How to Write a Great Value Proposition [7 Top Examples + Template]

Your company‘s competitive advantage lives or dies by its value proposition. If you can’t clearly distinguish your product or service from your competitors — and then deliver on your brand promise — why should customers choose you?

The reality is that unclear or generic messaging leads to lost sales, poor conversion rates, and competitors winning business simply because their value is easier to understand. But writing a great value proposition doesn't have to strike fear into your heart.

→ Download Now: 15 Free Value Proposition Templates

In this guide, we‘ll show you exactly how to craft, test, and optimize a high-impact value proposition using actionable frameworks and real-world examples. You’ll learn what a value proposition is, what makes one effective, and how to create one that differentiates your brand, boosts conversions, and communicates clear value to your customers.

Table of Contents

• What is a value proposition?
• Elements of a Powerful Value Proposition
• How to Write a Value Proposition
• 4 Methods to Build Great Value Propositions
• Value Proposition Canvas
• Value Proposition Templates
• Value Proposition Examples
• Value Proposition Canvas Examples
• Tactics for Developing an Effective Value Proposition
• What Makes a Good Value Proposition?
• Value Proposition Frequently Asked Questions

What is a value proposition?

A value proposition is a short statement that communicates why buyers should choose your products or services. It‘s more than just a product or service description — it’s the specific solution that your business provides and the promise of value that a customer can expect you to deliver.

Your value proposition is the foundation of your marketing strategy and a critical conversion factor. Research shows that companies with clear value propositions see significantly higher conversion rates and customer engagement compared to those with vague or generic messaging.

The main purpose of a value proposition is to:

• Attract and convert your ideal customers by addressing their specific needs
• Differentiate your offering from competitors in crowded markets
• Align your entire organization around a unified message of what value you deliver
• Drive measurable business outcomes including increased ROI, higher conversion rates, and improved customer retention

Without a strong value proposition, buyers won't have a compelling reason to purchase what you sell. They may even choose a competitor simply because its marketing campaigns and sales processes have a clearer value proposition.

Your value proposition is yours — it distinguishes your business from your competitors, and it clearly communicates that difference to customers.

Value Proposition vs. Mission Statement

Your value proposition details what you offer customers and why they should choose you, while a mission statement details your objective as an organization. Although the two may share elements, a value prop is more product- and service-oriented, and a mission statement is more goal-oriented.

Here‘s an example for HubSpot’s Smart CRM:

Value Proposition: “Free CRM Software That Grows With Your Business.”

Mission Statement: “Helping millions of organizations grow better.”

Value Proposition vs. Slogan

A slogan is a short, catchy statement that brands use in marketing campaigns to sell a specific product. While your value proposition wouldn't necessarily go in an ad (at least, not usually), a slogan would. The most important thing to note is that a company can have different slogans for different campaigns or products.

Here are two examples from De Beers Group:

Value Proposition: “Exquisite diamonds, world-class designs, breathtaking jewelry.”

Slogan: “A diamond is forever.”

Value Proposition vs. Tagline

A tagline is a short statement that embodies a certain aspect of your brand or business. While a value proposition is more concrete, a tagline can represent a concept or idea that your business stands for. Most businesses have only one tagline that is instantly recognizable and connected to their brand.

Target's value proposition centers its commitment to creating an unparalleled product assortment with high-quality designs at affordable prices.

Tagline: “Expect more. Pay less.”

Your value prop should differentiate you from your peers and competitors, but it's not quite the same thing as a slogan, tagline, or mission statement.

Elements of a Powerful Value Proposition

Before we get into writing a great value proposition, let's explore the six essential elements based on the Value Proposition Canvas methodology. Understanding these components will help you create a proposition that truly resonates with your target audience.

Target Audience and Customer Jobs

Customer jobs represent the tasks your customers are trying to complete, the problems they‘re trying to solve, or the needs they’re trying to satisfy. These jobs fall into three categories:

Functional jobs: Practical tasks your customers need to accomplish (e.g., “file my business taxes quickly and accurately”)

Social jobs: How customers want to be perceived by others (e.g., “appear professional and organized to clients”)

Emotional jobs: How customers want to feel (e.g., “feel confident that my taxes are done correctly”)

Understanding all three types of customer jobs helps you address the full scope of what drives purchasing decisions.

Customer Pains

Customer pains are the obstacles, risks, frustrations, and negative emotions your customers experience before, during, or after completing their jobs. Common pains include:

• Obstacles that prevent customers from getting started or slow them down
• Risks of things going wrong or undesirable outcomes
• Poor or missing features in existing solutions
• Negative emotions like frustration, anxiety, or overwhelm
• Common mistakes customers make when trying to solve their problems
• Barriers that make solutions too difficult, expensive, or time-consuming

For example, a small business owner trying to manage taxes might experience pains like confusing software interfaces, fear of making costly errors, or spending excessive time on administrative tasks instead of growing their business.

