A strong value proposition is perhaps the most critical element for business success today. Research shows 59% of buyers will not engage with a company that lacks clarity on the value they provide. This highlights the pivotal need to perfectly articulate your differentiated value.
Yet in practice, many businesses struggle with defining and communicating what really sets them apart. Value props often regurgitate the same tired cliches that fail to connect emotionally or inspire action from customers.
In this comprehensive guide, we will walk through practical guidance to craft outstanding value propositions from the ground up. Additionally, leveraging pre-built templates and automated tools can accelerate creation while optimizing impact.
Let‘s deep dive into exactly how to develop value-driven messaging that sells.
Why You Absolutely Need a Value Proposition
First, what comprises an effective value proposition that customers pay attention to? Some key elements:
Concise – Typically just 1-2 sentences focused on the primary value offered. Brevity is key.
Customer-Centric – Focuses first and foremost on buyer needs and desires.
Resonates Emotionally – Connects to frustrations, hopes and aspirations on a personal level.
Conveys Differentiation – Highlights how the solution uniquely addresses customer challenges overall or better than alternatives.
Memorable – Utilizes compelling messaging that sticks in the mind of buyers and decision makers.
Inspirational – Motivates the customer to learn more, try your product and ultimately buy.
Without a value proposition checking those boxes, you miss the opportunity to engage potential customers on an emotional level and influence their purchase decisions.
Just look at how severely lacking an impactful value impacts metrics:
- 54% Lower Conversion Rates
- 38% Drop in Revenue Per Visitor
- 19% Less Lifetime Customer Value
Meanwhile, well-crafted value propositions deliver tremendous business upside:
- Double Qualified Leads
- 15% Higher Customer Satisfaction Scores
- 11% Increase in Average Order Value
Clearly, investing the effort into developing and fine-tuning a top-tier value proposition delivers immense dividends across growth, conversions, loyalty and lifetime value.
Simply put – if you can‘t communicate value, you won‘t capture value.
Now that the business case is strongly justified, let‘s examine how to craft excellent value propositions.
Steps for Creating Value Propositions That Work
Identifying and conveying value should serve as the bedrock for all customer-facing messaging and positioning. But where to start?
Follow this step-by-step process to build incredible value props from the ground up:
1. Fully Understand Buyers
Research target personas and customers to intimately determine their needs, desires, fears and aspirations.
- What problems do they struggle with?
- Where do they experience the most friction?
- What outcomes and benefits do they aspire to realize?
Empathizing with exactly who you serve forms the foundation to communicate true value rather than generic claims.
"You have to understand customers first. What frustrates them? What delights them? Then apply that to shaping value." – Brian Halligan, CEO HubSpot
2. Identify Your Differentiators
Analyze how your solution positively impacts customers and where you substantially outperform alternatives.
- How specifically does our product or service alleviate pain points?
- What key advantages do we deliver that others lack?
- Why should a customer choose us over any competitor?
Pinpointing genuine differentiation is where many value propositions break down into vague, unsupported claims of superiority. Isolate true differences.
3. Lead With the Most Impactful Value
Determine the #1 way you help customers or outperform competitors and make that the primary focus.
Choose significant points of differentiation that directly address previously identified buyer challenges, needs and aspirations. These become your leading-edge value drivers deserving prominent positioning.
"Lead with the key customer challenge first, then how you uniquely help them. Makes it very compelling." – Sangram Vajre, CMO Terminus
4. Quantify Value As Much As Possible
While conveying emotional connections matters, back up claims with hard data, metrics and proof points whenever feasible. These add tremendous credibility.
For example, rather than a vague statement about providing reporting and analytics, specify details:
"Real-time customizable reports and analysis across 15+ key business metrics refreshed every 5 minutes."
Substantiate value with real evidence.
5. Keep It Concise
Long-winded value propositions dilute potency of messaging. Stick to 1-2 sentences focused only on the main value provided.
Being forced to trim away fluff encourages prioritizing the most crucial value differentiators for prominence.
6. Test and Optimize
Leverage tools like online surveys and landing page value proposition testing to gain customer feedback.
Ask targeted questions to determine which value prop variants generate the most positive reactions and interest. Then double down on the messaging that truly resonates.
Continuous optimization based on real user responses maximizes future conversion rates.
While following those steps requires concerted upfront effort, the payoff in highly compelling value propositions is worthwhile. Still, accelerating creation with pre-built templates and generators has fantastic appeal.
Value Proposition Examples – Good and Bad
Before diving into leveraging value proposition templates, let‘s analyze examples from real companies praised for content marketing excellence – HubSpot and Mailchimp.
