The Value of a Value Prop - Part 2
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This document explains the importance of a value proposition (value prop) in marketing and describes a step-by-step process for developing one. Key steps include gathering information about the product, customer needs, and competition, followed by writing and refining concise, active sentences. The iterative process emphasizes clarity, provability, and customer focus to create an effective value prop that attracts interest.
The Value of a Value Prop - Part 2
- 1. INTRODUCTION Everyone in business – and in marketing especially – knows that you need to have a value proposition (aka, value prop). But yet, no one really seems to know why, it’s just one of those things that if you’re in business, you’re supposed to have. What’s worse, many marketers don’t know what a value prop should include or how to develop one. In Part 1 of this blog we discussed what a value proposition is and why you need one. In Part 2 of this blog, we’ll explain how to quickly and easily craft an effective value proposition. HOW TO DEVELOP AN EFFECTIVE VALUE PROP How do I develop a value prop that isn’t just a restatement of other marketing materials? While there are many ways you can go about developing a value prop, it basically boils down to a few simple steps: STEP 1 The first and most important thing to remember when developing a value proposition is that a value prop is NOT a sales pitch. This is critical, because too many marketers
- 2. don’t understand that fact. You’re not trying to sell a customer on anything through the value prop. All you’re trying to accomplish is to generate interest in the buyer. STEP 2 Next you need to gather information on the following and make certain you understand it: What your product does What the customer problem is that your product solves What the value of your product is to your customer What makes your product different/better than the competition Why a customer should buy your product over the competition This is the minimum amount of information you need to begin developing a value prop. However, the more in-depth knowledge you have about this information, the better you’ll be able to develop the value prop. STEP 3 Once you’ve gathered the above information, then the value prop development process actually begins. The easiest way to start is by writing short, informative sentences that encapsulate the above information. As you begin writing these statements, be sure to use a strong, active voice in the sentences, not a passive voice. Write down as many of these sentences as you can, remembering that at this point, the main thing you want to accomplish is to distill the information into sentences. In effect, this is a brainstorming exercise based on what you know about your product, your customers, and your competition. Don’t begin judging or editing the sentences yet, that will come in the next step. Right now you just want to begin crafting them. STEP 4 After you’ve created the initial sentences, then begin the editing process. This is where the information you’ve gathered begins taking shape into the actual value proposition. As you begin editing, remember that the value prop you’re developing should be a concise distillation of the most critical information and ideas that you want to communicate to your customers, so that it gives them a reason to want to learn more. Begin editing by reviewing the statements to determine what information is redundant or unclear, which statements are too long or too wordy, etc. Doing this helps you begin to rethink the statements you’ve written to determine how you can revise or restate them, making them much more crisp, clear and concise. As you go through that process, you
- 3. should also begin combining and refining the statements, as that is what you will use to create the value proposition. While many marketers think that this process is a one-and-done type of process, the reality is that this process will take some time; you won’t create the perfect value prop after only one try. Developing a value prop is an iterative process, so it will likely take several attempts. Repeat these steps as often as is necessary until you’ve developed a tight, well-written value prop that provides your customer with a reason to want to learn more about your product. SUMMARY That’s really all there is to it. Developing a value prop is an iterative process, it’s not something that you can just create once and be done. Remember, that in order to be effective, a value prop needs to be: Focused on the customer outcome, not the product/service/solution Use a strong, active voice, not a weak, passive voice Crisp, clear, concise Provable, supportable (if you can’t quantitatively prove it, with quantifiable data, then don’t use it; anecdotal evidence is useless) Tells a story, but in just a few sentences Clearly defines your advantage over the competition Appeals to the customer’s strongest needs and business drivers © 2021 – Richard Hatheway / Catalyst Strategic Marketing #marketing #valueprop #valueproposition