If you only had 15 seconds to communicate to a consumer why they should give you their hard-earned money, how would you say it? The purpose of a value proposition is to define just that – the benefit you can provide to someone if they support you.
There’s an easy framework to writing a strong value proposition, outlined below so that you can hit all the bases when writing your own. This popular, simple framework developed by Steve Blank is as follows:
“We help [X] to [Y] by [Z].”
That’s it. Fill in your X, Y, and Z by asking yourself who your audiences are, what they need, and how your offerings solve their problems. Now, let’s look to real-world examples of value propositions using that use an adaptation of Steve Blank’s framework ito further understand how the brands we’re familiar with are incorporating these statements into their marketing communications strategies.
1. Slack makes it downright pleasant to work together.
Slack is a business platform that offers a solution for internal messaging and communications Without literally stating what they provide, Slack instead opts to communicate the emotion people feel when using the platform. They understand that teams (X) need a streamlined platform (Y) in order to be efficient in their communications with one another (Z).
2. Anyone, anywhere, can start a business.
Shopify is a platform for developing online stores. Through this value proposition, they help small business owners (X), quell their anxieties about starting a business with limited resources or no digital know-how (Y), through an online platform that offers a step-by-step process on opening and managing a business (Z).
3. Great writing, simplified.
Grammarly is a simple to use AI-powered copy editor. Its value proposition defines what makes the program so great to use: people who want to improve their writing (X) can work on their grammar, syntax, formatting and clarity (Y) by using this artificial intelligence to catch any errors (Z).
Once you’ve got your value proposition set, the job isn’t done there. Does your value proposition align with what your consumers believe your benefit to be? How will your value proposition grow and change over time? Like with any marketing campaign, it’s important to test, evaluate, and reassess the success of your communications. By listening and evaluating in this way, you can ensure that you and your unique selling proposition remains relevant to those who are relevant to you.