Customer Gains

Gains describe the outcomes and benefits your customers want to achieve. These include:

Required gains: Must-have outcomes without which a solution doesn't work (e.g., “accurate tax calculations”)

Expected gains: Basic benefits customers assume will be included (e.g., “ability to save and retrieve documents”)

Desired gains: Benefits that would make customers happy but aren't deal-breakers (e.g., “automated reminders for deadlines”)

Unexpected gains: Delightful surprises that exceed expectations (e.g., “AI-powered tax optimization suggestions”)

The most effective value propositions address all four levels of gains, with particular emphasis on delivering unexpected value that competitors don't provide.

Pain Relievers

Pain relievers explain exactly how your products or services eliminate or reduce customer pains. They should directly correspond to the pains you identified earlier.

Be specific about how you address each pain point. Instead of saying “easy to use,” explain “guided workflows that eliminate confusion about which forms to complete.”

Pro Tip: Not every pain needs a reliever, and not every reliever will be equally important to customers. Focus on the pains that matter most to your target audience.

Gain Creators

Gain creators describe how your offering produces the outcomes and benefits your customers expect, desire, and would be delighted by. They should clearly connect to the gains you identified in the customer profile.

Strong gain creators go beyond basic features to explain the tangible results customers will experience. For example, instead of “cloud storage,” you might say “access your tax documents from anywhere, so you can work with your accountant in real-time during meetings.”

Product-Service Fit

Product-service fit is the alignment between what you offer and what your customers actually need. This element ensures your value proposition isn‘t just aspirational — it’s deliverable.

Ask yourself: Can you consistently deliver on each pain reliever and gain creator you've identified? Do you have the resources, capabilities, and systems in place to execute with excellence?

A value proposition that promises benefits you can't deliver will damage your brand far more than a modest proposition you can consistently exceed.

How to Write a Value Proposition

If you're a visual learner, check out this video to learn how to create a value proposition.

Before we start, there's an important through line that nearly every expert I spoke to brought up: Internal alignment.

It can be tough to iron out internal disagreements about core benefits or even the target audience. Kassandra Rodriguez, the founder and brand strategist behind 1st House Branding, says that if you proceed with a value proposition before you‘re aligned in the conference room, you’re far more likely to fail once you're outside the conference room.

“I've seen it many times,” she tells me. Companies make huge promises that they can solve certain problems for their potential clients. “And then when they're not able to do it,” she says, "it really, really affects the brand."

“Your value prop can be very helpful to your brand,” but without internal alignment, “it can also completely destroy it.”

Step 1: Identify your customer's main problem.

As ever, know your customers. Your teammates are a rich source of knowledge: Customer service reps, marketing specialists, and salespeople can fill in the gaps about what problems your customers want to solve. They can also help develop use cases, which will be invaluable throughout the process.

For example, let's say your business, Tax-tastic!, sells tax software on a subscription basis, and it includes automated templates in the software package.

Your ideal customer is looking for an affordable and user-friendly way to access complicated tax documents for their business. In this example, your business' offerings could be the solution they need.

My fellow HubSpotter Jan Bogaert, Product Marketer for Sales Hub and Smart CRM, is a value prop pro. He suggests asking, “Why now?” at this part of the process to capture the urgency of your value prop.

Step 2: Understand your target audience.

“I really love digging deep into the target audience,” Rodriguez tells me. “What are they going through right now?”

Rodriguez loves to talk about value propositions — so much so that her LinkedIn tagline reads, “Does your value prop suck?”

She suggests spending some time on this step to make sure your value props don't suck. She identifies customer problems, any issues they encounter while trying to solve them, and any customer preferences.

Social media, she says, can be a goldmine of information. Reading Google and Yelp reviews — both yours and your competitors‘ — can give you a realistic view of your target audience’s mindset.

Depending on timeline and budget, Rodriguez may also use consumer insight tools like Forrester and Gartner to develop a more robust understanding of the target audience.

Step 3: Understand your competitors.

It may seem like wasted time to think so much about your competitors — your brand is obviously better, right? — but in order to write an effective value proposition, you need to know how to differentiate your brand.

Rodriguez says, “I always tell my clients that if their value proposition matches their competitors', then there's something wrong.”

Conduct competitive analysis to understand:

• What value propositions your competitors are using
• Which customer problems they‘re addressing (and which they’re ignoring)
• How they position their solutions
• What makes their messaging effective or ineffective
• Where gaps exist that your business could fill

This research ensures your value proposition truly differentiates you in the market rather than blending in with everyone else.

