Content Marketing
How to Integrate Your Unique Value Proposition into Your Content

How to Integrate Your Unique Value Proposition into Your Content

February 10, 2021
8 min read

Your value proposition (VP) should tell consumers why they should choose to do business with you instead of your competitors.

It plays a huge role in converting leads into paying customers. According to IBM, 81% of consumers worldwide are either value-driven or purpose-driven. In other words, they care about getting reasonable prices, convenience, and shopping with brands whose values align with theirs.

If your value proposition is doing its job correctly, it should tell website visitors almost immediately – in just a few words – why your business is the best option for them.

How do you relay this seemingly complex message effectively? How do you say everything needed to win customers almost instantly?

You can do it through your online content. We’ll show you how.

Quick Takeaways:

  • Your value proposition is the unique value you promise to deliver to customers.
  • If used effectively, it can give you a substantial competitive advantage.
  • Keep your customers at the center of your value proposition.
  • Your VP should be the first thing website visitors see on your homepage. 
  • Your VP should focus on the benefits of your product/service, over the features and relay your purpose as a company.

What is a Value Proposition?

A value proposition (VP) is what makes your business unique. It’s what makes your offer better than your competitors’ and why consumers should choose you over them. It’s your “secret sauce.” It communicates a solution to the problem your business wants to solve in the world.

When someone lands on your homepage or another primary webpage, they should understand your value proposition immediately. In a short block of text paired with a visual element, your copy should describe the core benefits people will gain by working with you – something people can get from your brand only.

In short, your VP is the value you promise to deliver and why someone should buy from you. To your target audience, your value proposition should be:

  • Relevant
  • Clear
  • Compelling
  • Unique
  • Memorable
  • Valuable

What isn’t a Value Proposition?

It’s easy to start simplifying your company’s value proposition by thinking of it as a mission statement, company slogan, or tagline. But it’s not any of these things. It’s not a way to position your business in the market or an incentive to get visitors to act immediately, either.

Source: QuickSprout

Why Your Business Needs a Unique Value Proposition

A compelling value proposition can give your business an advantage over your competitors. If you relay how your business benefits others in a unique and invaluable way, you can win quality leads and customers.

Just make sure you keep your consumers at the center of your VP, focusing on their needs versus your offering. Speak to them in their language.

Clearly and concisely articulating why someone should choose your business over the competition isn’t easy to do. Fortunately, a value proposition is something you can test and improve continually. If you can master it, your business will reap the benefits.

Here are some benefits of creating and communicating a stellar value proposition:

  • Show consumers immediately that you can meet their needs.
  • Attract quality leads that are more likely to convert into customers.
  • Help potential customers understand the value of your services or products.
  • Stand out from your competition.
  • Relay your message in a way that people quickly understand and appreciate.
  • Convey a consistent message across your website and content marketing.
  • Guide your business to define its culture better.
  • Improve the user experience online (with web design and development).

How to Write a Value Proposition

Your VP should be the first thing visitors see when they land on your website homepage. You should also include it on every major entry point to your website – like product and service pages, team and culture pages, and your general “about” page.

Cover the Basics

Your statement should be relevant and unique while offering quantifiable value.

  • Relevance: How does your product or service solve a common problem or improve an undesirable situation?
  • Value: What, precisely, does your business offer customers?
  • Uniqueness: How is your business different from every other business? Why are you better than your competitors?

Source: Medium

Connect with Your Audience

Skip the industry jargon. Use everyday language that is easy to understand and conveys your message. The simpler your message is, the easier it will be for consumers to grasp, relay to others, and remember over time.

Speak in the language your target consumers enjoy and appreciate. You need to know your audience so well that you can jump into a conversation they’ve already begun and offer a straightforward solution to the problem at hand. If you can’t accomplish this, your value proposition will fail.

To learn more about your target audience, send out surveys, conduct interviews, do keyword research, and have meaningful conversations in person and online. Pay close attention to how consumers speak about their problems and how they view your offering.

Looking at your brand from their perspective will help you create stronger connections through your marketing and VP. If you can connect with consumers on a deeper level, you’ll capture their attention and be more memorable.

Include the Right Elements

Good value propositions include the following elements:

  • A headline: Craft a compelling headline that describes the end benefit you’re offering consumers.
  • A sub-headline or short paragraph of text: Include a blurb that briefly explains what you offer, who it helps, and why it’s useful.
  • Bullet points (optional): If needed, you can add bullet points to list key features or benefits.
  • A visual element: Visual content can help you capture interest and communicate faster. Include an image or a video that supports your copy and tells consumers more.

Source: QuickSprout

Answer the Right Questions

Before crafting your unique value proposition, ask yourself these questions. Take notes and research as you go. Later, you’ll choose the most significant pieces to prepare an effective VP for your website.

  • What benefits do you offer customers? Make a list of all the benefits and features your product/service provides your customers. For example, if you’re a content marketing agency, you could list things like driving traffic to websites, SEO, and capturing leads.
  • What value does your product/service bring customers? This often involves an emotional response and is a direct result of the benefits realized. For example, if a company buys keyword software, it can analyze its top competitors (benefit) and avoid the stress of conducting in-depth research manually (value).
  • Who is your target consumer? Write specifically to them. Put yourself in their shoes to understand their challenges and desires. Then you can directly address the problem with an appropriate solution. You’ll also connect with customers better through your VP if you show you understand them deeply.
  • What’s your purpose? According to Deloitte, purpose-driven brands grow three times faster than their competitors (on average) and achieve higher customer satisfaction. What your brand does and stands for should be clear. Your target consumers should understand what you offer and how it helps them.
  • Why is your offer different than any other company’s? Don’t mention other brands explicitly, but convey how your brand is the best option available. Is your product/service of higher quality? Is it more affordable? Will it make buyers feel a certain way? Is it a specific solution for a tiny, often forgotten niche? Ensure your audience quickly understands what makes your product or service different when they land on your website.
  • What’s your call to action? First, grab your customer’s attention. Then get them to act. Include a link or button that asks them to click for more information or to make a purchase.

