What is a Unique Value Proposition and Why it Matters
There are many elements to a strong brand foundation. Arguably, the most important of those elements is the Unique Value Proposition - not to be confused with your mission, vision, elevator pitch or positioning statement.
A Unique Value Proposition is a single sentence communicating the value of your offer to your target market. It tells your potential customers why they should give a damn and entices them to click, subscribe, read on, buy etc.
The task can feel daunting, it definitely did for us. I mean, how are you supposed to convey the complexity and awesomeness of your company in one sentence!? But we rolled up our sleeves got to work, and I have to say, once we nailed our UVP, the rest of our brand foundation fell into place seamlessly. Now we feel uber confident in marketing Zagga Creative effectively and attracting our dream clients.
Read on to learn tips and gain inspiration for writing and refining your own UPV.
Why a UVP is a must have
You have 10 seconds to catch a potential customers attention, that's it. So whether a client has landed on your homepage, scrolls over your post on instagram or receives your newsletter you need to make sure they immediately understand who you are, what you do and why they should buy from you.
It's the foundation of your Brand Foundation. Every other piece of your Brand Foundation is inspired by the UVP, so nail the UVP and you'll nail the whole shebang.
You're giving potential customers a reason to take action. Even if you catch their attention, if they don't take an action - read more, book a call, buy now etc. - it won't turn into a sale and a business without sales is a hobby.
Where you use it
Homepage of your website, above the fold
Social media profiles
Brand Book
Business Cards
Newsletter Header
Promotional Flyers
How you use it
You use your UVP for two things. The first is to communicate the value of your offer to your target market quickly. This is why we put the UVP on the homepage of your website above the fold or on the front of your business cards.
The second, is as lens to gauge whether something is on brand or not for your business. Every decision you make should support your UVP, if you keep coming up with ideas and strategies that don't, it's time to tweak your UVP. This is why we put it in our brand book and internal SOP's so it's always top of mind.
The 3 Key elements of a great UVP
What sets you apart from the competition - your differentiators
How you solve for your customer's needs - what you do
Who you're serving - your niche
When writing your UVP remember to use your brand voice. If your brand voice is conversational and fun, don't get hung up on corporate language. If you have certain keywords that are a staple for your brand, try to incorporate one or two. We're all about brand "strategy" and being "bold" so we made sure to include those keywords in a way that communicated value to our UVP.
We also used language like "we're here to help" and "collaborative" to express our emphasis on teamwork and client experience. And the phrase "change the world" speaks directly to our niche of mission driven, outside of the box thinking businesses.
Prompts to get you started
What do you want to be known for?
What are you best in the world at?
What is the biggest problem your niche experiences?
How do you solve that problem?
How do you ensure a great client experience?
examples of great UVP's to get those wheels turnin
Rational Unicorn
Photo from Squarestylist.com
New Seasons
Photo from Newseasonsmarket.com
Glossier
Photo from Glossier.com
Now that you know what a Unique Value Proposition is, why it's important and how to write one, it's time to get to work! While you're working remember two things...first, Rome wasn't built in a day so give yourself some time to wrestle with your UVP and second, your UVP isn't carved in stone (unless it is and then I don't know what to tell ya), you can always tweak it later so don't get caught up in getting it perfect.