We‘ll also critique a subpar value proposition to learn what flaws to avoid.
HubSpot
"Hubspot‘s marketing, sales, and CRM software helps millions of organizations grow better."
Why It Works
- Focused on core customer problem – needing marketing, sales and CRM systems to facilitate growth
- Emphasizes ability to help companies achieve desired outcome of growth
- Supported by credible proof point of millions of organizations using HubSpot software
This value proposition aligns directly to customer frustrations and articulate how HubSpot alleviates them. The result? Over 120,000 customers paying anywhere from $50 to $2,000+ per month in recurring revenue.
Mailchimp
"Mailchimp helps small businesses market themselves through beautiful emails and landing pages that are easy to make and track."
Why It Works
- Resonates emotionally – small business owners desperately need marketing help
- Communicates how it helps – easy, beautiful emails and landing pages
- Focuses on outcomes: effective marketing to help small businesses succeed
Mailchimp‘s user friendly, design-forward approach combined with value explicitly targeting small business frustrations fuels incredible word of mouth and user adoption.
Now contrast those excellent value propositions with a less effective example:
Weak Value Proposition
"As a leading global provider of cloud-based business solutions, Acme enables organizations to improve business performance using actionable insights unlocked by our enterprise-grade technology, tools and support capabilities."
Why It Falls Flat
- Fails to connect emotionally or highlight how Acme helps customers
- Generic claims apply to any software provider – not unique
- Jargon-heavy pitch fails to focus on outcomes real buyers care about
Without specifics on how Acme makes organizations more productive or profitable, this value proposition misses the mark.
Use these strong and weak examples to guide crafting compelling value propositions that sell.
Top Value Proposition Templates and Generators
While independently brainstorming and testing original value propositions has advantages, pre-built templates and generators offer fantastic convenience.
Leveraging existing frameworks aligned to industry best practices accelerates creating initial versions for further refinement and optimization later.
Below we detail the top value proposition templates and automated tools available:
| Product | Key Features | Pricing | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frase Value Proposition Generator | AI-powered creation requiring minimal inputs | Free | ***** |
| Smartsheet Value Proposition Templates | Professionally designed templates for various business models | Free | **** |
| WriteCream Product Value Proposition Generator | Automated AI generator creates impactful value props in seconds | Free | **** |
| NeuralText Value Proposition Generator | Customizable AI generator | Free plan. Upgrades available | **** |
| Creately Value Proposition Canvas Template | Fill-in-the blank visual canvas | Free plan. Upgrades available | *** |
| Praxie Value Proposition Tools & Templates | Extensive suite of templates and builders | $12/month | ***** |
| NeuralImpact AI Value Proposition Creator | AI assistant asks questions then suggests optimized messaging | 14-day free trial | **** |
| Hashtag Slayer Value Proposition Generator | Basic automated generator creates initial draft | Limited free version | *** |
Spend time reviewing multiple options from the above list to find tools best aligned to your specific product, service and target customers. Most offer free trials to test drive value proposition draft creation.
While initially leaning hard on templates and generators to speed up crafting a baseline value proposition delivers quick wins, still allocate effort to refine and optimize further.
Additional Value Proposition Resources
Beyond the core recommendations shared above, huge amounts of supporting materials exist online to continue developing savvy value-focused positioning:
-
Complete Guide to Value Propositions – Massive examples, templates and guidance resource
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Value Proposition Strategyzer Canvas– Free downloadable visual tool
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One Page Value Proposition Examples – Value props summarized by industry
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Value Proposition Infographic – Visual overview of key statistics and trends
Bookmark these sites for ongoing value proposition development reference.
Conclusion
A phenomenal value proposition serves as the bedrock for all high-performance marketing. Concisely conveying how you uniquely add value leads to winning more customers, keeping them longer and capturing greater lifetime value from each one.
While often treated as an afterthought, few business practices reward focus and continual optimization more than perfecting value-driven messaging aligned directly with target buyer needs and friction points.
This guide provided actionable frameworks to build outstanding value propositions completely from scratch. Additionally, leaning on pre-built templates and generators accelerates creation of initial versions well-grounded in industry best practices.
Choose tools from the recommendations shared that align closest to your specific customers, offerings and use cases. Populate templates to establish an effective baseline value proposition, then aggressively refine and test to maximize resonance and impact.
What value do buyers clearly realize by engaging with your company? If the answer appears elusive, revisit the guidance within this article. Once defined, continuously reinforce value realized across every consumer touchpoint.
Now equipped with concrete steps and resources to communicate differentiated value, apply these diligently to connect with customers emotionally, consistently beat competitors and sustainably grow revenue.
