viewing your brand objectively.

4. Use a template

When it comes to something as daunting as distilling your product’s value into a sentence or two, having a guide can help. This is where you can use value proposition templates to help you organize your thoughts. Consider printing out a hard copy of this free downloadable template so you can brainstorm without digital distractions.

Sell more with a unique value proposition

Understand your audience, perfect your sales pitch and take your business to the next level, with our free value proposition template.

What is a value proposition canvas?

Customer jobs, customer pains, customer gains.

The value proposition canvas is a framework developed by business consultant Alex Osterwalder for the book Value Proposition Design . It involves identifying customer jobs, customer pains, and customer gains and then using those insights to help you write an acceptable value proposition.

Your product should help the customer accomplish specific jobs—tasks they might struggle to achieve without it.

“Think of your product from the perspective of being hired to do a job,” says Unbound Merino ’s Dan Demsky on Learn With Shopify .

What job would your target customer hire your product to do? What would its job description look like?

For Unbound Merino, its clothes are hired to streamline and upgrade a customer’s wardrobe with a few quality pieces of gear that perform day in and day out.

You can also use your value proposition to highlight how your product addresses customer pains, or common frustrations. Think of your product as a solution to your customer’s pain points. What problems or obstacles or risks does your product help alleviate?

Take the first product launched by Dieux Skin , the Forever Eye Mask.

“That was an idea that I came up with because I was so tired of throwing out eye masks,” says Dieux cofounder and CEO Charlotte Palermino on the Shopify Masters podcast .

The pain point was the wastefulness of single-use moisturizing under-eye masks.

Dieux launched its reusable silicone gel eye pads with the tagline “The last eye mask you’ll ever need.”

The product page highlights the Forever Eye Mask as the solution to the problem of overconsumption:

“We all deserve deliverance from the plight of discarding sheet masks after every use. These masks allow you to treat yourself daily without accumulating unnecessary waste.”

Customer gains are the positive outcomes your target customers want: saving money, saving time, feeling good, looking good, etc. For example, Unbound Merino sells clothing made from merino wool—a lightweight, odor-resistant fabric. Some of the gains could include time saved by not having to wait for checked luggage or not having to do as much laundry. That simplicity is the value prop.

Value proposition template

It’s easy to create a clear value proposition for your brand by using a template. This free downloadable template offers three variations you can customize to your brand, each with real-world examples from successful companies.

Value proposition examples

Unbound merino, city seltzer.

Use these value propositions from major brands to inspire your own:

Unbound Merino has multiple value propositions. Let’s break down two of them. The first is:

“Simple. Versatile. High performance.”

On the homepage of its website, Unbound Merino is promising high-performance clothing. But the quality claim must run deeper than promise.

The next value proposition makes the logical jump from high performance to the product’s holistic impact on the customer’s life:

“Pack less. Experience more.”

This value prop translates the quality and versatility of the product into its real-world application. Since merino wool is odor-resistant, you can get more wear out of a single t-shirt, and therefore pack less when traveling. With this value proposition, Unbound Merino is making a promise about quality of life, not just quality of product.

Graza’s value proposition features prominently on its homepage:

“High-quality olive oil that’s meant to be squeezed, not saved.”

This value proposition effectively sums up the problem Graza solves: Home cooks want good olive oil, but since it tends to be expensive, they may only use it for special occasions rather than everyday cooking.

“Olive oil in North America has always been positioned as something that you shouldn’t cook with,” Graza founder Andrew Benin says on the Shopify Masters podcast . “On one side, things were really luxurious, and on the other side, things were really pared-back and private-label and no investment in product quality. I found a way to cut right through the middle.”

Graza’s one-sentence value proposition emphasizes the product’s quality and immediately differentiates it from the competition with “squeezed, not saved”—indicating that it’s meant for everyday use. The “squeezed” part of the tagline highlights another unique feature of Graza’s product: the squeezable bottle.

Skin care company Dieux’s value proposition is:

“Rituals, not miracles.”

Featured on the brand’s homepage, this short and sweet sentiment emphasizes what sets Dieux apart from other brands: a commitment to consistency.

Dieux focuses on education rather than promising overnight effects.

“I want people to understand what our products do and what they don’t do,” cofounder Charlotte Palermino says on the Shopify Masters podcast . “I would not tell you that Instant Angel [Dieux’s lipid-rich moisturizer] on its own is enough. I would tell you in a routine how to use it and how it may work for you. And I find that when you do it that way, you have a high loyalty rate.”

City Seltzer’s value proposition is:

“Fizz without the shizz.”

This playful value statement emphasizes that its seltzer is made with 100% natural flavors—no “shizz.” Since City Seltzer is a small brand, it has to differentiate itself from large, entrenched competitors.

“We have to reach people and communicate some of that humanity, authenticity,” City Seltzer cofounder Josh McJannett says on the Shopify Masters podcast . “I think people want to feel something in the choices that they make.”

Value proposition FAQ

What is the difference between a value proposition and a positioning statement.

A positioning statement is an internal document describing what’s unique about your brand or product and how you plan to market it. A value proposition is a shorter, customer-facing statement that communicates the same unique value.

What is the purpose of a value proposition?

A value proposition shows potential customers why they should choose your product or service over the alternatives.

What are four types of value propositions?

• Company Value Proposition: Describes the overall value the company provides, distinct from its products.
• Homepage Value Proposition: The main value statement on the homepage, tailored to the type of store and range of products.
• Category Value Propositions: Specific value propositions for each product category, often seen on search engine results pages.
• Product Value Propositions: Individual value statements for each product, highlighting specific benefits and features.

What if my value proposition fails?

If your value proposition fails, it means you're not effectively communicating the unique benefits of your product or service. You'll get less sales, lower customer retention, and ultimately less profit for your brand.

What is Nike's value proposition

Nike has four primary value propositions, which are accessibility, innovation, customization, and brand/status.

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What Is a Value Proposition?

Understanding value propositions, special considerations, frequently asked questions.

• Value Proposition FAQs
• Business Essentials

Value Proposition: How to Write It With Examples

A value proposition in marketing is a concise statement of the benefits that a company is delivering to customers who buy its products or services. It serves as a declaration of intent, both inside the company and in the marketplace.

The term value proposition is believed to have first appeared in a McKinsey & Co. industry research paper in 1988, which defined it as "a clear, simple statement of the benefits, both tangible and intangible, that the company will provide, along with the approximate price it will charge each customer segment for those benefits."

Key Takeaways

• A company's value proposition tells a customer the number one reason why a product or service is best suited for that particular customer.
• A value proposition should be communicated to customers directly, either via the company's website or other marketing or advertising materials.
• Value propositions can follow different formats, as long as they are "on brand," unique, and specific to the company in question.
• A successful value proposition should be persuasive and help turn a prospect into a paying customer.

Investopedia / NoNo Flores

A value proposition stands as a promise by a company to a customer or market segment . The proposition is an easy-to-understand reason why a customer should buy a product or service from that particular business. A value proposition should clearly explain how a product fills a need, communicate the specifics of its added benefit, and state the reason why it's better than similar products on the market. The ideal value proposition is to-the-point and appeals to a customer's strongest decision-making drivers.

Companies use this statement to target customers who will benefit most from using the company's products, and this helps maintain a company's economic moat . An economic moat is a competitive advantage. The moat analogy—coined by super-investor  Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway—states that the wider the moat, the bigger and more resilient the firm is to competition.

A great value proposition demonstrates what a brand has to offer a customer that no other competitor has and how a service or product fulfills a need that no other company is able to fill.

Components of a Value Proposition

A company's value proposition communicates the number one reason why a product or service is best suited for a customer segment. Therefore, it should always be displayed prominently on a company's website and in other consumer touch points. It also must be intuitive, so that a customer can read or hear the value proposition and understand the delivered value without needing further explanation.

Value propositions that stand out tend to make use of a particular structure. A successful value proposition typically has a strong, clear headline that communicates the delivered benefit to the consumer. The headline should be a single memorable sentence, phrase, or even a tagline. It frequently incorporates catchy slogans that become part of successful advertising campaigns .

Often a subheadline will be provided underneath the main headline, expanding on the explanation of the delivered value and giving a specific example of why the product or service is superior to others the consumer has in mind. The subheading can be a short paragraph and is typically between two and three sentences long. The subheading is a way to highlight the key features or benefits of the products and often benefits from the inclusion of bullet points or another means of highlighting standout details.

This kind of structure allows consumers to scan the value proposition quickly and pick up on product features. Added visuals increase the ease of communication between business and consumer. In order to craft a strong value proposition, companies will often conduct market research to determine which messages resonate the best with their customers.

Value propositions can follow different formats as long as they are unique to the company and to the consumers the company services. All effective value propositions are easy to understand and demonstrate specific results for a customer using a product or service. They differentiate a product or service from any competition, avoid overused marketing buzzwords , and communicate value within a short amount of time.

For a value proposition to effectively turn a prospect into a paying customer, it should clearly identify who the customers are, what their main problems are, and how the company's product or service is the ideal solution to help them solve their problem.

What Is the Purpose of a Value Proposition?

A value proposition is meant to convince stakeholders, investors, or customers that a company or its products or services are worthwhile. If the value proposition is weak or unconvincing it may be difficult to attract investment and consumer demand.

What Is an Employee Value Proposition?

An employee value proposition (EVP) applies to the job market. Here, a company that is hiring will try to frame itself as a good place to work, offering not only monetary compensation but also a range of benefits, perks, and a productive environment. In return, the job candidate will need to convince the hiring company that they have the appropriate skills, experience, demeanor, and ambition to succeed.

What Happens if a Value Proposition Fails?

If a company cannot convince others that it has value or that its products or services or valuable, it will lose profitability and access to capital and may ultimately go out of business.

Lanning, Michael J., and Edward G. Michaels. "A business is a value delivery system."  McKinsey staff paper  No. 41. July, 1988.

CNBC Warren Buffett Archive. " Morning Session - 1995 Meeting ."

Alexander Osterwalder et al. " Value proposition design: How to create products and services customers want. Vol. 2." John Wiley & Sons, 2015.

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• How to write an inspiring value proposi ...

How to write an inspiring value proposition (with template and examples)

A value proposition (VP) explains how customers can benefit from purchasing your product. In this declarative statement, you’ll convince your target audience why they should buy your product instead of your competitors’. Read on to learn how to write an inspiring and effective VP.

Every time someone buys your product or service, they’re making a choice. They’re choosing you over your competitors because they’ve decided your product is more valuable. But when two companies offer similar items with similar features, how do customers reach that decision?

That’s where a value proposition comes in. An effective value proposition convinces your target audience why you’re better than the competition. This statement is a way for you to differentiate yourself from others in your market and explain what customers will gain by purchasing from you. In this article, we walk you through how to craft your value proposition to set yourself apart.

What is a value proposition?

A value proposition (VP) convinces customers to buy your product or service by highlighting your product’s value and unique features. A value proposition goes by various other names, including:

Value statement 

Value positioning

Brand proposition

​​Unique selling proposition (USP)

Unique value proposition (UVP)

Regardless of the term you use, the meaning is the same. Your goal should be to develop a succinct statement—often paired with a visual element—that declares how your services are notable and unique. 

A company can also have multiple value propositions for different campaigns or to show different areas of value. 

The four main types of value propositions include:

Price value: You’re highlighting why your product or service is the most cost efficient option.

Unique product value: You’re highlighting the unique features of your product or service.

Customer ease or convenience: You're highlighting how your product makes your customers’ lives easier.

Customer results: You’re highlighting how your product or service gets customers results.

Value proposition vs. mission statement

You may show your mission statement to others outside of the company, but it’s meant to be your internal “why” statement. The value proposition should be your “why” statement for customers, explaining why they should buy your product.

4 questions of a value proposition

There are a variety of strategies to write your value prop, but all of them harken back to four key questions. If you can answer these questions about your company and the product or service you offer, then you have all the tools you need to write an effective value proposition.

What do you offer? Explain what your product or service is.

Who is your audience? Identify your target audience .

What value do you deliver? Outline the need you’re meeting or the opportunity you’re providing your audience.

What makes you different? Explain the features and benefits that set your product or service apart.

Other tips to consider when crafting your value propositions include:

Be direct with your audience. Clarity is key.

Use your value prop to explain clear results the customer can expect when purchasing your product.

Avoid sales jargon and buzzwords.

Keep it brief.

How to create a value proposition

The tools below will help you dive deeper into the customer experience and get to know your product or service better. Not only will this help you when crafting your value proposition, but it’ll help you in various aspects of your go-to-market strategy .

1. Map your value proposition canvas

The value proposition canvas is a tool where you map out your customer profile and product side by side in order to visualize how they connect. Your potential customers will have needs, expectations, and pain points. Your product should seek to meet these areas.

Jobs to do: Customers use products and services because they have physical, social, and emotional tasks to complete. 

Gains or expectations: When searching for a product or service, a customer will have expectations for the product, including things like price point, ease of use, and design quality.

Pain points: Customers won’t buy products if it has certain pain points, including things like high price point, bad customer service, if they are too complex, or of subpar quality. 

