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5 Elements You Need to Create a Powerful Value Proposition

Written by Step Change | February 10, 2022

UPDATED: As of 2 June 2022

When creating your value proposition, one thing you should never forget is that people make emotional decisions and then rational justifications. They are not buying the product or service. They are buying the benefits or outcomes they receive.

A truly great value proposition focuses on this by including these 3 things to get maximum value:

  1. Ground in insight and an understanding of what your customers really want
  2. Powerful and relevant brand messaging 
  3. Alignment with your purpose and tone to be memorable and believable

 

What Should Your Value Proposition Focus On?

Have you noticed how most businesses talk about themselves? Check the “About Us” page, and you’ll see that they are actually saying the same message:

“We’ve been around since so-and-so, and we’ve been serving our customers in a friendly environment. What makes us different is that we care about our customers. In fact, our values are respect, integrity, and trust.”

You don’t want to sound like your competitors.

In this blog post you will learn that there is a better way to talk about your business.

The first thing you need to realise is that your brand lives in your customer’s mind, not on your shelf or in your office. A value proposition is a statement of everything you do that adds value for your customer. It’s a communication of value as a proposition to buy. Imagine your most loyal advocate sitting next to a prospective customer in a bar. The summation of what they say about your business is your value proposition.

A truly great value proposition should:

  1. Leave room for your customer.
  2. Speak your customers' language.
  3. Be customer-centric, and focus on customer value, not what you have done.
  4. Talk about outcomes, not inputs.

All these said, it’s an important part of your marketing to get your value proposition right.

Need a Value Proposition? Let Us Help!

 

Here are the five crucial steps to get from what’s great about your business to something customers engage with.

 

1. Know your purpose and ambition

Your purpose is the reason you’re in business, your mission considerate of values. Ambition is what you aspire to be; this is how you know you’ve won. It should touch, move, and inspire you, your staff, and your customers, and it should guide your business strategy.

These two are so important you should be putting it on your front door, and it should be the first thing customers see when they go to your website so that people would know why your business exists.

 

2. Understand who your customers are and what’s going on in their world

One of the biggest mistakes that businesses make is trying to speak to too many people. Some would say, “Anyone with a wallet is our customer”. That doesn’t give any differentiation value. Stop asking the question, “How many people can we talk to?” The correct question to ask is “How few people can we talk to frequently enough to be successful?”

The tighter you define your customer audience, the more relevant you can be to that audience, with both your selling messages and your advertising spend working together.

 

3. Craft your value statements

What makes your product or service valuable and unique? Most businesses talk about the same thing and forget to mention the things that make them truly stand out; they forget to give their most persuasive reason people should notice them. Focus on what makes you different.

  • Start by listing all the features. These are aspects of your business that deliver value for your customers. They have to be specific, measurable, and exact.
  • Identify the benefit. This is the value your customer gets from a corresponding feature.
  • Think about the implication. This is the outcome that is now possible in your customers’ lives that was not there previously. While product features are important, remember that customers are not buying your product or service — they are buying the benefits they get from it.

4. Know your brand personality

We buy from people we like, and we like people for different reasons. What’s important is that as a business, you stand for something and then act consistently with that over time. Your brand personality is your guide to how you need to act to build a relationship with your customers.

These are the 12 archetypes Step Change refer to for their work with clients. For an in-depth discussion about brand archetypes and how they power the world's most memorable brands, download our ebook today.

Recommended article: What Are Brand Archetypes? How Do They Power the World’s Most Memorable Brands?

 

5. Understand where you can bring the most value

There are only two real ways to grow your business; make a bigger pie, or take a bigger piece. In most cases, the latter is the most prevalent. So how do we take a bigger piece? First of all, by knowing who has got your money and then positioning yourself in a way that cuts through all the marketing noise in today’s super competitive and complex communications age. This is just one of the elements that makes a good predatory marketing strategy.

 

Conclusion

Instead of beginning every conversation and introduction with how long you’ve been on business — like what most other businesses are doing — begin with your purpose and your ambition, know your target customers, craft your value statements, identify your predatory position, and identify your brand personality. Follow these steps for a powerful and more effective value proposition that will make you stand out and make people want to buy.

Download the full PDF Version of 5 Elements You Need to Create a Powerful Value Proposition (With Case Studies)

Now that you’ve learned the crucial elements in creating a powerful value proposition, it’s time to apply them to your business. This PDF contains case studies and specific examples for each element to help you get started. 

Get your copy today. 

 

 

Written by Ashton Bishop, CEO at Step Change

Ashton Bishop is Australia’s Predatory Thinker — an expert in pinpointing how businesses can grow by outsmarting their competitors. His niche is in strategy, where he has spent the last 14 years working internationally on some of the world’s biggest brands. He’s a business owner and serial entrepreneur; challenging, sometimes even controversial; but always focused on what gets results.