A value proposition is a promise of value to a client, which explains why they should work with you. To create a perfect value proposition use the following formula:
I do X for Y to achieve Z
Where:
X is your service or product;
Y is your ideal client;
Z is the result you are going to achieve for your client
Your service
The value proposition is built around your service. But it is not to be confused with mere service description. It is much more. It is a solution that you offer to your clients.
To create a value proposition answer the following questions:
What do you do?
How are you different from your competitors?
First, state what you do in two-three words. For some people it is obvious. Yet a lot of entrepreneurs struggle to answer this question. Especially when they have multiple areas of expertise.
For example, Jane is a mental health coach. She offers individual and group sessions. During these sessions, she uses various techniques like meditation and breathwork to release stress. Or healthy diet tips. She is professional with those techniques and perhaps even certified.
So, she wants to showcase her expertise upfront and say on her landing page: Mental health coach, Breathwork and meditation coach, Nutritionist.
In this case, knowledge doesn’t add credibility. In fact, people might question her expertise. Instead, Jane should clearly establish herself as a mental health coach.
She could add her breathwork and nutrition experience into a different section, for example, “the process” or “what you get”.
Now that a visitor is clear about who you are comes a second question. “Why should I buy from you instead of a competitor?”
Your value proposition may be inspiring or catchy, but most importantly it should be clear and concise.
So ask yourself: why is your service (product) better than that of a competitor?
Your perfect client
Understanding your client is key to success. Generic offers are unlikely to be heard. Instead, when you focus on a specific group of people, you can address their needs.
For example, you like bike riding. Which of these ads is more likely to grasp your attention:
- Everything you need for any sport
OR
- Comfy outfits for passionate cyclists
When you are doing everything for everybody, you will most likely reach nobody.
I am sure you are smart, talented, and capable of doing many things. But when you do it all, it’s hard to pinpoint a problem in your marketing campaigns. Instead, your message will be plain and generic.
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Such messages don’t drive sales.
When the offer is vague, people usually don’t buy. Instead, when your message is clear and concise, it makes you look more credible. They feel secure with you. Naturally, people want to work with those they trust.
So when writing your copy keep your target audience in mind.
Target audience
A target audience is a group of people who could be interested in your product or service. It is usually defined by gender, age, profession, location, and many other factors. So ask yourself who is your service most helpful for? This will help you understand your clients and how they make purchase decisions.
Understanding your target audience is crucial for promoting your service, whether you do it through email marketing or social media marketing.
Once you are clear on your target audience you may want to specify it even more. For example, if you are a relationship coach you will work with couples who got married recently and have problems sharing a household. You will also work with couples who have lived together for 20 years and want their love and passion back. You might work with a housewife, who feels her efforts in taking care of the home are underappreciated. Or you might work with a single person who would love to be in a relationship but seems to be left out of the dating game. You need to talk to these people in very different ways. This is where we need a customer persona.
Customer personas
A customer persona is an imaginary person who would be your perfect customer. You think of your customer persona as a real person. Give them a name, define their age, profession, and income.
You can have several customer personas. This is totally ok. Most experts can resolve multiple problems for various people. You can address all your customer personas on your website, just make sure to have a separate section for each.
When you are building a landing page, you need to pick one. If you want to address two different personas, you need to create two landing pages.
Following our example with the relationship coach, let’s focus on a single girl who cannot find love. Let’s name her Jane.
Jane is 30 and she has a full-time job. She is single because she doesn’t like the way she looks. For this reason, she doesn’t go out and obviously doesn’t meet new people. So she feels lonely.
When creating a landing page for Jane, we can add a headline like “Find Love” or “Attract the man of your dreams”.
Such headlines will grasp her attention. Headlines like “Build beautiful relationships” or “Resolve relationship problems” will not do the job. Relationship problems sounds too vague. Some parents have relationship problems with their children. People in unhappy marriage have relationship problems. These are different issues, and you cannot address them in the same way.
We can also address Jane’s pains like lack of self-confidence or feeling lonely. Ultimately, every client is looking for “pain relief”. Our job is to diagnose it right and offer a cure.
When creating a value proposition we need to answer the questions in your potential client’s head. Name the problems that they can relate to, and you got their attention.
Tell them how you are going to resolve it, and you close a sale.
Results
Make the benefits of your service crystal clear from the outset. This is going to be easy once you have identified your customer persona and their pain points.
Be specific and concise. Describe the exact results that your customer persona is looking for and focus on a single customer need at a time.
Explain what makes these benefits valuable for a customer. For example, if you help people to lose weight, the value is higher self-esteem, more energy, and better relationships.
Inspire your readers, tell them what they are going to get, and make it emotional. Remember, people buy emotions, not things. So paint the picture of the perfect life and let them dream.
And finally, make it unique. Is there a specific service that you offer, that others don’t? Or perhaps you are more qualified than most of your competitors. Think of what sets you apart from competitors and how it solves your client’s problem
Whether you lose a sale or close a sale largely depends on your value proposition. So make sure to get it right from the start and see your business grow!