Once you’ve compiled the information you need, it’s time to craft your value proposition. Identify the most vital points. Then condense them into a clear, concise statement with a short explanation and bullet points. Before publishing it anywhere, ask the following questions to ensure it’s straightforward, truthful, and compelling.

  • Is it clear?
  • Is it specific?
  • Is it attention-grabbing?
  • Does it take around five seconds or less to read and understand?
  • Does it convey how your brand is better than alternatives?
  • Is your offer desirable?
  • Is it something few (or no one) others offer?
  • Does it speak directly to your target audience?
  • Does it describe a prevalent pain point your business can solve?
  • Does it describe concrete results for your customers?
  • Does it include industry jargon, superlatives, or hyperbole? (It shouldn’t.)

Incorporating Your Unique Value Proposition into Your Content Marketing Strategy

Here are several ways you can integrate your value proposition into your content.

1. Website Homepage

When adding your VP to your website, try to keep it above the fold.

It should be the first thing users see when they visit your website. Place it in the hero image section – if you have one. Make sure it stands out and isn’t too close to other text or noisy graphics. It should be the focus of your page.

Choose fonts and colors that pop, and avoid visual clutter. Your VP should be your priority.

2. Storytelling

Use your value proposition and real customer experiences to develop case studies. Tell stories of how you helped customers find success by addressing their pain points and offering unique solutions.

You can conduct interviews and use direct quotes in your content to prove your product or service’s value.

3. Social Media and Ads

You can also incorporate your unique value proposition when drafting social media posts and ads. By telling your audience concisely and clearly how you add value to their lives, you can persuade them to act.

Use strong visuals and engaging copy that reinforce your VP. Use language that connects with your audience. Then target your ideal customers so they see your social posts and ads.

4. Landing pages

Another smart place to incorporate your VP is on your landing pages. Landing pages have a specific goal and purpose: to get people to take the desired action.

Infuse your VP into your landing pages to test how effective your copy and visuals are in gaining leads and customers. Consider conducting A/B tests to gauge the effectiveness of two variations of your VP on separate landing pages.

5. Testimonials

Consider including testimonials on landing pages and other website pages to support your VP and increase your credibility. 90% of people trust what customers say about a business over what the company says about itself. 95% of people say reviews influence their purchasing decisions.

6. Blog

Even your blog posts can communicate your VP. Every article you publish on your website should support your overarching business and marketing goals and speak to your target audience. Therefore, the content should fall under your VP umbrella.

Look at Intuit Mint as an example. The company’s value proposition is clear: “Experience a fresh way to manage money. Reach your goals with personalized insights, custom budgets, spend tracking, and subscription monitoring – all for free.”

Source: Intuit Mint

On their blog, Mint backs up their value proposition by providing free information on budgeting, credit, financing, money audits, saving, financial planning, etc. This information breaks down terms and concepts that their target audience needs to know to achieve the benefits promised successfully. It also gives them the knowledge and resources needed to help persuade them that the Mint app is right for them.

Examples of Outstanding Value Propositions

Here are some examples of effective value propositions in action.

Shopify

On the homepage, we quickly understand who the platform is for and why it’s valuable. It offers people all over the world an opportunity to start a business. The target audience is aspiring entrepreneurs – those who have ideas and are willing to act on them to put something new into the world. Shopify provides all the tools necessary to build and run a successful e-commerce website.

Source: Shopify

Skillshare

Skillshare’s VP combines dynamic visuals with copy that captures the interest of creatives and entrepreneurs. It helps its target consumers envision themselves playing, learning, discovering, and creating across different settings. It offers various ways to learn new or strengthen old skills.

Source: Skillshare

Evernote

From its homepage, Evernote is obviously a cloud-based note-taking platform for business-minded, organized people. The platform allows individuals to sync notes from various devices into one location, add multiple files and documents, change formatting, and find old notes quickly. We can gather all of this information simply by looking at the homepage above the fold.

Source: Evernote

Infuse Your Content Marketing with Your Unique Value Proposition

Your unique value proposition should be a core piece of your brand identity, which means it should come across in every piece of content you create. MIG can help you infuse your VP into your website content so website visitors understand who you are, what you offer, and why your business is unique.

Our Content Builder Services will help you bring more traffic straight to your website. We’ll craft compelling, quality content based on consumer needs. Our affordable packages include targeted weekly content to help your business reach, engage, and win new customers fast.

Learn more about our Content Builder Services.

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Michael Brenner

Michael Brenner is an international keynote speaker, author of "Mean People Suck" and "The Content Formula", and Founder of Marketing Insider Group. Recognized as a Top Content Marketing expert and Digital Marketing Leader, Michael leverages his experience from roles in sales and marketing for global brands like SAP and Nielsen, as well as his leadership in leading teams and driving growth for thriving startups. Today, Michael delivers empowering keynotes on marketing and leadership, and facilitates actionable workshops on content marketing strategy. Connect with Michael today.

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