Step 4: List the benefits your product or service provides.

Add a sentence that explains why each benefit matters to the customer.

In the Tax-tastic! example above, the value is affordable tax documentation at your customers' fingertips, which would normally cost them thousands of dollars.

This step can be as simple as listing out every product you sell and describing its primary benefit. The benefit should be concise and focused on a single customer need.

In our Tax-tastic! example, you'd list each tax template, explain the benefit it provides, and identify why a customer would need it.

Bogaert suggests starting with a big list of all the benefits, and then looking for relationships between them so you can eventually pare the list down.

Step 5: Differentiate yourself as the preferred provider of this value.

Next, pair the buyers' problem(s) with the elements that make your product or service valuable. Do they align?

If so, you‘re ready for step five: It’s time to differentiate your products or services from the competition.

If they don't align, repeat the steps above until you find a valid buyer need and a viable solution that your business can offer.

Focus on what makes you uniquely qualified to deliver this value. This might include:

• Proprietary technology or processes
• Specialized expertise or experience
• Unique business model advantages
• Superior customer service or support
• Better pricing or value for money
• Faster delivery or implementation

Step 6: Use a template to help you brainstorm.

Here's a pro tip from branding strategist Liz Ellis.

She‘s seen brands skip a crucial step to their great detriment: Ask if you can execute the value proposition with excellence. And if you can’t? It's not a good value prop.

Ellis uses a method with clients of The Liz Ellis Word Company that packs a one-two punch. She divides a slide in two; one side has a grid with basics like target audience, key emotional benefit, and key functional benefit.

The other half has the same info, but she writes it as a short narrative.

“You can fill in the blanks [of a grid],” she tells me, “but taken in aggregate, they don't paint a picture, they don't hang together.”

On the other hand, “if you start with a narrative, [it's easy] to write a few beautiful sentences that might not even be a value prop.”

Ellis combines the two components as a kind of pressure test. “If it works in both formats, that's a good test to see if it's a good value prop.”

Bogaert says to write as many long, descriptive sentences as you can, and then keep editing until you land on something that's succinct, creative, and accurate. “Write a lot of variations. Be descriptive. And then edit and edit and edit.”

If you get writer's block, he says that AI tools like ChatGPT can help you break through. “Ask for something more action-focused, or a lot of synonyms — it can inspire you to try something different.”

Finally, polish your value proposition. Is there a specific customer service offering your business provides that others don't? Do you offer any additional services that other companies charge for?

These elements can differentiate your value proposition from competitors while keeping the focus on the buyer's needs.

Final words of advice from Ellis to test your final value prop: “Is it true? Is it relevant and motivating? And is it possible to execute with excellence?”

Step 7: Test and validate your value proposition

Before launching your value proposition at scale, you need to validate it with real customers. Even the most carefully crafted proposition needs to be tested against actual market response.

A/B Testing

Use A/B testing on landing pages, email campaigns, and ads to compare different versions of your value proposition. Test variations in:

• Headline messaging and word choice
• Benefit emphasis (which benefits you lead with)
• Length and format (short vs. detailed)
• Visual presentation and supporting imagery

Track metrics like conversion rates, click-through rates, bounce rates, and time on page to determine which version resonates most strongly with your audience.

Customer Interviews

Conduct one-on-one interviews with both current customers and potential buyers. Ask open-ended questions like:

• “What's the main problem you're trying to solve?”
• “How would you describe what we offer to a colleague?”
• “What made you choose us over other options?” (for existing customers)
• “What questions or concerns do you still have?” (for prospects)

Listen for language patterns and pain points that customers mention repeatedly — these insights can help you refine your messaging to match how your audience naturally thinks and talks about their problems.

The 5-Second Test

This simple test reveals whether your value proposition is immediately clear and compelling. Show your value proposition to someone unfamiliar with your company for just five seconds, then remove it and ask:

• “What does this company do?”
• “Who is it for?”
• “What's the main benefit?”

If they can't answer these questions accurately, your value proposition needs to be clearer and more focused.

Sales Team Feedback

Your sales team interacts with prospects daily and hears objections, questions, and concerns firsthand. Gather their input on:

• Whether the value proposition addresses the most common objections they encounter
• How well it differentiates you from competitors
• Whether it accurately reflects what they can deliver
• Which aspects resonate most (and least) with prospects

Step 8: Common mistakes to avoid

Even experienced marketers fall into predictable traps when crafting value propositions. Here are the most common mistakes and how to avoid them:

Mistake #1: Being too vague or generic

Bad example: “We provide innovative solutions for businesses.”

Better: “We help mid-sized manufacturers reduce equipment downtime by 40% through predictive maintenance software.”

