Unlocking the Power of Your Product
Building a Strong Value Proposition
Welcome back! In this article, we’ll be discussing value propositions and how to create a compelling one for your product or service
If you haven’t already, we recommend reading our previous article on hypothesis statements, as it lays the groundwork for understanding value propositions.
So, what exactly is a value proposition?
At its core, a value proposition summarizes why a consumer should use a particular product or service. It’s the culmination of hard work, including empathizing with customers, building problem and hypothesis statements, and understanding their pain points.
Ultimately, the goal of a value proposition is to provide a clear and concise answer to the question, “What’s in it for me?”
To create a compelling value proposition, follow these steps:
Step 1: Describe your product’s features and benefits
Start by creating a comprehensive list of all the features and benefits of your product, big and small. You can organize them in a way that’s intuitive to you, whether that’s an excel spreadsheet, Notion template, or sticky notes.
Say you’re building a wedding app, your list of features and benefits could include easy-to-use design, rate negotiation, calendar bookings, location of venues, distances to the nearest transport hubs, no hidden fees, and payment by instalments.
Step 2: Explain the value of the product
Once you have a complete list of features and benefits, categorize them according to the values they provide to users. These values should reflect what’s most important to your target audience. For instance, you could categorize the features listed above under two sections:
- Accessible: easy-to-use design, calendar bookings, location features, distances to the nearest transport hubs
- Cost: no hidden fees, payment by instalments
The number of categories you use will depend on your product and audience.
You may also have some items that don’t fit neatly into any category. That's fine- don't discard them. Just list them separately.
Step 3: Connect these features and benefits with the needs of your users
You should have clearly defined user personas at this point. Connect the features and benefits uncovered above with the pain points of your users. This will keep you focused on what users need, not just cool features and benefits. To determine value, take the personas you’ve developed and pair each one with a value proposition that meets their biggest pain point.
By following these steps, you’ll have a comprehensive list of value propositions for your product. However, in a market flooded with similar features and benefits, it’s essential to identify your product’s unique value proposition. To do this, review the list of value propositions that align with your user personas and eliminate those that your competitors also offer.
Other steps you can take
One effective way to gain insights into your product’s competitors is to analyze customer reviews on sites like trustpilot.
This can be very useful when you do not yet have a product or cannot afford a big user study.
At a high level you have answered these two questions:
- What does your product do? Clearly explain the offering that your product provides users.
- Why should the user care? Describe how your product addresses users’ pain points.
Thanks for reading! What are your thoughts?
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