A short statement that convinces customers to invest in your product by describing its unique selling point and the problem it solves. The value proposition is a great tool for gaining customers and bringing clarity to teamwork.
It defines the project by describing the problem the product is trying to solve and why users are taking advantage of it. The user should not only be the focus of the product but also on the Value Proposition—the shorter and clearer the statement, the better.
A product’s value proposition provides one of the most important meeting points for user experience design and marketing. Although it deals mainly with selling rather than serving the customer, it involves matching their needs with your product. It usually gets better conversions and comes with additional benefits as well. It can set a common goal for your company, be something easy to refer to when you have doubts about which feature to develop and much more.
What makes up the value proposition?
A value proposition promises value you’ll deliver. It gives the primary reason a prospect should buy from you. It defines the first step of telling users what you offer. Your landing page offers the most trivial example of using the value proposition, but it can appear anywhere you need to convince your customer quickly: in an advertisement, the App Store, whatever.
We can easily confuse the value proposition with other marketing-related tools. Most commonly, we mistake it for a single sentence, like a slogan or tagline:
“Just do it”
Although Nike’s tagline expresses some values about the product (in its simplicity), it mainly aims for memorability. A value proposition involves more. You need to answer the following questions:
1) What do you do?
It may sound trivial to answer, but landing pages often lack it. Do you offer a service or an app? For businesses or regular customers? Imagine someone coming out of the blue with no background knowledge or context. Will they understand what you do in five seconds?
2) Why would I care?
This question extends from the first, and it deals with good targeting. Maybe I understand your product or service at a glance, but why would I care? What relevance has it had to my life? How can it make my life easier?
3) What makes you unique?
The third question helps distinguish you from your competitors. Maybe you can clearly define what your product does. Maybe you can also successfully target your customers’ pain points. But why choose your solution instead of the dozens of other products like it? Have you got a cheaper, faster, more effective, etc. solution? Stand apart from your competitors! Show customers what makes you different and give them a reason to buy from you.
The elements of the value proposition
You have five to fifteen seconds to answer these questions because the customer spends that much time deciding whether to use your service/product. We can answer these questions quickly in many ways. On a landing page, these elements do it the easiest:
Headline
Make the first thing your customer reads short and informative but catchy simultaneously.
Secondary headline
Grabbing their attention, the secondary headline lets you explain your offer more specifically.
Illustration or visual
Images communicate much faster than words. Show the product, the hero shot, or an image reinforcing your main message. Thousand words, etc.
Benefits
List the key benefits or features in three bullet points or smaller sections.
