A unique value proposition (also called a UVP or value prop) is a clear statement that communicates the value of your product or service. It describes the benefits of your offer, how it solves customers’ problems, and why it’s different from other options.
Your UVP meaning is your answer to a simple question: why should a customer choose you over your competitors?
It should be the first thing a visitor sees on your website homepage, product pages, and landing pages . And a cornerstone of your marketing campaigns .
A Unique Value Proposition Is Not a Mission Statement or Tagline
A UVP tells customers what you offer and why they should choose you. Mission statements and taglines influence customers in a similar way.
A tagline (or slogan) is a short, memorable line that captures the idea of your brand :
Mission statements and taglines are important marketing messages for your business, but they aren’t interchangeable with your value prop.
“Your personal Nike co-creation starts here. Make something they’ve never seen before by creating your own iconic sneakers with Nike By You . ”
This UVP is specific to the product. It tells customers what makes Nike By You offer the perfect solution for their current need in a way that a mission statement or tagline can’t.
Unique Value Proposition vs. Unique Selling Proposition
A unique value proposition explains why customers should care and what they get out of it
Robinhood is an investing platform that’s built for inclusiveness—no matter your level of investing experience. Its USP sells that benefit.
“Build your portfolio starting with just $1. Invest in stocks, options, and ETFs at your pace and commission-free.”
Because a unique selling point captures what’s special about your product, you can use it to craft a value prop.
For example, Robinhood’s UVP headline “build your portfolio starting with just $1” informs its USP. $1 is a low barrier to entry. It’s another way of saying “investing for everyone.”
You can use USPs to pique your audience’s interest. UVPs encourage potential customers to act on their interest.
What Does a Great Unique Value Proposition Look Like?
In 20 words, Trello sells the value of its platform by telling people that they can manage multiple projects in one place.
It solves the problem of teams having to communicate across different channels and the various challenges that come with it (e.g., missed deadlines, prolonged tasks, endless email chains).
A good UVP might also include an additional selling point to win a customer over. These are small things that make an offer a little bit more attractive.
In the above example, Trello adds “Sign up – it’s free” in its call-to-action (CTA) . “It’s free” is a valuable add-on for budget-conscious customers.
These elements can tip the scales in your favor and convince a customer to choose you over a competitor.
Types of Unique Value Proposition
These themes reflect buyer motivations. People often purchase based on one or more of the following:
For example, Slack’s value prop plays on its reputation as a leader in business messaging platforms:
Both tap into what customers want. Slack’s customers want the market leader. Chanty’s customers want an affordable alternative to Slack.
Before you work on your value proposition, be clear on what you want to deliver to customers.
Semrush’s Market Explorer tool can help you find where you fit in your target market by curating insights on your competition.
Click “ Find Competitors .” Then, enter your website URL and hit “ Research a market .”
The “ Overview ” tab shows you who your biggest competitors are. It also visualizes their market share, audience behavior, and growth rate.
For now, all you need are names. Manually search for more details about the players who occupy the same space:
This initial research will give you an idea of what your UVP needs to get across.
How to Create Your Unique Value Proposition
For your value prop to hit the mark, you have a deep understanding of your audience, your offering, and how your product or service fits into the customer’s world.
Don’t write a UVP based on what you think you know. Base it on research and testing so you’re sure it will attract your target audience.
Conduct Customer Analysis to Find Key Pain Points
If you know what makes your customers tick, you can craft a UVP that speaks their language.
To get started, pick 5-10 of your most loyal customers from your CRM (customer relationship management) platform to survey or interview.
If you don’t have many (or any) customers yet, you can find people to interview by:
Look for common themes in your research. If you spot the same needs, problems, and motivations popping up, you can address them in your value prop.
Find What Differentiates Your Product or Service
Your differentiators are the distinct and unique value that sets you apart from the competition. They’re the reasons for customers to choose you over a rival.
To find your differentiators, ask yourself: What does my product or service do better than anyone else?
This might be your materials, product functionality, customer service, or price. Your customer research will help with this task.
These help Apple’s products feel more exclusive and premium than Android smartphones, where multiple brands share the same software.
For example, “free shipping” is a positive and powerful add-on to your UVP. But it doesn’t differentiate you.
When you have your list, create a competitor comparison chart to rank your strengths against others.
A comparison chart is as simple as a side-by-side list. You can expand this to include several competitors. For example, this simple chart compares five competitors in the categories of organic search, paid search, and local search.
Use the Market Explorer tool to find 3-5 competitors in your space. Write down how each product or service solves a pain point for customers.
Whatever’s left on your list after this exercise is a differentiator. And a competitive advantage to highlight in your UVP.
Map Out a Value Proposition Canvas
A value proposition canvas explores the components of your company that contribute to a strong UVP.
It’s designed to help you gain clarity about the value of your product or service and how it fits with what the customer wants.
Start with the customer profile. You can use what you’ve gathered from your customer analysis to complete this section.
Customer jobs: What task does your customer need to complete, or what problem do they want to solve, with your product or service?
Pains: What negative experiences or risks does a customer have when trying to solve their problems?
Now move on to the value proposition map. This describes what your product or service offers the customer:
Products and services: What products and services do you offer that create the biggest gains and ease the most pain for your customers?
For example, if you run an online coffee brand, coffee subscriptions are a “must-have.” These help customers get the type and amount of coffee they need.
Branded mugs are “nice to have.” They make customers happy, but they’re not essential to the core product.
When the value proposition map addresses the biggest pains and gains in the customer profile, you have a fit.
Write Your Unique Value Proposition
Now you’re clear on how you stand out from the competition, you can brainstorm ideas to find a unique value proposition.
To distil your insights into a concise statement, follow a unique value propositiontemplate like the Steve Blank formula:
This formula helps you emphasize benefits over features to appeal to your audience and their wants and needs.
Introduced in his book “ Crossing the Chasm ,” Fortune 500 companies use his formula to create their UVP by getting specific on industry, category, and value:
“For small businesses who want to grow online, Rockstar Websites is an ecommerce platform that lets you turn visitors into customers without technical expertise.”
Steve Blank’s formula might inspire a compelling headline , while Geoff Moore’s method might help you come up with important benefits for a subheading.
But this is a creative exercise. So don’t worry if you don’t strictly follow each template.
Test Your Unique Value Proposition with a Small Audience
The true test of a UVP is in your target audience’s reaction. Testing gives you valuable insights into what resonates and what needs to improve in order to optimize your conversion rate .
To do it, you’ll need to show your value proposition statement to your target audience .
Return to the customers you interviewed to get their feedback or use a tool like Wynter to put your message in front of your target demographic .
Another good way to test your value prop is to create two options and split test them.
A split test (also called an A/B test) works by showing 50% of a test audience version A (your original UVP), and 50% version B (a modified UVP).
Say you test two versions of your UVP on different landing pages and more people engage with version B. That’s the value prop to move forward with.
7 Effective Value Proposition Examples
One of the best ways you can learn about what makes a strong UVP is by analyzing examples.
1. Evernote
2. Grammarly
3. Stripe
4. Uber
5. WordPress
6. Mailchimp
7. EveryPlate
Value Propositions Evolve with Your Customers
But objectives can change as markets shift and your business evolves. So it’s important to revisit your value props.
Listen to your customers. Make a habit of gathering feedback about your product or service. Try a template like Strategyzer’s Value Proposition Canvas .
Prioritize insights over assumptions. The more you know, the easier it is to create unique value propositions that make your brand the best choice.
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