Evidence would indicate that most people have difficulty in defining their Unique Value Proposition (UVP). This largely arises from a lack of understanding as to what it really is and an appreciation for how powerful it can be. For anyone in business, failure to do so will lead to a lack of clarity within your market.
It is critical to your online success of your web site that you create your UVP. In fact, depending on your business you may find that as you market to a number of different market segments it may be appropriate to develop one for each segment.
One of the challenges faced in developing your UVP is that there is perceptions that value propositions are perceived as being a long and awkward sentence that demonstrates management’s inability to think clearly. Too often we get caught up in buzz words and jargon padded with indirect motherhood statements. We also fail to understand our market.
Apart form being essential to your overall market positioning, any UVP is critical to the optimisation of your web site. Your UVP should answer the following simple question:
“If I am your ideal customer, why should I buy from you rather than from your competitor?”To asses your UVP examine the level of desire it will create in your market and the degree of exclusivity of your offer. A simple method is to rate your UVP on each of these two criteria with a score of 1 to 3 with 3 being the highest rating. Multiply the 2 scores together and if the result is 4 or greater then you have hit the mark.
With the internet you can test your UVP by running pay-per-click ads and measure the result of the different variations to see which gets the best results. The one limitation of this approach however is that PPC ads are usually much shorter than your UVP, so it may not be truly reflective of market reaction. You may choose to run it past your peers and some of your customers to gauge their own reactions.
There are 3 simple steps to developing your UVP:
- IDENTIFY – look for the primary reason people want to buy your product or services
- EXPRESS – refine your value proposition until you can express it in a single instantly credible sentence
- TEST & REFINE – use micro testing, measure results and refine until you achieve the response you need
In putting your UVP together look at some of the already existing material you have lying around that point to your key aspects. See what you have already written in your About Us, FAQ, Help or Careers pages or documentation within your business. You will find many hidden gems in these places.
To wrap up – the key points to be followed in developing your UVP are:
- Write your UVP in terms of what it will achieve for your customers
- Substantiate any claims quantitatively where possible
- Be sure you leave no chance to create any doubt in your statement
- If you choose to mention prices be sure that they are overwhelmingly better than your competitors
- Keep it short and concise – if you have to take a deep breath half way through then it is probably too long
- Attach imagery to your UVP on your web site
- Avoid any generalisations
In conclusion – place your UVP right at the top of your web page prominently placed so everyone can easily see and read it.