Products or services: Your product or service should help the customer accomplish a specific task.

Gain creators: Your product should seek to create gains for the customer, such as providing the highest quality product for the lowest price.

Pain relievers: Your product should seek to relieve pains, be easy to use, and reliable.

The value proposition canvas is the best way to see how you’re meeting your customer’s needs with your product. This tool is also useful during product creation because you can map out the customer journey first, then use that information to align your product or service to their needs and expectations. 

2. Go deeper with your questions

After you’ve mapped out your value proposition canvas, you’ll have a solid idea of how your product features meet the needs of your customer. But because you can never do too much analysis, here are more questions from Harvard Business School that you can use as you brainstorm possible statements with your team:

Which customers are you going to serve?

Which needs are you going to meet?

What relative price will provide acceptable value and profitability for the customer? 

The unique question here is analyzing the price point of your product. HBS explains that price can be an important factor for your value proposition, depending on your target audience and what needs you’re trying to meet. While companies like Apple place more emphasis on product quality and service, other companies like Walmart rely on low prices to bring in business. 

3. Use a value proposition template

Many business leaders have created formulas to make value propositioning easier. Once you know your customer and your product value, you can input your information into these formulas and the result will be a succinct and powerful statement to your audience. 

Here are a few options from Steve Blank , founder of the Lean startup movement; Geoff Moore , consultant and organizational theorist; and Guy Kawasaki , author and Apple alumni.

Steve Blank’s formula: We help [target customers]do [customer need] by offering [product features and benefits].

Cooper & Vlaskovits’ formula: [customer] with [customer problem]. Our [product] offers [customer solution].

Geoff Moore’s formula: For [your target customer] who [need or opportunity] our [product or service] in [product category] that [product benefit].

An SEO company may use the slogan, “We help others find you.” But when using the above formulas, their value proposition could read something like this: 

Example 1: “We help businesses get seen on the SERPs by offering a user-friendly content optimization tool. 

Example 2: “Get seen with a content companion that makes SEO simple.”

Example 3: “For businesses who struggle to understand Google algorithms, our user-friendly content optimization tool makes SEO simple so you can rank in the SERPs.”

Use the free value proposition template below for each of these formulas.

Value proposition examples

Here are some examples of companies and their value propositions. Many companies use a version of their value proposition in their tagline, but if you go to their website’s homepage, you’ll learn even more about the value they offer. 

Another strategic place for companies to display their value proposition is in the sub-headline on their main landing page. After a short and punchy headline, a sub-headline can be a great place to elaborate on what problem you hope to solve for your customers. Look below. 

1. Asana: “Work works better with Asana.”

Here at Asana , our slogan is, “Work works better with Asana.” The goal of our work management software is to make it easier for companies to perform their work processes. 

One version of our value proposition is, “Asana helps cross-functional teams overcome their organizational growing pains and ensures that goals, processes, and collaboration can continue to scale.” One thing to note is that you don’t have to stick to a single value proposition as long as you stay consistent with your messaging. 

2. Pinterest: “Welcome to visual discovery.”

If you check out Pinterest’s About page, you’ll find a value prop that says, “Welcome to visual discovery.” Their sub-headline expands on the message by tying in the idea-based function of their discovery platform. It says, “When it comes to a great idea, you know it when you see it.”

On the Pinterest homepage, they use visual elements to give you a teaser of how the platform looks once you sign up. It prompts you to scroll down as images appear, tempting you to dive in. 

3. Spotify: “Listening is everything.”

Spotify keeps their message simple with three large words displayed across their homepage: ”Listening is everything.” In the sub-headline, they elaborate on what their platform provides by saying, “Millions of songs and podcasts. No credit card needed.” 

You can find different versions of their value proposition on other parts of their website. For example, on their Contact page, it says, “Soundtrack your life with Spotify. Subscribe or listen for free.”

Put plans into action with Asana

You must set yourself apart if you want to build a strong customer base. When creating your value proposition, remember to point out the needs of your audience, show what you have to offer, and explain how you’re different.

Use work management software , like Asana, to plan, organize, and execute your value proposition. Incorporate your VP into a larger digital marketing strategy so your brand will have room to grow.

Related resources

Everything you need to know about requirements management

How to streamline compliance management software with Asana

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How Asana streamlines strategic planning with work management

More From Forbes

How to create a successful value proposition.

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When buyer needs and seller solutions are in perfect alignment, magic happens. But getting there requires navigating a path of clear communication, accurate perception and the fulfillment of a brand promise. And the best way to get started is by crafting a good value proposition.

Unfortunately, one thing I’ve learned in my quarter-century sales career is that too many organizations either lack a value proposition completely or confuse it with their unique selling proposition.

That’s too bad because a “value proposition” is an essential baseline promise to your customer -- a clear and simple expression of benefits a consumer can expect to receive when buying your product or service. But even though your ultimate value proposition statement might be simple, it must be built with consideration of many elements.

What makes a 'good' value proposition?

While both the unique value proposition and the unique selling proposition should be tools in every sales professional’s toolbelt, they are not the same thing.

The selling proposition is all about your company and how you differ from (or are superior to) your competitors. In other words, the unique selling proposition expresses what makes your company stand out in a way that should matter to potential customers.

A value proposition, on the other hand, is all about the customer. It outlines the benefits they will receive when buying your product or service. A good value proposition is about making the connection between customer needs and the seller’s solutions. Value, proven by tangible benefits, can only truly exist if there is a direct alignment between these needs and solutions.

A good value proposition should be more than merely a proposition; it should, in fact, be a brand promise. Your value proposition should assure the buyer that, in exchange for their investment, your company’s solution promises to provide clear benefits (and value).

Simply put: A good value proposition answers for the buyer — with absolute clarity — “What’s in it for me?” Below are three steps to get started creating your own:

1. Outline the return on investment for your customer.

The measure of benefits, of course, is demonstrated in a buyer’s return on investment, or return on investment (ROI). While a broad-based value proposition cannot put into words a specifically quantified ROI that applies to each potential customer, the value proposition can — and should — make it clear how your buyer will benefit financially from their spend.

For example, you might simply state the direct positive financial gain for the customer (e.g., “With our product, you will earn more,” or “boost your revenue,” etc.). It can also be a statement of reduced cost or cost avoidance, as well something less tangible, such as "peace of mind."

2. Keep things clear and simple.

It is essential that your value proposition is clearly communicated and reinforced. Make sure every reference to the value proposition states your product’s benefits and your brand’s promise with unmistakable clarity. One way to make sure your value proposition is clear is to look -- and eradicate -- jargon. Even though your customers might speak the same industry language you do, jargon can come across as overly formal or even as trying too hard to impress. On the other hand, avoid being too general, too obvious or trite. When in doubt, share your value proposition with trusted professionals from outside your industry. If they are puzzled by your brand promise, try again.

Simplicity is another good measure of clarity. The simpler your value proposition, the better (as long as it clearly conveys the beneficial value for the buyer, that is). Shoot for a value proposition of 20 words or less. Think about the clarity of each word, too. If they seem stiff, stilted or overly “academic,” find simpler, more conversational alternatives. Ultimately, your value proposition should never raise more questions than it answers.

3. Consider your customer's perception.

A good value proposition also depends on the customer’s perception. If the customer doesn’t understand or recognize the value of working with your company -- even if the numbers prove substantial ROI, then your value proposition has fallen short. Perception is reality, and this often comes down to the full customer experience throughout the process of buying and using the products or services sold.

To learn customer perceptions about your value proposition, ask them. You can do this as part of a simple survey or anecdotally during the customer engagement experience. You can also ask former customers or unconverted prospects how they perceive the value of your product or service. If they chose not to buy from you, or to stop buying from you, you’ll want to know why. It might come down to the fact that they did not perceive enough value in your solution compared to a competitor.

Putting It Together

To apply the above concepts when crafting a compelling value proposition, try filling in the blanks in the template below:

• "For [description of customer] who [statement of need or problem], we deliver [solution and statement of benefit]."

If you are a commercial builder, for example, your value proposition might look like this: “We deliver more square feet for less money.” You've likely seen these concepts displayed in everyday brands. For example, Uber says it is "the smartest way to get around." Or Slack is "where work happens."

Above all, a good value proposition benefits both the buyer and the seller. The buyer perceives (based on their user experience and available metrics) that the brand promise has been delivered and their ROI is favorable. And the seller perceives that the sale — in the context of the customer relationship and necessary account management — is profitable and worth the effort.

If your sales team can consistently communicate and deliver on the brand promise embodied in your value proposition, I believe your sales team could be able to minimize customer objections and maximize sales. That sounds like a good start for your sales team’s value proposition, doesn’t it?

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What is a value proposition? Definition + examples

Business & tech.

Why do people buy your product? It should be obvious, right? If you sell groceries, people buy them because they’re planning their next meals. If you sell books, people buy them because they want something to read. If you sell B2B software, customers buy to improve their business processes.

In reality, it’s not that simple. People who are hungry could go to the grocery store, or they could order take-out. People looking for a new book could go to your bookstore, or they could go to a library. Companies looking to improve processes could buy software, or hire a specialist.

Your company, product, customer, and price point all contribute to your value proposition. Your value prop details the exact usefulness that your product provides. It is also your differentiator.

Value proposition definition

Value proposition is a promise of value stated by a company that summarizes how the benefit of the company’s product or service will be delivered, experienced, and acquired. (Corporate Finance Institute)

A value proposition is what you do, and how you do it.

Why is a value proposition important?

A value proposition is crucial for your company’s success. Here’s why.

A value proposition centers your company

Value propositions define exactly what your company should be doing. Oftentimes growing companies can be tempted to pivot or adjust their vision. A value proposition serves as an investment to keep the company focused on the task at hand.

A value proposition explains your company to your customers

At the end of the day, a customer doesn’t care about your marketing spend. They don’t care about how many social media posts you publish, or how many blog posts are on your site. They care about what your product does, and if it serves their needs and meets their expectations. The value proposition is the bridge to your customer having brand awareness .

A unique value proposition sets you apart from your competitors

Your product, value and price point are different from those of your competition. But does your audience know that? Your value proposition allows you to outline what makes your offering unique, and how it disrupts the market .

How to create a value proposition statement

Value proposition statements are best done when developing your business plan. Yet, many CMOs may want to go through value proposition exercises later on, as they refine and improve marketing programs. You can adjust your value prop as your company grows and changes. Use these steps for new and revised value proposition statements.

Identify the features of your product

Start simple: list the products that you offer and their useful features. If you are a software as a service (SaaS) company you may have many features that allow users to do many different tasks. If you are a restaurant, your products may offer breakfast, lunch and dinner. You can include outstanding customer service or special events as your offerings.

Features can be large or small, many or few, original or unoriginal. By listing each feature, you get an idea of exactly what you are offering to your customers.

Identify the benefit of each feature

Features and benefits are often lumped together, but they are distinct. Each feature should provide a benefit. For example, Uber’s app for requesting a carshare is a feature. The driver picking you up and taking you where you need to go is a benefit.

Map each of your features to their customer benefit. By doing this exercise, you’ll start to see which features provide the biggest benefits.

Define your target customer

You’ve likely completed many exercises aimed at understanding your target customers. By clarifying their identity, you’ll better understand their journey to your product.

Dive deep into your customers wants & needs

Sure, your customer might want to buy a new software solution because they need a new software solution. But—what do they really need? Say, you sell financial management software. If your target customer is a finance manager, they might need your solution. Yet, what they really need is to free up some time during their end-of-month close. This will give them the time they need to still have 1-on-1s with team members. They might be searching for a financial solution, but what they are really looking for is time.

Clarify your price point

It takes time and research, but you must understand if your product has a price below, at, or above market rate. This allows you to understand if your product is a value product, a typical product, or a premium product. Your unique value proposition allows customers to understand if they are getting their money’s worth.

Put it all together

Steve Blank (Lean Startup) suggests the following simple phrasing for your value proposition. “We help X do Y by doing Z.”

Mapped to the above framework, this may look more like:

“We help our [TARGET CUSTOMERS] do [CUSTOMER NEEDS] by doing [OUR FEATURES AND BENEFITS].”

If you offer a low-cost or premium product, include your pricing in your value proposition statement well.

Examples of effective value propositions

These seven digital technology companies each offer a unique product, but also face stiff competition. Each of these value props outlines their target customer, their needs, and how they meet them—setting them apart from their competitors.

Calm is a mobile app based in San Francisco.

Value proposition example

Calm helps people who have trouble relaxing sleep, rest, and meditate by providing an app that offers these experiences.

Curology is a custom skin care solution based in San Francisco.

Curology helps people in need of skin care by providing custom skin care products. They also include their competitive pricing and delivery mechanism.

Duolingo is a language-learning app based in Pittsburg.

Duolingo teaches second-language enthusiasts how to speak a new language by providing an app that gamifies language education.

Impossible Foods

Impossible is a meat-alternative company based in Redwood City, CA.

Impossible Foods provides an option for health-and-environmentally-conscious consumers to eat sustainably, by offering a meat product alternative.

Slack is collaboration software based in San Francisco.

