A Unique Value Proposition (UVP) is a statement that clearly describes the unique values your business offers to the customers. It gives a brief overview of your targeted customers, the benefits you offer, how it can solve your customer’s problems, and how you stand out from the competition.
People often confuse it with the mission statement, but there is a significant difference between them. UVP gives the outline of why customers need to choose you, whereas the mission statement describes the business goals.
Elements of a Unique Value Proposition
1.Relevancy
The UVP should be relevant to the specific needs, problems, and pain points of the targeted audience. Failing to relate to the customer problems, makes your product or service less attractive to customers.
2.Benefit
It should communicate the key advantages of your product or service to the customers. The benefits you offer should solve their pain points or should deliver a unique value, that the competitors fail to deliver.
3.Convenience
The product or service that you offer should be convenient and easy to access. This helps customers achieve their needs with minimum time and effort.
4.Risk
The UPV should address the potential risks a customer may experience using the product and services. The risks may be either financial, time, reputation or trustworthiness. Crafting a strong UPV can reduce the fears by offering guarantees, trials, or testimonials.
How to Craft a Unique Value Proposition?
Crafting a compelling UVP requires understanding key distinctions, such as Product Marketing vs Growth Marketing, to ensure your approach resonates with the right audience.
1.Identify Your Customer’s Pain Points
- A strong Ideal Customer Profile helps you craft a Unique Value Proposition that speaks directly to the needs and pain points of your most valuable customers.
- Understand the problems or needs of your targeted customers. It can either be emotional, practical or financial.
- Having in-depth research on the pain points through surveys, social listing, customer feedback, or interviews can help identify the problem better, and help frame the UVP accordingly.
2.Understand Your Competitors
- Your UVP plays a key role in defining your competitive edge, which should seamlessly integrate into your Go-To-Market Strategy to enhance market penetration.
- Do a competitive analysis to identify your competitors with a deep insight into their strengths, weaknesses, offerings and customer feedback.
- Understand the communication method of how they position their products or services.
- Analyze the gaps, to find your opportunity to enter the market.
3.Highlight Your Offerings
- List down your core benefits, stating what you do best, and what unique offering you serve, that helps stand out from competitors.
- Communicate clearly and simply, for an effective UVP.
- Frame the benefits and explain the features that solve the customer’s pain points or provide unique values.
4.Differentiate Yourself From Competitors
- In a highly competitive market, what makes you stand out from the competitors is the unique things you offer.
- Address the unique offerings, stating the specific reasons why the customer needs your product or service than the competition.
- Always address the gaps that your competitors missed out, on to stay ahead.
4 Methods to Craft Unique Value Propositions
Steve Blank Method
- This method emphasizes the benefits derived from the features with a simple sentence instead of focusing on the features.
- This formula is brief and very direct, that connects the target market and their pain points to the solution.
Example Template: “We help (X) do (Y) by doing (Z)”
Geoff Moore Method
- Geoff Moore’s Method offers a template that is more specific in identifying the industry category alongside the benefits customers value.
- This makes a clearer proposition formula.
Example Template: “For [target customer] who [needs or wants X], out [product/service] is [category of industry] that [benefits]”
Harvard Business School Method
According to the Harvard Business School method, a unique value proposition is delivered best when it answers the following questions:
- What is my brand offering?
- What job does the customer expect from my brand?
- What brands and products compete with my brand?
- What makes my brand stand out from competitors?
Slow Story-Telling Method
The slow storytelling method is a different approach to crafting a unique value proposition. This involves eight steps and is built on the belief that activating social, environmental, cultural, and economic values makes more stronger value proposition.
The eight steps involve,
- Narrating the Organization
- Redefining the Audience
- Articulating the Heritage
- Mapping the Journey
- Enhancing Sustainability
- Engaging the ethical consumers
- Involving the customer as an advocate
- Enriching the customer experience
Examples of Unique Value Propositions
WordPress
Unique Value Proposition: “Create your new website for free- WordPress.com is the best place for your personal blog or business site.”
- What is the company selling?- A free website.
- Benefits it offers- It’s free.
- Target Customer- People who want a personal blog or a business suite.
- How do they stand out from competitors?- It’s free and built specifically for personal and business sites.
- Bonus- Clear call-to-action to create a website
Apptimize
Unique Value Proposition: “Break Free of App Store Approvals- Mobile optimization in minutes, not months for iOS and Android”
- What is the company selling?- Tools that help with mobile optimization.
- Benefits it offers- Quickly optimize mobile apps.
- Target Customer- Developers who know what mobile optimization is and are frustrated with App Store approvals.
- How do they stand out from competitors?- Their benefits are clearly stated to solve the problems of their customers.
- Bonus- Their background image emphasizes the idea of breaking free.
Skillshare
Unique Value Proposition: “Learn New Creative Skills- Explore thousands of online classes in design, photography, business, and more.”
- What is the company selling?- Online creative courses.
- Benefits it offers- Learn a new, creative skill online irrespective of time.
- Target Customer- People who want to learn new skills from their place.
- How do they stand out from competitors?- They made it clear that the courses are offered for learning creative skills.
- Bonus- Their background photo of people learning and practicing their newly learnt skills adds a bonus advantage.
Soundcloud
Unique Value Proposition: “Find the music you love. Discover new tracks. Connect directly with your favorite artists.”
- What is the company selling?- A tool to find music and connect with artists.
- Benefits it offers- It’s easier to find new music.
- Target Customer- People who love music.
- How do they stand out from competitors?- Directly connect with your favorite artists rather than just listen to their music.
- Bonus- Provides immediate value with trending music with ease.
Conclusion
In summary, a Unique Value Proposition (UVP) is essential for any business that looks to differentiate from its competitors.
It is the way of communicating unique benefits and values that the products or services offer to the customers. It support your broader marketing efforts, whether you prioritize rapid experimentation in Growth Marketing vs Digital Marketing.
A well-crafted UVP gains the trust and credibility of the customers and drives sales, irrespective of the competition. It helps the business sustain for a long time.
