How to Make Your Value Proposition Pop

Jan 18, 2021 | +1, Blog, CRO & UX, Digital Marketing

Your value proposition is more than just a sentence on your “about us” page. A value proposition lets customers know why your product or service is better than your competitors’ — which is why having a great one is so important to your sales (AKA conversion).

Your value proposition must be clear, strong and concise and should be communicated throughout your website in many different ways. However, knowing how to implement it is easier said than done. In this second installment of our Crash Course into SEO and CRO , let’s go over what makes a value proposition great and the various places you should be referencing it. 

The Characteristics of an Effective Value Proposition

For better or worse, people’s attention spans are becoming shorter and shorter, with the average attention span coming in at around eight seconds — eight ! That means you only have a few seconds to grab their attention and make them want to read more instead of scrolling past or clicking off. 

Your value proposition should:

  • Communicate the benefits to customers clearly
  • Solve or improve something
  • Explain why you are better than your competitors
  • Be well understood in eight seconds

Now, that’s a lot to communicate in such a short amount of time. Regardless if you already have a value proposition or not, every business can benefit from this exercise. Take a few seconds to check yours out and see if it fits all of these criteria. If not, we strongly recommend you re-evaluate yours 

5 Key Places to Have Value Proposition on Your Website

Once you have a strong value proposition, it’s time to start implementing it across your website. These six will serve as your brand’s cornerstone content. 

1. Homepage Headline

Hands down, this will be the most-read sentence on your website. Your headline either will let the reader know 1) why you’re different from competitors or 2) how they are benefitting from you. In an ideal world, it’d be both, but it can be hard to do in just a few words. 

Don’t waste time with clever slogans or catchy taglines in the main headline. If you’re a Target, Apple or Walmart, you can be cute. Until then, clear language is the way to go. Assume whoever is reading knows absolutely nothing about your company and only has a 6th grade level of education. And for SEO purposes, you’ll also want to use your “main” keyword here. 

Check out this example from Dollar Shave Club. They’re masters at boiling down their value prop into an easy to digest, complete thought in their headline.

dollar shave club

2. Subheadline

Just under the headline sits the subheadline. This is where you can get more detailed and touch on the points you weren’t able to in the main headline, such as what your product solves or improves for the consumer. Don’t repeat the headline; rather, use this space to buttress your first statement by highlighting the different aspects of your value prop. 

Take a look at this example from Mailchimp. The headline clearly communicates what they’ll do for you, while the subheadline lets you know how they’re different and why they’re better than competitors. 

mailchimp

3. Bullets

Another place to check off another key piece of your value prop is in the form of bullets. Bullets are easy to read, which further helps communicate your message quickly and effectively. These can be placed “below the fold” — meaning just below the main headline and subheadline or a little bit further down the page. 

Take a look at this example from our client, The Postage. The bullets are easy to read and clearly outline the benefits you’ll be receiving from their services.

postage

4. Hero Shot or Video

A video or graphic is a great way to change the form of your value proposition while still keeping the messaging consistent. It not only prevents your website from seeming redundant, but it also adds visual interest, which is a key component of maintaining and keeping the attention of customers and leads them further down your sales funnel. 

Some people even make their header image a video — like we did😉. If you haven’t seen it, here’s a screenshot for you, and be sure to check out the homepage for yourself! 

integrate

5. Persona Switchboard

Next — and this is mainly for your homepage or pages where you want to target different buyer personas — is to create a persona “switchboard.” These are pathways or links to pages that speak directly to your buyer personas. 

These are pages people would click on that answer the very questions specific buyer personas need answered in order to take the next step with your company. This is almost always accompanied by a strong call to action. 

Source Vital , a local beauty and wellness company based in Houston, does this amazingly. The beauty industry is vast and diverse, so Source Vital created separate links for each of the buyer personas they identified to help them find the product they’re looking for. 

source vital

Next Steps

All of this has to do with one thing: content. In marketing, content is king. People crave high-quality content that peaks their interest, tells a good story, or just entertains them and makes them feel good. 

Next, we’ll go over the content makeover of your site and how to apply the “value prop” method throughout it without being redundant. If you just can’t wait, you can also view the webinar where our CMO Paul Colgin touched on all of these subjects below! 

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