Slack provides busy professionals a way to avoid using email, by offering a more comprehensive and easy-to-use collaboration and communication tool.

Zendesk is a customer support SaaS based in San Francisco.

Zendesk provides customer service professionals a way to manage their operations with a comprehensive software solution.

Setting your value proposition is an exercise that helps everyone. It aligns your internal focuses and it better communicates your company to customers.

TAYLOR COTTER

Taylor Cotter is a content marketer and social media strategist who has worked with leading B2B software companies to increase their reach and exceed their customer acquisition goals. Taylor is passionate about marketing that sits at the intersection of creativity and functionality. You can learn more about her at taylorcotter.com or connect with her on LinkedIn .

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Value Proposition

A promise of value by a company that summarizes how the benefit of the company’s product or service will be delivered, experienced, and acquired

What is a Value Proposition?

A value proposition is a promise of value stated by a company that summarizes how the benefit of the company’s product or service will be delivered, experienced, and acquired. Essentially, a value proposition specifies what makes the company’s product or service attractive, why a customer should purchase it, and how the value of the product or service is differentiated from similar offerings.

Generally, the value proposition is addressed to the company’s target customers or target market segment . The proposition takes the form of a short, clear, and concise statement of the tangible and intangible benefits that will be delivered to customers. The perfect proposition must quickly transmit the values to potential customers without the need for further explanation. Each proposition must be unique, as it is a method to communicate the differentiation points of a company to the target customers .

The value proposition must not be confused with slogans and catchphrases , as the latter two may not clearly convey the benefits of a company and its products.

Importance of a Value Proposition

The development of a value proposition is a vital part of a company’s business strategy . Since the proposition provides a company with a method to influence the decision-making of customers, it is frequently displayed on the company’s marketing materials, such as a website.

The value proposition is a powerful tool to drive sales and build a customer base. Additionally, a perfect and compelling value proposition can advance the effectiveness of the company’s marketing strategies . Generally, it is regarded as the most effective and wide-reaching marketing activity.

How to Create a Value Proposition

As we’ve already determined, the perfectly tailored value proposition can become a huge success factor for a company. However, the creation of a powerful proposition is a challenging yet rewarding task for every business. Below, we have listed some tips that will help you to create an effective one:

1. Know your customers

Before creating your value proposition, you must analyze the market and potential customers. Identify your target customers and target market segment to understand their desired benefits.

2. Understand your costs and benefits

Identify and assess the benefits delivered by your company and its products or services, along with the costs incurred to provide them. It is important to do this because the value to your customers is essentially the difference between the benefits and costs of your product or service.

3. Don’t forget about your competitors

After the analysis of target customers and your own company, evaluate the competitive landscape in the market. Determine the strengths and weaknesses of your major competitors and identify ways you can differentiate your business from them.

4. Be clear and concise

Don’t forget that an effective value proposition is clear and concise. Your target customers must quickly grasp the message you want to convey. It should not exceed two or three sentences.

5. Design is king!

Make your proposition visible and appealing on all marketing materials (e.g., website). Remember that if you have created a powerful value proposition, but no one can see it, the effect of the proposition will be zero!

More Resources

Thank you for reading CFI’s guide to Value Proposition. To keep learning and advancing your career, the following CFI resources will be helpful:

• 5 P’s of Marketing
• Brand Equity
• Push Marketing Strategy
• Market Orientation
• See all management & strategy resources

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, , .

Value Proposition

• Written By Britt Skrabanek
• Updated: August 26, 2024

What is a value proposition? A value proposition is a declarative statement that explains why a customer should purchase your product or service. It clearly explains what differentiates you, or makes your offering “unique,” and why you are the best choice on the market.

Value is a word that has nearly lost its meaning. This five-letter word has been overused and abused by brands across every messaging statement, across every website page, across every sales email. The way we do business has changed, and our messaging must change as well.

Brands that truly offer value to their customers — and communicate that value in a meaningful way — are the ones that will weather economic storms. Brands that demonstrate how they are uniquely positioned to meet buyer needs are the ones that will be noticed while their competitors are overlooked.

So, now is the time to do something about your unique value proposition. That starts by understanding its definition, the necessary elements, and how other experts and brands are executing them in a meaningful way.

What is a Value Proposition?

A value proposition (VP) is a declarative statement that explains why a customer should purchase your product or service. The statement summarizes how you will deliver your brand promise and how your offering will deliver value to customers. It clearly explains what differentiates you or makes your offering “unique” and why you are the best choice on the market.

When developing your value proposition statement:

• Don’t be vague or indirect, as your customer does not have time to dissect value positioning statements all day.
• Don’t spout off duplicitous messaging that does the opposite of conveying how you will deliver your promise by instead making promises your brand can’t keep.
• Do remember your competition is never far away when your customer needs a quick and convenient alternative.

Get to the point and appeal to your customer’s most pressing needs. Show why your offering is stronger than the competition so they can make an easy purchasing decision. Be honest and forthright to instill trust in your brand so your customer stays your customer long after the transaction. Serve, don’t sell.

The muse of your value proposition is your ideal customer (aka target audience). This is why, when developing your messaging, “customer value proposition” is an important synonymous term to keep in mind. Why should your customer buy from you — not one of your competitors? Your value prop should answer that question concisely in the voice of your customer .

Of all of the messaging statements out there, value propositions have perhaps the most variations with synonymous terms.

Value proposition  synonyms include:

• Unique selling proposition (USP)
• Unique value proposition (UVP)
• Value proposition (VP)
• Value proposition statement
• Customer value proposition
• Brand value proposition
• Brand proposition
• Proposition of value
• Business value proposition
• Sales value proposition
• Product value proposition
• Value positioning
• Value statement

What a Value Proposition is Not

It’s common for content creators to use various messaging statements interchangeably because, frankly, there is a whole mess of statements to keep up with. Additionally, content is subjective. Content marketers have various styles, approaches, and definitions of various brand statements.

Being that the goal of a value prop is to create content that customers effortlessly connect with, you don’t want to cause confusion. The most common messaging mix-ups are brand statements and mission statements. Let’s clarify some things by detailing these messaging statements.

Value proposition vs. brand positioning statement

This is where the biggest mix-up occurs. If you squint your eyes just so, the words “proposition” and “position” look the same, even though they have completely different meanings. If someone uses “brand proposition” as a synonymous term for value proposition, then all hell breaks loose.

A brand positioning statement  is a persuasive one-line statement that captures the reason the business exists and the legacy the brand wants to be remembered for. This internal-facing statement aligns your team around your brand’s purpose.

A value proposition focuses on your brand’s promise to deliver rather than your brand’s purpose of existence. A positioning statement is created from the value proposition to bring in the deeper “why” or essence of your brand.

Value proposition vs. mission statement

Confusion happens between mission statements and value propositions simply because the mission is a more prominent figure. A brand is much more likely to have an optimized mission statement… that they try to repurpose into other statements with different purposes.

A mission statement might appear on the About page of your website for all to see, but it is very much about the internal perception of the brand. Your mission defines what you do, and it is the core of your business. A unique value proposition is about external perceptions, and it clearly states why a customer should buy your product or service.

A value proposition can most certainly draw inspiration from your mission statement. In mere moments, we’ll explain and show how it can be an extension of your mission statement — and still maintain its structural integrity.

4 Elements of a Value Proposition that Instills Trust

At this point in the game, you have leveraged content to drive awareness of your brand and nurture existing and future customers. Then a wee pandemic comes along, and you don’t know where you stand anymore as a brand. Suddenly, trust and value play a more prominent role for all of us.

When making a big purchase,  trust plays a major role for 92 percent of Americans, 89 percent of U.K. residents, and 95 percent of Canadians. Trust is perhaps another word we content marketers have exhausted as much as value. However, for customers to trust brands in today’s changing business environment, they must immediately recognize the value you offer.

It’s a good time to revisit your value proposition. Make sure you are  staying relevant in uncertain times  and presenting a solution that is responsive to your customer’s current needs.

The basic elements of a value proposition include the following:

• Offering : The product or service that solves problems/adds value. (WHAT)
• Audience : The ideal customer, or target audience, who will benefit from your offering. (WHO)
• Value : The recognizable benefits that matter most to the customer. (WHY)
• Differentiator : The reason the customer should trust you over someone else. (HOW)

Your unique value proposition needs to have meaning; otherwise, your customer will not connect with your brand or your offering. Without that connection, your customers will not have any foundation to build trust upon. Instead, they will turn toward someone else they feel they can trust, such as Competitors X, Y, or Z.

So… how do you write an effective value prop? Five experts in the branding and content marketing space shared their perspectives on what it takes to master the unique value proposition statement. Learn from tried-and-tested themes and templates they have developed — and see examples that bring more context to these strategies.

Value Proposition Examples: Extension of the Core Mission

A value proposition – done right – is an extension of your core mission, which shouldn’t change. For more than 20 years, our mission at Kinesis has been ‘Transformation.” We help our clients transform their organizations, our employees to transform their careers, and our community to be a place of positive change. This one-word mission idea is the driving force in everything we do… think of it as our ‘why.’ Most folks don’t get this right, or they lean on clichés and platitudes, like ‘Integrity’ or ‘Excellence.’ However, once you get the mission right, then you can craft a meaningful value proposition that connects to your internal and external audiences — that’s your value proposition. And, even better, when you know what your mission is, you can adapt and change your value proposition and business model to meet any new challenge. That’s especially important as we enter a time of certain uncertainty. — Shawn Busse , CEO/Founder, Kinesis

TOMS Shoes value proposition

When you’re buying apparel, it can feel pretty meaningless, right? Yet, TOMS Shoes turned purchasing shoes into a way to make progress. Using its One for One business model, for every pair of TOMS shoes purchased by a customer, the company provided a pair of shoes to a child in need.

Just last year, TOMS moved away from its one-for-one model to instead give a third of its net profits  to the company’s giving fund. During COVID, the donations have been redirected to support organizations on the frontlines.

The name TOMS is short for Tomorrow’s Shoes.  Improving lives and communities  are the heart and soul of the TOMS mission statement. This company doesn’t just use their value proposition as an extension of their mission, they also extend their philanthropic nature into all aspects of the business. And, their customers get to be a part of that.

Improve the lives  of millions of people around the world while creating a for-profit sustainable business model, based on a fashionable product for aware consumers.

• Offering : Shoes
• Audience : Conscious consumers
• Value : Giving back with every purchase
• Differentiator : Improving lives and communities

Value Proposition Examples: Short, Punchy, and Powerful

In my agency life and as a freelance writer, I’ve had to write a value prop for a client or two along the way. Whether for a website rewrite or a complete rebranding, it always comes down to one thing: Saying the most powerful thing possible in the fewest amount of words.” In that vein, my No. 1 goal is to first identify what makes this client’s product or service most unique when held up against their competitors. Oftentimes, that means researching the competition to make sure I’m positioning this business in a way where they’ll stand out successfully — not just sound like the rest. Once that element (or elements) is identified, keeping it short and sweet is always my next goal. Because if you can’t express what makes your client different in a short, punchy, and powerful way, then you’re missing the most important chance to connect with customers right from the start. — Gregg Rosenzweig, Writer/Creative Director, GR ink

Glo value proposition

Working out from home has suddenly become the new normal. Glo (formerly known as YogaGlo) launched in 2007, long before subscription-based online fitness classes were a thing.

Convenience and expertise are big perks for busy wellness enthusiasts. Glo subscribers take unlimited classes virtually for the cost of a single studio class. This has always been Glo’s differentiator in the wellness space, as their model makes yoga widely accessible. Throughout COVID, they have provided  a selection of free classes as well .

Glo has an  entire manifesto  that incorporates its mission and vision statements…

…yet Glo keeps its value proposition short, punchy, and powerful while demonstrating how its unique business model helps it stand out in the wellness market.

Thousands of classes at our customers’ fingertips . World-class teachers. A subscription that costs less than one class a month. Anytime, anywhere…

• Offering : Online yoga, meditation, and Pilates classes
• Audience : Wellness-conscious consumers
• Value : Unlimited access to reasonable on-demand classes with expert instructors
• Differentiator : Practicing wherever and whenever.

Value Proposition Examples: Delivering With Distinction

The purpose of a unique value proposition (UVP) is to clearly articulate a brand pillar that is defined during the brand development process. In my first draft, I always start the sentence with ‘only’ and the brand name as a reminder the statement must be a claim of distinction in the market. After the first round of reviews with the client, I often edit that out because it’s implied. The rest of the sentence defines ‘what’ the brand delivers, ‘how’ that is unique in the market, and ‘why’ that matters to the customer. A final statement might look like this: ‘The XYZ experience is crafted to delight our customers and their clients, creating lasting and profitable relationships.’ Finally, I always list current proof points that make the statement true today, along with future-looking ideas that will make the delivery of that promise even stronger down the road. A value proposition should always have room for growth as it drives decision-making in the company to consistently deliver a brand promise to the customer. — Grant Kimball , Certified Brand Strategist, Brand Incite

Alaska Airlines value proposition

Humor me for this next value proposition discussion, as we harken back to pre-COVID times when we all used to travel by plane. Flying is a royal pain in the ass, and we just want to safely get from Point A to Point B. It’s not common to hear people say they love an airline. But, I’ve said “I love Alaska” many, many times.

