The first thing that prospects look for in a brand is a brand’s value proposition.
Michael Skok who is a serial entrepreneur and a founding partner of Underscore VC says, “A value proposition is a positioning statement that explains what benefit you provide for who and how you do it uniquely well.”
“It describes your target buyer, the problem you solve, and why you’re distinctly better than the alternatives.”
The term “online value proposition” is fast becoming one of the key phrases for businesses operating in the digital world.
Dave Chaffey from Smart Insights states that an Online proposition should not merely be a replica of the value proposition which is available on offline channels. Instead, it should include the unique online benefits offered by the brand as well.
Why is it Important to have a strong online value proposition?
Clear and straightforward online value propositions for businesses should be used to “hook” potential customers into your business.
By clearly communicating your benefit and value-add to your prospects, you instantly give them the reason to choose your business over your competitors.
With a strong value proposition, you’ll be able to:
- Attract and convert more customers
- Increase customer loyalty
- Command higher prices
- Outperform your competition
- Explain how you deliver a quantifiable benefit
Unfortunately, most businesses have not drafted the best value proposition possible. This has led them to offer discounts, compete on price and spend large amounts on ad spend, which continues to hurt their brand value. ys to a great value proposition
According to Neil Patel, a good value proposition has four distinct elements.
1) Desire
This refers to drilling down to the core of what your customer requires. It could either be a problem, fear or frustration faced by the customer.
It’s vital to start the value proposition by recapping their need. This would help both the seller and the buyer on the exact requirement at hand.
2) Exclusivity
Even if you put forward the most incredible value proposition in the world, your potential customers aren’t necessarily going to take your word for it.
Customers are generally sceptical, so what proof can you offer to confirm “Why they should buy from you?”
A) Awards
Awards can create prestige, expand your PR and marketing opportunities, bring added credibility and provide a stage to assess your offerings.
B) Guarantees
Providing guarantees is an excellent way of assuring your customers on the quality of the products they’re buying from you. They also help enhance the brand’s reputation and serve as a unique selling point.
C) Methodology
A unique methodology helps you create a strong value proposition. As per Neil Patel “If you know something your competitors don’t, and the results show you’re right, you are perceived to be more valuable by the customers.”
3) Credibility
Credibility is all about you and how you are perceived by the customer. Strong credibility will influence the buyer’s purchase decision and help your marketing and sales development teams develop prospects.
Warranties, Trust Seals & Testimonials can help improve the credibility of the brand.
4) Clarity
Your value proposition should be broken down into an easy-to-understand sentence. The easier your value proposition is to understand, the easier it will be to persuade customers.
How to Communicate Your Value Proposition Online?
There is no single way of communicating your online value proposition clearly on main entry pages: However, we feel like it does boil down to a three-step formula.
- A strapline highlighting the most critical elements of the value proposition.
- A dedicated online section to communicating the benefit the offering has for the user.
- A section that outlines the features that delivers those benefits.
1) An Engaging Strapline
Boiling down an entire value proposition into a single sentence is far from easy and yet essential to success. Users often leave Web pages in 10–20 seconds, but pages with a clear value proposition can hold people’s attention for much longer. And the strapline is a critical component in achieving that.
Here are some examples of a great strapline
2) Presenting Your Benefits
Once we have grabbed the user’s attention, it’s vital to outline what the main entry pages and associated product can offer them. That means outlining the benefits it can bring and the pain points it will help them overcome.
3) Communicating Your Features
People want to know how exactly what your company intends to deliver based on the claims promised by companies.
Overcoming these concerns is usually addressed on a landing page through the use of social proof and feature lists.
Curious on what makes a great landing page tick? Here are some examples
How to test your Value Proposition
You have to test your value proposition. How could you do this? There are two main ways.
1) A/B testing
The best way to test your value proposition is to craft two testers and split test them. Ideally, you’d measure sales conversions (for the most accurate results), but if that’s not possible, lead counts or even click-through will do.
Learn how to run A/B tests here.
2) Pay-per-click advertising
A fast and cheap way to go about it is to use Google Ads or Facebook Ads.
Split test ads with different value propositions that target the same customer.
The ad with a higher click-through rate is a better attention grabber and interest generator, although it doesn’t necessarily mean higher sales conversions
Conclusion
You need a value proposition, and you need to communicate it clearly on all the main entry pages: homepage, product pages and category pages.
If you don’t clearly state why users should buy from you, you will lose most of them.
So there you have it! The formula for creating an Engaging Online Value Proposition.
Let us know what your thoughts and suggestions on some of the other approaches businesses could employ to create an engaging OVP in the comments section.
Let’s talk.
and we’ll help figure out what is required to take your business towards your next phase of growth