Everyone knows the old cliché “One man’s trash in another man’s treasure.” This is true in the world of goods, services, products and every other thing you can think of. Not every service or good is of equal value to different people, this includes money itself. If you are trying to sell something, it would be in your best interest to ensure that you are meeting all of your customers’ expectations. If you don’t, chances are they will begin weighting the benefits, costs and other factors themselves, which may have you playing second string to your competition.
The term “value proposition” has been around since 1944, however really took off near 1997. The fact is that you have to learn to embrace value proposition by learning its value and understanding what it is not.
The Value Proposition: What it is Not
One of the most important things to understand is what a value proposition isn’t. It is not a product feature. For example, if you sell a brand of chocolate that will melt slower than competitors you have to think about your audience. If your target customer is not residing in warm or hot weather, this is a feature that is not valuable to them. Where your produce and customer intersects is your value proposition. This is the reason or feature that they want to purchase your specific item or service.
The term value proposition became extremely popular with the dawn of the social media era. It can be a term used to describe the product you are offering, as well as the advertising methods you use. It is no longer effective to simply by face time with consumers through television and billboards. You have to demand and earn the attention of your target consumer.
Implementing Value Proposition into Social Media Marketing
Social media provides business’ the opportunity to use paid posts that will definitely receive more attention and visibility than organic posts, however when you use your social media marketing strategy wisely, you will be creating content that has its own value proposition, which will organically produce the attention and visibility that you desire. Doing this will create a value proposition for both your product, as well as your marketing.
In order to fully understand the power in the value proposition you create, think about this statement:
As a customer reads your position or sees your brand, their immediate thought is likely to be “What will I receive in return for taking time to read this?” If you have not developed a clear, concise value proposition, chances are they will move on.
There is no doubt that the concept behind value proposition is not new to marketing. However, it is important to know the definitions and how you can make it work for your marketing strategy. This includes understanding what this term does not mean. When you use the term “value proposition” properly two important things will result:
- You will look smart, both in the way you run your business, as well as the marketing strategy you have developed.
- When the value proposition is implemented well, you will sell more – this means bigger profits for you.
The benefits and advantages of understanding and implementing value proposition into your marketing strategy is clear, taking action to do so is also extremely important and can lead to an overall more profitable and well perceived business and brand.