This is what makes Alaska so distinct — and what makes them stand out from other airline carriers. Passengers legitimately love this airline. People who fly on Alaska can actually agree with their tagline: “Fly Smart. Land Happy.” They are delivering on their brand promise to their customers.

Alaska Airlines focuses on being a  socially responsible company that is all about quality and care . In the midst of the COVID pandemic, Alaska’s home page demonstrates their commitment to relationships in being “on the journey together.” They put their customers at ease with the second section of the page, which has a slideshow with safety and wellness features.

Low fares, great service, and a range of cabin options are the foundation of our offering. The Alaska experience centers around  building long-term relationships  with our guests.

• Offering : Plane tickets
• Audience : Passengers, primarily those flying between West Coast destinations
• Value : Low fares, great service, range of cabin options
• Differentiator : Long-term relationships

Value Proposition Examples: Voice the Value

When a content marketing client asks me to write a value proposition statement for their website — perhaps on a landing page or a product page — I immediately review their branding documents. What tone should I take? Conversational and friendly, or business professional and straightforward? Then I look to the company’s mission statement and product descriptions to discover their core values and the benefits of what they sell so I can highlight those in their value proposition statement. I strive for being relatable and concise to keep viewers on the page, intrigued and informed. —  Angela Tague, Content Marketing Writer and Founder, Web Writing Advice

Zoom value proposition

Raise your hand if you’ve been on a Zoom call this month. How about this week? Everything from birthday celebrations to live educational classes — along with a substantial uptick in virtual meetings and events — is now happening on Zoom.

“With any other solution, I spent a great deal of time trying to start the conference, let alone maintain it. Zoom has made the experience of  collaborating with people as simple as clicking on a link  and zipping right into the conversation.”

Zoom is on a mission  to make video communications frictionless . The aforementioned testimonial by Dr. Joseph Morgan, Texas A&M University validates their platform’s ease of use.

As communication has shifted from in-person to digital environments, Zoom has become a huge value-add for people who want to stay connected and have some semblance of face-time during COVID. The “frictionless” value is clear, as people who have never used Zoom before are rapidly well-versed in the platform.

Zoom helps businesses and organizations bring their teams together in a frictionless environment to get more done.

• Offering : Video communication platform
• Audience : Enterprise teams in finance, education, healthcare, and government
• Value : Connect and accomplish more
• Differentiator : Frictionless or “easy to use”

Value Proposition Template: Content Mission Statement

Lastly, I will leave all of you content marketers in good hands… with Andy Crestodina. Your content mission statement is a type of value proposition — one that is very often forgotten by busy content creators. Andy shares his thoughts and a useful value prop template…

How do you write an effective value proposition? This makes me think of a specific type of value proposition: the content mission statement. The value prop for your content (also known as the content marketing mission statement) is an important foundation for content strategy. If you haven’t made yours yet, you can use this handy template… Our company is where [audience X] finds [content Y] for [benefit Z]. It’s important partly because it keeps the marketer focused, but also because it can be repurposed into a killer call to action. Your email signup box is basically a simplified version of this. It uses the [content Y] and sometimes the [benefit Z]. The highest converting ‘email subscribe’ CTAs are just versions of the content value proposition. — Andy Crestodina , Co-Founder/Chief Marketing Officer, Orbit Media

Creating Your Value Proposition

Albert Einstein’s words continue to be relevant a hundred years after his time: “Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.”

By striving for success, you fall into the brand camp that exhaustively weaves the word “value” into every possible opportunity — so that the word eventually loses its meaning. By focusing on being of value, you show value without needing to talk about it. Rather than having a value proposition that has no meaning, you have a meaningful statement instead.

Creating a value proposition statement is yet another creative chance to use the “show, don’t tell” approach to writing. String together words that create an immersive experience for your intended audience. When you allow your audience to be in the room, you establish credibility and connectivity… and invite them to stay and do business with you.

Need help creating your value proposition? Look no further. ClearVoice has your back. Easily speak with a content specialist today regarding your needs, wants, and content goals.

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Unique Value Proposition

• Distinctive Value Chain
• Making Strategic Trade-offs
• Fit Across the Value Chain
• Continuity of Strategic Direction

A value proposition defines the kind of value a company will create for its customers. Finding a unique value proposition usually involves a new way of segmenting the market. Often, a novel value proposition expands the market . For example, until the iPad came along, customers didn’t realize they wanted tablets—but Apple effectively created a new demand.

While the value chain focuses internally on operations, the value proposition is the element of strategy that looks outward at customers, at the demand side of the business. Strategy is fundamentally integrative, bringing the demand and supply sides together.

Defining the Value Proposition: Three Essential Questions

• Which customers are you going to serve? Within an industry, there are usually distinct groups of customers, or customer segments. A value proposition can be aimed specifically at serving one or more of these segments. For some value propositions, choosing the customer comes first. That choice then leads directly to the other two legs of the triangle: needs and relative price.

In many cases, choosing the need the company will serve is the primary decision that leads to the other two legs of the triangle. Here, strategy is built on a unique ability to meet a particular need or a subset of needs. Often that ability arises from the specific features of a product or service.

Typically, value propositions based on needs appeal to a mix of customers who might defy traditional segmentation. Instead of belonging to a clear demographic category, the company’s customers will be defined by the common need or set of needs they share at a given time.

For some value propositions, relative price is a primary leg of the triangle. Some value propositions target customers who are overserved (and hence overpriced) by other offerings in the industry. A company can win these customers by eliminating unnecessary costs and meeting “just enough” of their needs. Where customers are overserved, the lower relative price is often the dominant leg of the triangle.

Conversely, some value propositions target customers who are underserved (and hence underpriced) by other offerings in the industry. These customers want an enhanced product or service and are willing to pay a premium for it. The unmet need is typically the dominant leg of the triangle, while the higher relative price supports the extra costs the company has to incur to meet it.

Operational Effectiveness vs. Strategy

Your company must have different answers from your competitors. Otherwise, you are competing on operational excellence. Does the customer understand the difference? Do employees understand the difference? You must be able to define and explain the uniqueness of your value proposition.

Home Blog Marketing 10 Inspiring Value Proposition Examples for Business Success

10 Inspiring Value Proposition Examples for Business Success

Discover 10 inspiring value proposition examples for business success, and learn how to create your own unique, compelling message that drives growth.

Value proposition examples can serve as a powerful tool for business owners, eCommerce professionals, marketers, entrepreneurs, and founders looking to improve their marketing campaigns. A well-crafted value proposition makes your product or service stand out in the market by highlighting its unique benefits and key differences from competitors.

In this blog post, we’ll explore how to create a value proposition that resonates with your target customers by identifying problems worth solving and analyzing customer segments for targeted messaging, as well as crafting compelling headlines. We’ll discuss the importance of identifying problems worth solving and how to analyze customer segments for targeted messaging. Furthermore, you’ll learn how to craft compelling headlines that balance clarity with creativity.

Additionally, we’ve compiled 10 outstanding value proposition examples from successful companies across various industries to inspire your own efforts. Lastly, we will explore methods for testing and refining your value propositions while adapting them to changing buying behaviors and market conditions. Through utilization of these ideas, you can construct a solid base for achieving success and expansion in the current challenging market.

Understanding the Value Proposition

A value proposition statement is a crucial aspect of any business, as it tells potential customers why they should work with your company. It focuses on solving a problem worth addressing and can be derived from testimonials and feedback from previous clients. This section looks into the necessity of having a distinct value proposition and how to detect issues worth resolving.

Importance of Having a Clear Value Proposition

An effective value proposition sets you apart from competitors by highlighting your unique offerings in an easily understandable manner. It allows customers to quickly grasp what makes your product or service different and better than others in the market. A strong value proposition not only attracts new leads but also helps retain existing ones by reinforcing their decision to choose you over other options.

To create an impactful value proposition, consider these three key elements:

• Brevity: Keep it short and simple; aim for one sentence that sums up your core offering.
• Clarity: Use plain language that speaks directly to customer needs without jargon or buzzwords.
• Differentiation: Clearly articulate how your solution stands out from competing alternatives in terms of features, benefits, or pricing.

Identifying Problems Worth Solving

To craft an appealing value proposition, you must first ascertain the issues that are most pressing for your target audience through research and analysis. This requires research into customer pain points through methods such as surveys, interviews, focus groups or analyzing online reviews on platforms like TrustPilot.

You may also gather insights by observing industry trends or studying competitor offerings – both direct and indirect – to identify gaps in the market that your product or service can fill. Once you have a clear understanding of the problems worth solving, tailor your value proposition to address these issues effectively.

For example, Opera, a web browser company, identified speed and security as major concerns for internet users. Their value proposition focuses on providing a fast, secure & easy-to-use browser that addresses these pain points directly.

It is essential to understand the value proposition before creating your unique canvas. With this in mind, let’s explore how to create a successful value proposition canvas for targeted messaging and mapping out customer pains and gains.

Creating Your Unique Value Proposition Canvas

The value proposition canvas is a powerful tool that helps businesses visualize their customer’s needs, pain points, and desired outcomes. By understanding these aspects, you can create or improve your unique selling point to attract more leads. In this section, we will discuss how to analyze customer segments for targeted messaging and map out customer pains and gains.

Analyzing Customer Segments for Targeted Messaging

To accurately create a value proposition, it is essential to identify the target audience by creating customer segments based on common characteristics. Start by creating customer segments, which are groups of people with similar characteristics such as demographics, interests, or behaviors. This allows you to tailor your message specifically for each segment.

• Demographics: Consider factors like age, gender, income level, education level and location when identifying your target customers.
• Interests: What hobbies or activities do they enjoy? Are there any common themes among them?
• Behaviors: How do they interact with products or services in your industry? Do they have specific preferences or habits?

Mapping Out Customer Pains and Gains

Creating an attractive offer necessitates considering the struggles (or “pains”) that potential customers experience as well as accentuating the advantages (or “gains”) they will acquire from utilizing your product/service. To identify these elements effectively,

• List down all possible pain points associated with the problem(s) you aim to solve – consider both functional (e.g., cost) and emotional (e.g., frustration) factors.
• Next, brainstorm the gains that your product/service can provide – think about how it will make customers’ lives better or easier.
• Finally, prioritize the most significant pains and gains based on their relevance to your target audience. This will help you focus on what truly matters to them when crafting your value proposition message.

By analyzing customer segments and mapping out their pain points and desired outcomes, you can create a unique value proposition canvas that serves as a foundation for developing an effective marketing strategy. Remember to keep refining this process as you gather more data about your customers and market trends over time.

Creating a unique value proposition canvas can be an effective way to gain insight into your target customers and craft messaging that resonates with them. Crafting an effective headline for your value proposition is the next step in optimizing customer engagement and creating lasting relationships.

Crafting an Effective Headline for Your Value Proposition

An attention-grabbing headline is essential in communicating your unique offering effectively. It should convey the core benefit of your product or service while being concise and easy to understand. In this section, we will explore tips for writing powerful headlines and striking a balance between clarity and creativity.

Tips for Writing Powerful Headlines

• Focus on the main benefit: Clearly state the primary advantage that customers can expect from using your product or service. For example, Opera’s value proposition headline reads: “Fast, secure & easy-to-use browser”. This highlights their browser’s speed, security, and user-friendliness.
• Keep it short: Aim for a maximum of six to eight words in your headline. A shorter headline is easier to comprehend quickly and leaves a lasting impression on potential customers.
• Avoid jargon: Use simple language that speaks directly to your target audience without confusing them with industry-specific terms they may not understand.
• Incorporate emotional triggers: Appeal to emotions by using power words such as “free,” “exclusive,” or “limited-time offer.” These trigger curiosity and urgency among readers, making them more likely to engage with your content further.

Balancing Clarity with Creativity

To create an effective value proposition headline, you must strike a balance between clarity (ensuring that readers understand what you are offering) and creativity (captivating their interest). Apple does this exceptionally well through its aspirational messaging like “ iPhone – The Experience Is the Product “. This headline conveys a sense of exclusivity and innovation while remaining clear about the product being offered.

When crafting your value proposition headline, always prioritize clarity over creativity. A creative but unclear message will not resonate with potential customers, whereas a clear message—even if less imaginative—will effectively communicate your offering’s benefits. Experiment with different headlines to find one that strikes the perfect balance between these two elements.

Crafting an effective headline for your value proposition is key to making a lasting impression on potential customers. Examining a few successful value propositions can be illustrative in demonstrating the importance of creating an effective headline for your value proposition.

