Your company’s unique value proposition can make or break your relationship with your audience, your investors, your customers, and your competition. Your value prop can also help you understand and manage your customer value.
In other words: It’s hugely important. There’s a lot of pressure when it comes to making a good one.
This brief encapsulation of what you bring to your ideal customer should inform and excite the world about your offerings. It should do so in a concise and catchy way.
Creating the perfect unique value proposition can be very difficult. Some brands have done it better than others. Let’s take a brief glance at some examples of value propositions to see just how well successful companies can quickly sell us on their brand – and how a poor value proposition can instantly kill any interest we may have in a product.
Examples of Top-Tier (and Truly Terrible) Unique Value Propositions
These famed brands have thought long and hard before coming up with succinct, snappy value propositions. As a result, they’re good examples to follow when you’re creating yours.
- Airbnb: Book a unique home; experience a city like a local. This plays on the aspiration that most tourists have – to get the ‘real,’ non-touristy experience that a city can offer.
- Google Drive: A safe place for all your files. By mentioning safety, Google assuages any concern the audience has about online security; by saying that it’s a place for ‘all’ files, it implies simplicity.
- Uber: Tap the app, get a ride. No one likes waiting for a cab or trying to hail a taxi. Uber promises that you don’t have to do that anymore – which is a concept that can’t fail to excite.
- Pinterest: The world’s catalog of ideas. By emphasizing the global nature of its platform, Pinterest reminds us just how much there is out there – and positions itself as an easy way to access a world of inspiration.
- Bitly: Shorten. Share. Measure. With a statement as brief as the links it provides, Bitly’s value proposition tells audiences exactly what to expect with its service.
These less-great value props don’t provide as much information – or interest – as those we’ve listed above:
- Cypher Learning: The world’s best learning platform for entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, adjectives like ‘best’ don’t really say much about a product, leaving value props like this one lackluster.
- Head Digital: Head Digital works more and beyond. This is relatively vague; if you don’t already know what Head Digital Does, does this value proposition give you any idea about what it offers?
Putting together your brand’s unique value proposition can help you stand out from the competition – but don’t rush it. You’ll need time to figure out precisely what works for you!