10 Examples of Great Value Propositions

Learning from successful companies’ value propositions will help you develop one that resonates with your target audience. Here are ten examples of great value propositions:

• Dollar Shave Club – Affordable razors delivered monthly: Dollar Shave Club disrupted the shaving industry by offering a subscription service for high-quality, low-cost razors. Their straightforward and humorous approach to marketing helped them stand out in a crowded market. Check out their famous launch video .
• HubSpot – All-in-one inbound marketing software: HubSpot’s comprehensive suite of tools simplifies digital marketing efforts for businesses of all sizes. They focus on providing an integrated solution that helps marketers attract, engage, and delight customers. Learn more about their marketing platform .
• Skype – Free calls anywhere around the world: Skype revolutionized communication by offering free voice and video calls over the internet, making it easy for people to stay connected regardless of location or device type. Explore their various features on the official  Skype website  .
• Airbnb – Unique accommodations at affordable prices: Airbnb transformed travel by connecting hosts who have spare rooms or entire homes with travelers seeking unique lodging experiences at competitive rates compared to traditional hotels.You can find everything from treehouses to castles on their extensive listing database—check out some amazing properties on their Top Picks page.
• Vimeo – High-quality video hosting without ads: Vimeo offers a platform for creators to host, share, and sell their videos in high definition without the distraction of advertisements. They also provide tools for collaboration and analytics. Discover more about their services on the  Vimeo Features page .
• Pinterest – Visual discovery engine for ideas: Pinterest allows users to discover, save, and organize visual content from around the web based on their interests. It’s an excellent source of inspiration for everything from home decor to fashion trends.Create your own boards or explore popular categories by visiting the Popular Pins section on Pinterest.
• Mailchimp – Email marketing made simple: Mailchimp is an all-in-one email marketing platform that helps businesses create targeted campaigns, automate workflows, and analyze performance data with ease. Learn how they can help you grow your business through effective email marketing strategies at their  Email Marketing hub  .
• Evernote – Organize everything in one place: Evernote provides a digital workspace where users can capture notes, images, documents and audio recordings across multiple devices—making it easy to stay organized both personally and professionally.To see how Evernote can simplify your life visit their official  Features page  . li>
• Slack- Collaborate seamlessly across teams: Slack is a communication and collaboration tool that brings team members together in one centralized platform. It integrates with various third-party apps, streamlines workflows, and fosters transparency within organizations.Discover how your team can benefit from using Slack by visiting their  Features page  . li>

These examples showcase how companies have crafted compelling value propositions that resonate with their audience while addressing specific pain points or needs. Use these examples as inspiration when developing your own unique value proposition.

These 10 examples of great value propositions demonstrate the power and potential for businesses to create compelling offerings that resonate with their customers. Examining ways to trial and perfect your value proposition so as to suit customer requirements is the focus now.

This section provides 10 examples of great value propositions from successful companies such as Dollar Shave Club, HubSpot, and Airbnb. These companies have effectively addressed specific pain points or needs of their target audience with straightforward and compelling messaging that resonates with customers. Readers can use these examples as inspiration when developing their own unique value proposition.

Testing and Refining Your Value Proposition

Once you have crafted your value proposition, it is crucial to test its effectiveness and make improvements based on feedback from customers. This will ensure that your message remains relevant and compelling. In this section, we’ll discuss some methods for testing value propositions and how to adapt them according to customer needs and market changes.

Methods for Testing Value Propositions

To gauge the impact of your value proposition on potential clients, consider employing various testing techniques such as:

• A/B Testing: Create two different versions of your value proposition statement or headline, then display each version randomly to a portion of your target audience. Analyze which version performs better in terms of engagement or conversion rates. You can use tools like Optimizely or VWO .
• User Surveys: Collect feedback directly from users by asking them about their perception of the product’s benefits after reading the value proposition statement. Tools like SurveyMonkey , Typeform , or Google Forms are helpful in creating surveys.
• Landing Page Analysis: Track user behavior on landing pages featuring different variations of the value proposition using analytics tools like Google Analytics or Hotjar. Look for patterns indicating whether certain statements resonate more with visitors than others.

Adapting to Customer Needs and Market Changes

Your business environment may change over time, which means your value proposition should evolve accordingly. Keep an eye on the following factors to ensure that your message remains relevant:

• Customer Feedback: Regularly review customer feedback and testimonials to identify any recurring pain points or needs that may not be addressed by your current value proposition.
• Competitor Analysis: Monitor competitors’ offerings and marketing messages to stay informed about new trends in the industry. If a competitor is addressing a need more effectively than you are, consider refining your value proposition to better compete.
• Market Research: Stay updated with market research reports and industry news for insights into emerging trends or shifts in consumer behavior. This information can help you adapt your messaging as needed.

Incorporating testing methods and staying attuned to changes in customer needs will enable you to maintain a compelling value proposition that resonates with potential clients. Remember, it’s essential always to iterate and improve upon this critical aspect of your business strategy.

By testing and refining your value proposition, you can ensure that it accurately reflects customer needs and market changes. To effectively communicate this message to customers, consider implementing the value proposition across multiple channels.

Creating an effective value proposition is essential for any business, but it must be regularly tested and refined to ensure its continued relevance. Methods such as A/B testing, user surveys, and landing page analysis can help gauge its effectiveness. Additionally, staying attuned to customer needs and market changes through regular feedback review, competitor analysis, and market research will ensure that your message remains relevant.

Implementing Your Value Proposition Across Channels

A strong value proposition should be consistently communicated across all marketing channels, including websites, social media platforms, email campaigns, and more. Consistency in messaging helps build trust with potential clients. In this section, we will discuss how to integrate your value proposition into various marketing channels effectively.

Integrating the Value Proposition into Website Design

For your website, it’s important to make sure that potential customers can quickly identify the value you provide by featuring your value proposition prominently on the homepage or landing pages. Here are some tips for incorporating your message into website design:

• Use clear and concise language: Ensure that visitors can quickly understand what you offer by using simple words and phrases that communicate the benefits of working with you.
• Create a compelling headline: As mentioned earlier in this article (Heading 3), an effective headline is essential for grabbing attention. Place it at the top of your page so visitors see it immediately upon arrival.
• Add supporting visuals: Images or videos can help illustrate how your product or service solves customer pain points. Consider using graphics like infographics or explainer videos to support your claims visually.
• Incorporate testimonials and case studies: Social proof from satisfied customers adds credibility to your offering – consider adding quotes or linking to detailed case studies showcasing successful client outcomes as a result of partnering with you.-li>.

Incorporating the Message in Social Media Content

Social media provides an excellent opportunity to reach new audiences while reinforcing existing relationships through consistent messaging about what sets you apart from competitors. To ensure success when sharing content related to Factorial Digital’s SEO services on social media, follow these guidelines:

• Share valuable content: Post articles, infographics, and videos that demonstrate your expertise in SEO, CRO, and SEM. This will help establish you as a thought leader in the industry.
• Highlight customer success stories: Share testimonials or case studies showcasing how clients have benefited from working with Factorial Digital to improve their online presence and drive growth.-li>.
• Create engaging visuals: Use eye-catching images or graphics to accompany your posts – this can help increase engagement rates by making your content more shareable.
• Tailor messaging for each platform: Adapt the tone of voice and language used in social media posts according to each platform’s audience (e.g., LinkedIn might require a more professional tone than Twitter).-li>.

In addition to website design and social media content integration, don’t forget about other marketing channels like email campaigns or even offline materials such as brochures. By consistently communicating your value proposition across all touchpoints with potential customers, you’ll build trust while reinforcing why they should choose Factorial Digital for their growth marketing needs.

Frequently Asked Questions Value Proposition Examples

What are examples of value proposition.

Examples of strong value propositions include Dollar Shave Club’s affordable razors delivered monthly, HubSpot’s all-in-one inbound marketing software, Skype’s free calls worldwide, Airbnb’s unique accommodations at reasonable prices, and Spotify’s personalized music discovery. These companies effectively communicate the benefits they offer to their target audience.

What is a value proposition article?

A value proposition article is a piece of content that explains the importance and components of a company’s unique selling point. It typically includes information on crafting an effective message for your target audience, showcasing real-life examples from successful businesses, and tips for testing and refining your own value proposition.

What is Starbucks’ value proposition?

Starbucks’ value proposition revolves around offering premium quality coffee beverages in a comfortable atmosphere with exceptional customer service. They focus on creating an inviting “third place” between home and work where customers can relax or socialize while enjoying handcrafted drinks made from high-quality ingredients.

What is Apple’s value proposition?

Apple’s primary value-proposition focuses on providing innovative technology products with seamless user experience through intuitive design and powerful performance. Their commitment to excellence in hardware design combined with robust ecosystems allows them to create devices that cater to both personal enjoyment as well as professional productivity needs.

As you have seen, crafting an effective value proposition is essential for any business looking to stand out in the market. By understanding your unique offering and creating a compelling headline that resonates with customers, you can create a winning value proposition. Additionally, by testing and refining it across different channels, you will be able to maximize its impact on potential buyers. With these tips in mind along with some inspiring examples of great value propositions from successful businesses, we hope that this article has provided useful insights into how to craft your own powerful value proposition.

Unlock your business’s potential with our comprehensive suite of SEO, CRO and SEM services. Let us help you maximize the value proposition for your digital marketing strategy today!

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How to Create a Unique Value Proposition + Examples

Lisa Furgison

10 min. read

Updated May 10, 2024

If you’re starting your own business you’re probably already thinking about what sets you apart from competitors in your space. Coming up with your unique value proposition (UVP) or unique selling proposition (USP) creates a strong foundation for all your marketing messages and strategies for engaging new customers.

This article is a handy guide that will define what a UVP is, and help you write your own.

• What is a unique value proposition (UVP)?

Your unique value proposition (UVP) is the promised value customers can expect from your business. It explains what separates your business from your competitors, how your solution solves your customers’ problems, the specific benefits, and why your target customers should choose you.

In a nutshell, your UVP covers: 

• How your product or service works
• What makes it valuable
• Why it’s better than the rest

Your UVP should be front and center on your website, and it should be completely free of jargon—it’s like a very short elevator pitch that someone who has never heard of your company before would understand immediately.

• What is the purpose of a value proposition?

Your value proposition is designed to introduce your company’s brand to potential customers. It defines what you stand for, what you do, how you operate, and why you should be chosen over the competition. 

Every competitor in your field is vying for attention. From marketing plans to advertisements, consumers hear a lot of noise. To cut through this clutter and turn your target audience into loyal customers, you need a value proposition that mere mortals can understand easily—and remember. You want your customers to hear your name and think, “oh, that’s the company that does (your unique solution).”

• How do you write a unique value proposition?

Finding a value proposition takes some time and legwork. A real UVP is more than a clever tagline. For it to be meaningful, you have to know your customer and your business. Plus, you have to understand how your product or service fits into our consumer-driven world.

So while your UVP is probably always in the back of your mind, don’t write it based on what you think is true about your solution and your customers. Do some research and testing so that you are sure.

And for that matter, keep testing. Once you’ve come up with your UVP and put it all over your marketing materials and website’s landing pages, it might be tempting to set it and forget it. Keep testing it over time—the more your business grows, the more you’ll know about your customer’s pain points and how your solution helps them. Here are the five steps needed to develop a value proposition.

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1. Define your target market

First, you need to figure out who your customers are. Who will buy (or is buying) your product or service? A lot of first-time business owners want everyone to be a customer; this is a rookie mistake. Marketing to everyone is the opposite of marketing to your target market. If you try to appeal to everyone, your business and product will get lost in the noise. An example of this kind of mistake is a shoe company trying to market to everyone with feet! You’ll waste a lot of time and money that way.

Instead, hone in on exactly who your audience is. Do some market research—both based on your existing customers (if you have them) and other populations you think might be good potential customers. You want to know and understand their pain points—the problems they have that you might be able to solve.

But you’re also interested in their demographic information, income statistics, and family makeup. How old is your target audience ? Are they male or female? What kind of income does your target audience have? Get specific. What does your target audience do on the weekend? What kind of music do they listen to?

You might think these last questions are a bit far-fetched, but you want to create a buyer or user persona of your target audience. A buyer or user persona is a fictional representation of your ideal customer—but it’s a very useful tool to help you hone your messaging and who you consider to be a part of your target market.

You can’t create a unique value proposition alone in your basement, either. You have to test it. Run it by a small group of customers, or people you think are in your target market to ensure it resonates with customers you’re trying to reach.

2. Explain why customers should buy from you instead of a competitor

To separate yourself from your competitors, you have to know who they are and what they stand for. Research your competitors inside and out , from their mission statement to the types of employees they have. You can only set yourself apart if you know what’s already been done.

Putting together a competitive matrix can be a helpful way to visualize how you stack up against them. Don’t make the mistake of assuming you don’t have any competition. Every business has competition , even if you’re in a brand new industry. When you’re writing your UVP, see if you can articulate why your customers should buy from you instead of your competitors in ten words or less. If you can’t, keep revising.

3. Define the pain point your product or service solves

Write down how your business or product solves a problem or alleviates a pain point for customers. Can your product do something that other products can’t? Does it save time? Is it more affordable than other products? What about your product or service makes it a must-have for customers—why can’t they live without it?

Take that list and cross off any need pain point that your competitors can claim to address too. Your competitive matrix might be helpful here.

This exercise is meant to help you find areas where your business is different than others. Simply having the best product or the best customer service in the market isn’t enough differentiation.

Remember, every business thinks they have the best product. Take some time to figure out how your product meets the needs of your target audience in a way that others can’t.

4. Connect to your company mission and what you stand for

What does your business stand for? It’s a big question, one that takes some time to figure out. Once you have a solid and clear answer, see if your mission overlaps or coincides with the list of things that sets your business apart. Now you’re starting to hone in on your value proposition.

Once you’ve done your digging, write down a few different possible value propositions that fit your business. Again, this isn’t going to be something you whip up in 20 minutes. Write a few down, stew on them for a bit, and refine them. Ask yourself if someone could read your UVP and think it’s talking about another company. If the answer is yes, you have a selling or value proposition, but it’s not unique yet.

Rework it until you have one succinct sentence that makes you stand out from your competitors. What do you want your customers to remember about you when they hear your brand or product name?

5. Craft a single message

Once you’ve defined what you will cover in your value proposition, you need to land on a single core message. Not every pain point or benefit needs to be listed here. You’ve done the research to ensure you are landing on the right message for your audience, the last thing you want to do is overcomplicate communications

Focus on communicating one key value that connects to your customer’s pain point. The goal is to hook their interest so that they want to explore what else you have to offer. If they take that first step, then look for opportunities to elaborate on the additional value you provide.

Additionally, just because you’ve honed in on a core value proposition, doesn’t mean that it can’t change. You may need to make adjustments for sub-sections of your audience, change out keywords for different platforms, and even fully restructure your UVP if it doesn’t resonate. 

The key here is to not just write up your UVP and walk away. Look for opportunities to test it directly with your target audience either through interviews, surveys, or even through live testing. 

• 4 examples of great value propositions

One of the best ways to learn is by example, so let’s take a look at a few businesses that have created unmistakably unique selling propositions.

The Mast Brothers Chocolate

This duo of bearded, lanky brothers creates chocolate bars by hand . Their dedication to their craft alone is unique, but the brothers have infused their love of old-time traditions into their business.

When they need to purchase more cocoa beans, they charter a wooden sailboat to stay true to their pioneer-like roots. Now that’s a unique position you can market.

Dollar Shave Club

This online business sells and ships razors and blades to its audience for a buck. They poke fun at the fancy, vibrating 10-blade razors that are on the market today and encourage men to go back to basics.

But, don’t think that means they’re selling an inferior product. Their slogan is: “Our blades are f***ing great,” a tagline that points to (but isn’t the same as) their selling proposition. Remember, if other companies can also say their product is “great,” you have a catchy tagline, not something that sets you apart from the competition.  

Ellusionist

Here’s a business that created a value proposition by catering to a very specific audience. Ellusionist is an online store that sells playing cards to magicians.

Some of the decks are marked, others have a vintage appearance, but the variations are meant to build showmanship for its unique target audience.

Palo Alto Software

Shortly after publishing this article, one of our readers asked if we could share our own USP. Bplans is a resource offered by Palo Alto Software, so here’s what Noah Parsons, our chief operating officer, has to say about our UVP:

For Palo Alto Software, our goal is to provide entrepreneurs with the tools, knowledge, and know-how to help them grow faster and better than their competition.

We’re not just in it to make a buck—we actually want to help people succeed in business as much as possible. Our commitment to entrepreneurs is shown in our thousands of pages of free content that helps demystify the complexities of starting and running a business.

We also provide simple yet powerful tools for entrepreneurs so they can focus more on doing what they love and less on trying to build and understand complex reports and spreadsheets.

• Create a compelling value proposition

The process to land on what differentiates your business and resonates with your audience is well worth the effort. Not only will it help you define a compelling value proposition, but it will make it far easier to streamline your focus as a business owner. Everything from developing audience personas to crafting and testing copy, it encourages you to work through the needs of your customer.

If you’re struggling to work through these steps the best thing you can do is revisit your business plan . It should have everything you need including the problem you’re solving, how your business operates, who your ideal customers are, and what your business stands for. 

*Editor’s note: This article was originally published in 2018. It has been updated for 2021.

Lisa Furgison is a multimedia journalist with a passion for writing. She holds a graduate degree in mass communications and spent eight years as a television reporter before moving into the freelance world, where she focuses mainly on content creation and social media strategies. Furgison has crisscrossed the U.S. as a reporter, but now calls Key West, Florida home. When she's not conducting interviews or typing away on her laptop, she loves to travel.

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A value proposition, in the business realm, articulates the unique value a company promises to deliver to its customers. It’s a clear statement that explains how a product or service solves a problem, fulfills a need, or provides benefits that are unavailable elsewhere. For startups and established businesses alike, crafting a compelling value proposition is crucial. It not only distinguishes them from competitors but also directly impacts their ability to attract and retain customers. This concept is central to the value proposition canvas, a tool that helps businesses identify and communicate the unique value they provide. A strong value proposition, or “value prop,” goes beyond generic benefits to highlight specific advantages, making the customer value proposition not just a tagline, but the essence of a brand’s promise.

Key Takeaways

• Clear, User-Centric Differentiation: The foundation of a compelling value proposition lies in its ability to clearly differentiate a business from its competitors. This differentiation should not be based on features alone but on the unique benefits and value delivered to the customer. A user-centric approach ensures that the value proposition resonates deeply with the target audience, addressing their specific needs and challenges.
• Understanding the Competitive Landscape: A well-defined value proposition is informed by a thorough analysis of the competitive landscape. It requires an understanding of what rivals are offering and how they are positioning themselves. This knowledge enables a business to articulate a unique value proposition that stands out by offering something better, different, or more relevant.
• Early Definition and Specificity: Defining a value proposition early in the business planning process is essential. It provides a clear direction for all marketing, sales, and product development efforts. Being specific about the benefits and outcomes customers can expect makes the value proposition more compelling and easier for potential customers to grasp.
• Addressing Unmet Needs: A successful value proposition speaks directly to the unmet needs of its target audience. It clearly communicates how the business’s offering solves a problem or improves the customer’s situation in a way that no other product or service can.
• Quantifiable Benefits: Whenever possible, a value proposition should include quantifiable benefits. This could mean specifying how much time or money customers can save, how much efficiency is gained, or any other measurable impact. Such specificity makes the value proposition more tangible and believable.
• Relevance and Clarity: For a value proposition to be effective, it must be both relevant to the target audience and clearly communicated. Avoiding technical jargon and ensuring the message is easily understood are critical for broad appeal. The use of a value proposition canvas can be particularly helpful in aligning a business’s offerings with customer needs and preferences.
• Continuous Refinement: The business landscape is always changing, as are customer needs and competitive dynamics. A value proposition is not a static statement but should evolve based on ongoing customer feedback, market trends, and competitive moves. This continuous refinement ensures that the value proposition remains compelling and relevant over time.

Relevance to Different Audiences

Business school students.

For business school students, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels, understanding the concept of a value proposition is crucial. It lays the foundation for courses in marketing, entrepreneurship, and strategy, teaching students how to communicate the unique value a company offers to its customers. Courses like Marketing Management, Entrepreneurial Ventures, and Strategic Management often delve deeply into the art and science of crafting compelling value propositions. These courses encourage critical thinking about how businesses differentiate themselves in the market and meet the unique needs of their customers.

A recommended read for students eager to explore this concept further is Value Proposition Design: How to Create Products and Services Customers Want by Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Gregory Bernarda, and Alan Smith. This book offers practical insights into identifying and meeting customer needs, complementing academic learning with actionable tools and frameworks.

Pre-revenue Startups

For startups in the pre-revenue stage, forming an initial value proposition is a critical hypothesis that underpins their business idea. This hypothesis is crucial for conducting Pre-Vision Interviews , which are based on the Jobs-to-be-Done theory . These interviews aim to understand potential customers’ functional, social, and emotional needs, as well as their behavior and unmet desires, by engaging with competitors’ customers to discover opportunities for innovation. This approach ensures that the product or service being developed aligns perfectly with customer needs.

The initial value proposition serves as a guide for these conversations, focusing on what the startup believes it can uniquely offer. As startups move through the Pre-Planning Process , incorporating insights from Core Cost Analysis and continuous customer feedback, the value proposition should be refined. This iterative process helps startups avoid investing in unproven concepts and ensures their offering resonates deeply with their target audience.

For Small and Medium-sized Business (SMB) owners, the value proposition is not a set-it-and-forget-it part of the business model. As customer needs evolve, so too must the value proposition. The constant refinement and updating of the value proposition are vital for maintaining a competitive edge. This requires SMB owners to stay in close contact with their customer base, monitor market trends, and anticipate changes in customer preferences.

The agility to adapt the value proposition ensures that SMBs remain relevant and continue to meet their customers’ changing needs effectively. This ongoing process may involve tweaking product features, adjusting service offerings, or even rethinking the target market. By making the value proposition a central focus of their business strategy, SMB owners can ensure long-term growth and success in a competitive landscape.

Building a Compelling Value Proposition: A Step-by-Step Guide

Crafting a value proposition that resonates with your target market is a pivotal step in defining your brand’s identity and competitive advantage. A great value proposition communicates the unique benefits your company offers to its ideal customer, distinguishing you from the competitor. Here’s how to create a value proposition statement that captures the essence of your offering and why a potential customer should choose you.

1. Identify Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

Your USP is the cornerstone of your value proposition. It highlights the unique benefit or feature that makes your product or service better than the rest. To identify your USP, conduct thorough market research to understand your competitive landscape. What do you offer that your competitors don’t? This could be anything from a unique feature, a specific benefit, superior quality, or an exceptional customer experience. Your USP should align with your mission statement, reflecting your company’s core values and objectives.

2. Adopt a User-Centric Approach

Understanding your target customer is crucial. Develop a detailed customer profile that goes beyond demographics to include psychographics, pain points, and aspirations. What does the ideal customer value? How do your offerings alleviate their pain points or enhance their lives? Your value proposition should articulate how your product or service enriches the prospective customer’s life or business. This user-centric approach ensures that your value proposition resonates on a personal level, making your offering not just a choice but a solution.

3. Quantify Your Benefits

Concrete, quantifiable benefits make your value proposition more compelling. Instead of vague promises, specify the exact benefits a customer can expect. This could be in terms of time saved, percentage increases in efficiency, cost reductions, or other measurable outcomes. Quantifying benefits helps cement your competitive advantage, making it clear why a potential customer should prefer your offering over others.

4. Understand and Articulate the Customer-Brand Relationship

Your value proposition should reflect the relationship you aim to build with your customers. It’s not just about the transaction but about the ongoing interaction and the experience your brand provides. How does your offering fit into the broader context of your customer’s life or business? Your value proposition statement should convey a sense of partnership and commitment, indicating that choosing your brand is a step toward a mutual goal.

5. Refine Based on Feedback

A good value proposition is not set in stone; it evolves. As you gather feedback from your target market, be prepared to refine your value proposition. Listen to what your customers and potential customers say about your product or service. What aspects do they find most valuable? Are there benefits you hadn’t considered? Use this feedback to hone your value proposition, ensuring it remains relevant and compelling as market dynamics shift.

Creating a value proposition is an iterative process that involves deep understanding of your target market, clear articulation of your unique selling proposition, and continuous refinement based on customer feedback. By following these steps, you can develop a great value proposition that clearly communicates the unique benefits your company offers, setting you apart from competitors and resonating with your ideal customer.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is a value proposition and why is it important?

A value proposition is a statement that summarizes the unique benefits or value that a company promises to deliver to its customers. It’s essential because it communicates to a customer segment why they should choose your product or service over competitors. In essence, it defines the main reason your offering is the best solution to their problem or need. For small businesses and professional services, a clear value proposition is crucial for focusing marketing efforts and guiding business strategy.

• How can startups differentiate their value proposition from competitors?

Startups can differentiate their value proposition by conducting thorough market research to identify gaps in the market or unmet needs within their target customer segment. Emphasizing unique selling propositions (USPs), such as innovative features, superior quality, or exceptional customer service, helps create a competitive advantage. Tailoring the value proposition to address the specific “customer job” or need can also make it more compelling and relevant to the target audience.

• What role does customer feedback play in refining a value proposition?

Customer feedback is invaluable in refining a value proposition. It provides insights into what aspects of your product or service are most valuable to your customers and identifies areas for improvement. Engaging with your customer segment through surveys, interviews, or direct feedback can reveal whether your marketing effort resonates with their needs and expectations. This continuous loop of feedback and adjustment helps keep your value proposition aligned with customer needs and market trends.

• How can quantifiable benefits enhance a value proposition?

Quantifiable benefits, such as specific time savings, cost reductions, or performance improvements, make a value proposition more concrete and believable. They provide clear evidence of the value your product or service delivers, making it easier for a potential customer to understand the return on their investment. For small businesses, highlighting quantifiable benefits can be a powerful tool in marketing efforts, as it offers tangible reasons for customers to choose their services over others.

• When should a startup begin defining its value proposition?

A startup should begin defining its value proposition as early as possible in the business planning process. A well-crafted value proposition is foundational to developing business strategy, branding, and marketing efforts. It helps ensure that all aspects of the business are aligned toward delivering unique value to its intended customer segment. Starting early also allows for the incorporation of customer feedback into the value proposition, ensuring it remains relevant and compelling as the business grows.

Related Terms

Social Proof: Social proof is the psychological phenomenon where people conform to the actions of others under the assumption that those actions reflect the correct behavior. In marketing, social proof can be leveraged to reinforce a value prop by showcasing testimonials, reviews, endorsements, and case studies from satisfied customers. It addresses customer pains indirectly by demonstrating real-life successes and customer satisfaction, thereby validating the value proposition.

Customer Pains: Customer pains refer to the specific problems, needs, or challenges that potential customers face. Understanding and articulating how your product or service alleviates these pains is a crucial component of an effective value proposition. It directly ties your offering to the customer need, making your value prop more relevant and compelling to your target audience.

Marketing Strategy: A marketing strategy is a comprehensive plan formulated to reach and convert leads into customers by communicating the benefits of your product or service. A well-defined value proposition is a cornerstone of this strategy, guiding the messaging and positioning that will resonate with the target market. It helps in aligning marketing efforts with the customer need and differentiating from a competitor.

Customer Need: Customer need refers to the desire or requirement of consumers that drives them to seek out and purchase goods or services. A value proposition must clearly address a specific customer need, providing a solution or benefit that meets or exceeds expectations. Identifying and responding to these needs is vital for creating a value prop that attracts and retains customers.

Value Proposition Canvas: The value proposition canvas is a strategic tool used to ensure that a product or service is positioned around what the customer values and needs. It helps businesses to more clearly understand their customers’ pains and gains and how their offering alleviates those pains or enhances those gains. This canvas is instrumental in refining the value prop to ensure it’s aligned with the target customer’s priorities and expectations.

Competitor: A competitor refers to any business or entity that offers a similar product or service to the same target market as yours. Understanding your competitors and their value propositions is critical for differentiating your offering. Competitive analysis helps in identifying gaps in the market that your value proposition can fill, thereby offering a unique selling proposition to your customers.

Also see: Elevator Pitch , Marketing Plan , Jobs-to-Be-Done Theory

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Value Proposition

A value proposition defines the benefits your company’s products and services offer to the customer. This short statement, based on your Business Concept Statement, should express the essence of your business in a way that compels the customer to buy.

It’s important to expend the necessary time and effort to craft a compelling value proposition since it will form the basis for all your sales, marketing, and product development efforts. The value proposition is also part of your Business Plan.

A value proposition is a valuable tool to guide your marketing efforts. Here are some benefits that you will receive by having a clear, compelling value proposition:

• Create a strong differentiation between you and your competitors.
• Increase not only the quantity but also the quality of prospective leads.
• Gain market share in your targeted segments.
• Improve your operation efficiency.
• Increase your revenue.
• Ensure that everyone in your company communicates the same message.

Follow these guidelines to create a value proposition that will compel customers to buy your product or service:

• Use your Business Concept Statement as a starting point for expressing your value proposition.
• Address the needs of your target market. What problems do your target customers need to solve? What’s not working for them? Where do they want to go?
• Emphasize benefits, not features. Don’t explain what the technology does; explain what the buyer will get out of using the technology. Some examples of benefits are greater revenue opportunity, a competitive advantage, reduced costs and expenses, greater convenience, greater Return on Investment (ROI), and better results.
• Use tangible examples. Be as precise and specific as possible. Include numbers, percentages, and time frames.
• Be clear and concise. Condense your message into two sentences.
• Differentiate yourself from the competition. What do you have that no one else has? And-most importantly-how is this an advantage to your customers?

Research and test your value proposition. Ensure that your message strikes the right note with the right people.

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Crafting a Winning Customer Value Proposition

Kyle Coleman

Kyle’s foray into B2B tech sales started in 2013 when he joined Looker as the 6th employee. Over the next 6 years, he grew the SDR team from 1 to 60+ as the company scaled from $100k in ARR to $100m+, and was acquired by Google for $2.6b. He then moved on to Clari and for the next 5 years, led growth marketing, SDR, and enablement as the CMO. Kyle is now the CMO @ Copy.ai, an AI workflow automation platform. He’s an avid runner, a proud corgi owner, and is always looking to talk shop.

Standing out and capturing your audience's attention is more critical than ever. With consumers bombarded by endless options and marketing messages, crafting a compelling customer value proposition is essential. A well-defined value proposition not only sets your business apart but also guides your marketing efforts and customer interactions.

A customer value proposition is a clear, concise statement that communicates the unique benefits your product or service offers. It highlights how your offering solves problems, meets needs, and delivers value beyond your competitors. Nail this, and you'll attract the right customers, build trust, and drive conversions.

The perks of having a strong customer value proposition are plentiful. It helps you:

• Differentiate your business from competitors
• Attract and retain your ideal customers
• Increase customer loyalty and advocacy
• Guide your marketing and sales efforts
• Improve conversion rates and revenue

To create a winning customer value proposition, understand your target audience, identify their pain points and desires, and clearly articulate how your product or service addresses those needs. The key components include a headline, an explanation, bullet points highlighting benefits, and visuals that reinforce your message.

In the following sections, we'll dive deeper into what a customer value proposition is, its importance, and the steps to craft one that resonates with your target audience.

What is a Customer Value Proposition?

A customer value proposition (CVP) is your golden ticket to communicating the unique value your product or service offers. It's the "why" behind why your target customers should choose you over the competition. Think of it as your elevator pitch on steroids—it solves problems, delivers benefits, and makes it crystal clear why you're the best choice.

At its essence, a CVP is a promise of value. It's the main reason a prospect should hit that "buy now" button. A top-notch CVP sets you apart from the pack and becomes the North Star for all your marketing and sales efforts.

With the market more crowded than a Black Friday sale, having a compelling CVP is crucial. Consumers are bombarded with choices, so you need to spell out why your product or service is the bee's knees. A strong CVP can help businesses:

• Attract the right customers
• Boost conversions and sales
• Build customer loyalty
• Command a price premium

Take Slack's CVP, for example: "Slack replaces email inside your company." This straightforward statement hits the nail on the head by highlighting the key benefit (ditching email) and the target audience (companies). It positions Slack as the ultimate upgrade to a ubiquitous communication tool.

Or consider Unbounce's CVP: "Build, publish and A/B test landing pages without I.T." This speaks directly to marketers itching to create high-converting landing pages quickly, without the tech headaches. It underscores the key benefits (speed and autonomy) and sets the product apart from the competition.

As these examples show, a well-defined CVP is your secret weapon to cut through the noise, connect with your ideal customers, and drive growth. Next up, we'll dive deeper into the specific perks of having a rock-solid customer value proposition.

Benefits of a Customer Value Proposition

A well-crafted customer value proposition can turbocharge your business's success. Clearly articulating the unique value your product or service provides attracts and retains customers, boosts conversions, and gives you a competitive edge.

One of the primary perks of a strong customer value proposition is increased customer loyalty. When customers grasp and appreciate the value you offer, they’re more likely to choose your business over competitors and stick around. This loyalty translates to higher customer lifetime value, as satisfied customers are more likely to make repeat purchases and spread the word about your business.

Moreover, a compelling value proposition can drive conversions by effectively communicating the benefits of your product or service to potential customers. When prospects clearly understand how your offering solves their problems or meets their needs, they're more likely to take action—whether that means making a purchase, signing up for a free trial, or requesting more information.

Statistics underscore the importance of meeting customer expectations and providing value. According to a recent Salesforce study, 81% of agents and 73% of mobile workers say customers expect a personal touch more than they used to. Tailoring your value proposition to your target audience's specific needs and preferences demonstrates that personal touch and builds stronger connections with your customers.

Real-world examples illustrate the power of a strong customer value proposition. Take Slack, the popular team communication tool. Its value proposition, "Slack is your digital HQ - a place where work flows between your people, systems, partners, and customers," highlights how Slack streamlines communication and collaboration, making it an essential tool for modern teams. The result? Rapid growth and widespread customer adoption.

Or consider Warby Parker, the online eyewear retailer that disrupted the traditional glasses industry with its value proposition: "Prescription eyeglasses starting at $95, including lenses." Offering affordable, stylish glasses with a convenient online shopping experience, Warby Parker has attracted a loyal customer base and grown into a multi-million dollar business.

Now that we've explored the benefits of a customer value proposition, let's dive into the key components that make up an effective value proposition.

Key Components of a Customer Value Proposition

A compelling customer value proposition is like the secret sauce of your business—it’s what makes your product or service irresistible to your target audience. Let’s break down the recipe for crafting a value proposition that not only stands out but also sticks.

The headline of your customer value proposition is the first thing potential customers will see, and it can make or break their decision to continue reading. A clear and compelling headline grabs attention, communicates the main benefit of your product or service, and entices the reader to learn more.

When crafting your headline, consider these essential elements:

• Clarity: Make sure your headline is easy to understand and conveys the primary benefit of your offering. Skip the jargon and vague language that might confuse or alienate your audience.
• Specificity: Be specific about what your product or service does and how it solves a problem or meets a need. Generic headlines won't set you apart from the competition.
• Relevance: Ensure your headline resonates with your target audience by addressing their pain points, desires, or goals. Use language that speaks directly to their needs and interests.

To create an effective headline, follow these tips:

• Keep it concise: Aim for a headline that's short, sweet, and to the point. Ideally, it should be no more than 10-15 words.
• Focus on benefits: Highlight the key benefit or value that your product or service provides, rather than just listing features.
• Use strong action verbs: Start your headline with a powerful verb that conveys action and results, such as "achieve," "discover," or "transform."
• Evoke emotion: Use language that taps into your audience's emotions, whether it's a desire for success, a fear of missing out, or a sense of urgency.

Here are some examples of strong customer value proposition headlines:

• "Streamline Your Sales Process with AI-Powered Tools"
• "Unlock Your Team's Potential with Our Comprehensive Training Program"
• "Maximize Your Marketing ROI with Data-Driven Insights"

Remember, your headline is just the beginning. Follow it with a clear and persuasive explanation that expands on the value you provide and how you solve your customers' problems. In the next section, we'll dive deeper into crafting an effective explanation for your customer value proposition.

Explanation

A concise explanation following the headline is crucial in a customer value proposition. It should clearly convey how your product or service solves your customers' problems or improves their lives. Keep it brief, easy to understand, and focused on the key benefits your customers will experience.

The essential elements of a persuasive explanation include:

• Clarity: Use simple, straightforward language that your target audience can easily comprehend. Avoid jargon or technical terms that may confuse or alienate potential customers.
• Customer-centric focus: Address your customers' needs, desires, and pain points directly. Show that you understand their challenges and have a solution tailored to their specific requirements.
• Unique value: Highlight what sets your offering apart from competitors. Focus on the distinct benefits or features that make your product or service the best choice for your target audience.
• Emotional appeal: Connect with your customers on an emotional level by emphasizing how your offering will make their lives better, easier, or more enjoyable. Evoke feelings of relief, excitement, or satisfaction.

To craft a clear and persuasive explanation, follow these guidelines:

• Keep it concise, typically one to three sentences long
• Use active voice and strong action verbs
• Focus on the most important benefit or solution you provide
• Make it specific and relevant to your target audience
• Test different versions to see which resonates best with your customers

Here are some examples of effective explanations in customer value propositions:

• "Our AI-powered sales tool helps you close more deals by providing real-time insights and personalized coaching."
• "Experience worry-free travel with our comprehensive trip planning service, taking care of every detail from start to finish."
• "Boost your team's productivity and collaboration with our intuitive project management software, designed to streamline workflows and communication."

Crafting a concise, customer-centric explanation that highlights your unique value and connects emotionally with your target audience effectively communicates your customer value proposition and persuades potential customers to choose your product or service.

Bullet Points

Bullet points are the secret sauce of a compelling customer value proposition. They let you spotlight the key benefits and features of your product or service in a way that's quick, concise, and easy to digest. When done right, bullet points grab attention and underscore the value you bring to the table.

Here's what makes a bullet point shine:

• Clarity: Make each bullet point crystal clear and specific. Ditch the jargon and vague statements.
• Conciseness: Keep it short and sweet—ideally one line. This makes your points more impactful and memorable.
• Customer-centric language: Speak directly to the reader. Focus on benefits, not just features. Use "you" and "your."
• Unique value: Show what sets you apart. Highlight your unique selling points.
• Tangible outcomes: Quantify benefits whenever possible, like "Increase productivity by 30%."

Check out these examples of effective value proposition bullet points:

• Save time with our automated workflow, cutting manual tasks by up to 50%
• Boost your conversion rates with personalized product recommendations
• Enjoy peace of mind with our 24/7 customer support and 30-day money-back guarantee
• Streamline team collaboration with real-time updates and seamless integrations

Ready to craft your own killer bullet points? Here's how:

• List all the benefits and features of your product or service.
• Prioritize the most important and unique aspects.
• Rewrite each point to be clear, concise, and customer-focused.
• Use strong action verbs and specific language.
• Test different versions to see which resonate best with your target audience.

Well-crafted bullet points make it easier for potential customers to quickly grasp your value and take action.

Visual elements can amp up your value proposition, making it even more engaging and memorable. Next, we'll dive into how to use visuals to complement your bullet points and overall message.

Visuals are the secret sauce that can transform your customer value proposition from bland to grand. They make it engaging, memorable, and irresistibly persuasive. Toss in some relevant images, videos, infographics, or product demos, and you've got a recipe for effectively communicating your unique selling points while capturing the attention of potential customers.

When it comes to visuals in a customer value proposition, here are the essentials:

• Relevance: Your visuals should be directly related to the product or service you’re offering. They need to reinforce the key benefits highlighted in your value proposition.
• Clarity: High-quality, clear images and videos are a must. They ensure your message hits home with your target audience.
• Emotional appeal: Visuals should tug at the heartstrings—evoke positive emotions and build a connection with the viewer. Trust and credibility are the name of the game here.

Ready to sprinkle some visual magic into your customer value proposition? Here are some pro tips:

• Use high-quality images and videos to showcase your product or service in action.
• Simplify complex information with infographics or charts, making it easy to digest.
• Leverage customer testimonials or case studies with accompanying images to provide social proof.
• Optimize visuals for various devices and platforms, including mobile and social media.

Need some inspiration? Check out these examples of effective visuals in customer value propositions:

• A software company using a short video to demonstrate how their product streamlines workflows and saves time.
• An e-commerce store showcasing high-quality product images with detailed descriptions of key features and benefits.
• A consulting firm using infographics to illustrate their proven track record of success and industry expertise.

Strategically incorporating visuals into your customer value proposition can create a compelling and memorable message that truly resonates with your target audience.

Now that we've cracked the code on the key components of a customer value proposition, let’s dive into how to implement one for your business.

How to Implement a Customer Value Proposition: Step-by-Step Guide

Developing a compelling customer value proposition is like crafting the perfect punchline—systematic, insightful, and impactful. Here’s how to create a value proposition that not only resonates but also sets your business apart:

1. Conduct Market Research

Before diving into your value proposition, you need to know your audience like the back of your hand. Conduct market research to uncover your customers' pain points, goals, and preferences. This research might include:

• Analyzing customer feedback and reviews
• Conducting surveys or interviews with existing and potential customers
• Studying industry trends and market reports
• Evaluating competitors' offerings and value propositions

Understand your target market deeply to pinpoint the key benefits and differentiators that will form the core of your customer value proposition.

2. Identify Your Unique Value

With your market research in hand, it's time to determine what makes your product or service the star of the show. Consider aspects like:

• Unique features or functionality
• Superior quality or performance
• Exceptional customer service or support
• Competitive pricing or cost savings
• Ease of use or convenience

Identify the specific benefits your offering provides and how they address your target market's needs and pain points.

3. Craft Your Value Proposition Statement

Now, let's put it all together. Develop a clear and concise value proposition statement that communicates the key benefits of your offering and how it solves your target market's problems. A strong value proposition statement typically includes:

• A headline that captures attention and summarizes the main benefit
• A subheadline or brief paragraph that elaborates on the headline and provides more detail
• Bullet points that highlight specific features or benefits

Make sure your value proposition statement is easy to understand, communicates value quickly, and differentiates your offering from competitors.

4. Test and Refine Your Value Proposition

Drafting your value proposition is just the beginning. Test its effectiveness with your target audience. Share your value proposition with a sample group of potential customers and gather their feedback. Consider conducting:

• A/B testing on your website or landing pages
• Surveys or interviews to gauge understanding and resonance
• Focus groups to gather in-depth insights and opinions

Refine your value proposition based on the feedback received to better align with your target market's needs and preferences. Continuously monitor and optimize your value proposition to ensure it remains relevant and compelling.

And remember, when it comes to tools, Copy.ai is your go-to GTM AI Platform for achieving GTM Velocity and curing GTM Bloat.

Best Practices and Tips

Crafting a compelling customer value proposition? Buckle up, because we're diving into some best practices that'll make your value proposition shine like a diamond:

• Research and understand your audience: Dive deep into your target customers' psyche. What keeps them up at night? What makes them tick? The more you know, the better you'll be at crafting a value proposition that hits home.
• Focus on unique benefits: Highlight what makes your product or service the superhero in a sea of sidekicks. Skip the feature list and zero in on how those features make your customers' lives easier or better. What's your secret sauce? How do you solve their problems in a way no one else can?
• Use clear and concise language: Ditch the jargon. Your value proposition should be as clear as a bell. Use simple, straightforward language that anyone can understand. You've got mere seconds to grab attention, so make every word count.
• Quantify value whenever possible: Numbers talk. If your product saves time or money, spell it out. Quantifiable benefits stick in the mind much better than vague promises.
• Test and refine: Your value proposition is a living, breathing thing. Gather feedback, watch market trends, and be ready to tweak and test different versions. The goal? Find the one that resonates like a hit single.
• Ensure alignment across your organization: Your value proposition should be the gospel everyone in your organization preaches—from sales and marketing to customer service. Make sure all teams are on the same page and can articulate it clearly.

Nail these best practices, and you'll create a customer value proposition that not only communicates your unique value but also resonates deeply with your audience.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Crafting a customer value proposition is like building a bridge between you and your audience—make sure it's sturdy and clear. Let's dive into some common pitfalls that can turn your bridge into a rickety rope swing.

First up, clarity. If your value proposition is as clear as mud, potential customers will be scratching their heads instead of reaching for their wallets. Keep it simple and concise. Use plain language to highlight the key benefits and unique value you bring to the table.

Next, overpromising. We've all heard the saying, "Don't write checks your body can't cash." The same goes for your value proposition. Making exaggerated claims will only erode trust faster than you can say "refund." Be realistic about what you can deliver and focus on genuine value. Remember, it's better to under-promise and over-deliver.

Ignoring customer feedback is another classic blunder. Your value proposition should be a mirror reflecting your customers' needs, pain points, and desires. If you're not listening to them, you're missing the mark. Regularly gather insights through surveys, interviews, and feedback channels to keep your value proposition relevant and compelling.

Steer clear of these common mistakes—lack of clarity, overpromising, and ignoring customer feedback—and you'll craft a value proposition that truly resonates with your target audience. A well-defined, customer-centric value proposition sets you up to attract, convert, and retain loyal customers.

Now that we've nailed down the essentials and pitfalls of crafting a customer value proposition, let's explore some top-notch tools and resources to streamline the process. Spoiler alert: Copy.ai is your new best friend.

Customer Feedback Tools

Understanding your target audience's needs, preferences, and pain points hinges on gathering customer feedback. These insights refine your customer value proposition, ensuring it resonates with your ideal customers. To streamline collecting and analyzing feedback, several tools are at your disposal.

Here are some standout customer feedback tools:

• Survey Monkey: This platform lets you create custom surveys, distribute them, and analyze the results. With various question types and templates, Survey Monkey simplifies gathering valuable customer insights.
• Hotjar: Combining heat mapping, session recording, and surveys, Hotjar helps you understand user interactions on your website. Visualizing user behavior highlights areas for improvement, optimizing your customer value proposition.
• Trustpilot: This review platform collects and showcases customer reviews, building trust and credibility. Trustpilot's insights and analytics help you understand customer sentiment and identify trends.

To maximize these tools, consider these tips:

• Keep surveys short and focused: Respect your customers' time by keeping surveys concise and relevant. Focus on key questions that yield the most valuable insights for refining your customer value proposition.
• Offer incentives: Encourage feedback by offering incentives like discounts or prize draws. This can boost response rates and show appreciation for their input.
• Analyze and act on feedback: Regularly review feedback for patterns or common themes. Use this data to make informed decisions and refine your customer value proposition to better meet your audience's needs.

Consider Airbnb's success story. They used customer feedback to enhance their user experience and value proposition. By analyzing reviews and surveys, they identified pain points like the need for flexible cancellation policies and better host-guest communication. Addressing these concerns allowed Airbnb to improve its platform and better serve its customers.

While customer feedback tools offer valuable insights into your audience's preferences, competitive analysis tools help you understand how your customer value proposition stacks up against industry rivals.

Competitive Analysis Tools

Ready to outsmart your competition? Analyzing their customer value propositions is your secret weapon. Luckily, we've got some top-notch tools to make this a breeze:

• Copy.ai: As the world's first GTM AI platform, Copy.ai should be your go-to for competitive analysis. Dive deep into your competitors' strategies, uncovering their online presence, traffic sources, keywords, and advertising tactics. With this intel, you can pinpoint gaps and opportunities to make your value proposition stand out.
• SEMrush: This digital marketing powerhouse offers a robust competitive analysis feature. Research your competitors' website traffic, keywords, and ad strategies. This insight helps you identify how they position themselves, so you can carve out your unique space in the market.
• Ahrefs: Known for its SEO prowess, Ahrefs lets you explore competitors' backlink profiles, organic keywords, and top-performing content. These insights reveal how they attract and engage their audience, guiding you to refine your own value proposition.
• Buzzsumo: This content analysis platform uncovers the most shared content across social media. By understanding what resonates with your competitors' audience, you can tailor your value proposition to address your market's needs and preferences.

To get started, identify your top competitors and plug their URLs into these platforms. Focus on key metrics like traffic sources, top keywords, and popular content themes. Look for patterns and insights to refine your value proposition.

For instance, if you find that your competitor's most shared content centers on sustainability, consider highlighting your own eco-friendly initiatives. Aligning your messaging with your audience's values makes your value proposition more compelling and persuasive.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is a customer value proposition.

A customer value proposition is your golden ticket to communicating the unique benefits of your product or service. It’s the magic formula that tells your target customers how you’re solving their problems or making their lives better, and why they should choose you over the competition. Think of it as your elevator pitch, but with a sprinkle of stardust—concise, crystal clear, and laser-focused on what your customers truly want.

Why is it important?

A rock-solid customer value proposition is your secret weapon for several reasons:

• Differentiation: It’s your spotlight moment, showcasing what makes your business the star of the show and why customers should care.
• Customer attraction: A clear value proposition is like a magnet, pulling in the right customers by speaking directly to their needs and desires.
• Improved conversions: When customers see the value you bring to the table, they’re more likely to hit that “buy” button, boosting your conversion rates.
• Customer loyalty: Deliver on your value proposition consistently, and you’ll turn customers into loyal fans who keep coming back for more.
• Guiding business decisions: A well-defined value proposition is your North Star, guiding product development, marketing strategies, and customer service.

How do I create a cusomter value proposition?

Crafting a compelling customer value proposition is a bit like baking a cake—follow these steps, and you’ll have a recipe for success:

• Identify your target audience: Know your ideal customer inside and out—their needs, pain points, and what makes them tick.
• Research your competitors: Peek over the fence to see what your competitors are offering and find the gaps where you can shine.
• List your product or service's benefits: Highlight how your product or service solves problems or makes life better for your customers.
• Determine your unique selling points: Pinpoint what sets you apart—features, quality, price, or an unforgettable customer experience.
• Craft your value proposition statement: Mix your key benefits and unique selling points into a clear, concise, and compelling statement that hits home with your audience.
• Test and refine: Share your value proposition with potential customers, gather their feedback, and tweak it until it’s just right.

By following these steps and iterating based on customer insights, you can develop a customer value proposition that’s a game-changer for your business. And remember, tools like the Value Proposition Canvas can help keep your value proposition laser-focused on your customers.

Final Thoughts

Ready to master the art of crafting a winning customer value proposition? Let’s dive into the essentials that will set your business apart and turbocharge your conversions.

A compelling value proposition is your secret weapon for standing out, attracting, and keeping customers. Here are the key takeaways:

• Your customer value proposition should clearly communicate the unique benefits your product or service offers to your target audience.
• A strong value proposition includes a headline, an explanation, bullet points highlighting key benefits, and supporting visuals.
• Creating an effective value proposition requires thorough market research, understanding your target audience, and refining your messaging through testing.
• Tools like the Value Proposition Canvas, customer feedback software, and competitive analysis resources can streamline the process of crafting and implementing your value proposition.

Now that you’re armed with the know-how and tools, it’s time to get cracking. Start by analyzing your target audience, identifying your unique selling points, and crafting a clear, persuasive message that resonates with your customers.

For more deep dives into related topics, check out our article on Introducing GTM AI . It’s a game-changer for revolutionizing your go-to-market strategy with artificial intelligence. Keep learning and refining your approach, and you’ll soon have a customer value proposition that not only sets your business apart but also drives long-term success.

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Activist shareholders are often seen as villains by managers and boards. Their demands for strategic and organizational shifts—which can feel personal to managers—often challenge the soundness of a company’s strategy. However, leaders who treat activist shareholders solely as a risk or an annoyance are making a mistake. Although they may be aiming to protect their companies, they’re missing out on an opportunity to tap one of the few free resources companies have to bring about value‑creating strategic change and build stronger business models.

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Activist shareholders are often seen as villains by managers and boards. Their demands for strategic and organizational shifts—which can feel personal to managers—often challenge the soundness of a company’s strategy. In 2023, more than 23% of Russell 3000 companies identified shareholder activism as a key risk factor in their annual reports, up from 21% the previous year.

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