Fix: Include specific outcomes, target audiences, and quantifiable benefits whenever possible.

Mistake #2: Focusing on features instead of benefits

Bad example: “Our software has 50+ integrations and real-time syncing.”

Better: “Connect all your business tools so your team never wastes time switching between apps or re-entering data.”

Fix: For every feature you mention, answer “so what?” until you reach the actual benefit the customer experiences.

Mistake #3: Making promises you can't keep

Bad example: “We guarantee 10x ROI in 30 days.”

Fix: Only include claims you can consistently deliver. Overpromising damages trust and creates customer dissatisfaction even if your product is good.

Mistake #4: Trying to appeal to everyone

Bad example: “Perfect for small businesses, enterprises, nonprofits, and individuals.”

Better: “Built specifically for growing ecommerce brands with 10-100 employees who need to scale customer service without scaling headcount.”

Fix: Choose your primary target audience and speak directly to their specific needs. You can create separate value propositions for different buyer personas, but each one should be highly focused.

Mistake #5: Using jargon and buzzwords

Bad example: “Leverage our synergistic, best-in-class platform to optimize your digital transformation journey.”

Better: “Get all your marketing data in one dashboard, so you can see what's working and make better decisions.”

Fix: Use clear, simple language your customers would use. If you wouldn‘t say it in conversation, don’t put it in your value proposition.

What we like: Companies that test and iterate on their value propositions consistently outperform those that “set it and forget it.” Plan to review and refine your proposition regularly based on customer feedback and market changes.

4 Methods to Build Great Value Propositions

There are, of course, other methods for building great value props. Here are four we like:

Steve Blank Method

Instead of focusing on the features themselves, Blank saw the need to emphasize the benefits derived from the features in a simple sentence. By following this formula you'll connect the target market and their pain points to the solution:

“We help (X) do (Y) by doing (Z)”

Geoff Moore Method

Moore provides a template that's more specific in identifying the industry categories alongside the benefits customers value. This makes a more clear value proposition formula as follows:

“For [target customer] who [needs or wants X], our [product/service] is [category of industry] that [benefits]”

Harvard Business School Method

According to HBS, a value proposition is executed best when it answers the following questions:

• What is my brand offering?
• What job does the customer hire my brand to do?
• What companies and products compete with my brand to do this job for the customer?
• What sets my brand apart from competitors?

Slow Storytelling Method

A 2022 paper in the Journal of Business Research proposes a different approach the authors call slow storytelling. It has eight steps:

• Narrating the organization
• Redefining the audience
• Articulating the heritage
• Mapping the journey
• Enhancing sustainability
• Engaging the ethical consumers
• Involving the customer as an advocate
• Enriching the customer experience

The slow storytelling method was devised explicitly for a highly digitized, post-COVID world. It's built on the belief that activating social, environmental, cultural, and economic values makes for stronger value props.

Before you write the statement itself, it's important to create a value proposition canvas.

Value Proposition Canvas

A value proposition canvas is a visual tool to help you position your business‘ product or service around your customers’ needs.

The goal is to identify how your business provides value within the market. You can use one when introducing a new offer into the market or when enhancing an existing one.

The value proposition canvas is made up of two major components: the customer profile and the value map.

Here's how to make one:

Step 1: Create a customer profile to represent your target buyer.

The customer profile makes up the first half of the value proposition canvas.

When performing this exercise, start with this section so that the customer's wants and needs can influence the overall value proposition canvas.

A customer profile consists of three areas:

Customer Jobs

“Customer jobs” is just another way of saying, “Know your customer.”

What does the customer have to do to solve their problem? The answer might be functional, like buying your tax software to solve for simplicity and speed.

It could also be less tangible — for instance, if you sell a luxury product or experience, the “problem” could be that the McCoys wanted to keep up with the Joneses, and your luxury watch will raise the McCoys' social status.

Customer Expectations

“Expectations” are also referred to as “gains” — in other words, what your customer is hoping to gain from doing business with you.

If you run a powerlifting gym, your customer is probably hoping to gain some #gainz (sorry); if you sell vacation packages, your customer wants to gain memorable travel experiences.

No matter what you sell, your customer has expectations. In this section, you'll use research to explain what your customers expect from you in order to purchase your product.

Customer Pain Points

As your customer completes their job, what pains do they experience? Do they take any risks while doing so? Do they experience any negative emotions?

These pain points should be considered so that you include the most helpful products and services on the value map side of the value proposition canvas.

Pro tip: Amanda Natividad, VP of Marketing at SparkToro, has this advice for marketers who are new to value propositions: “Get really good at doing customer interviews and talking to your customers. Understand what they want, what they need, and what they use your tool for.”

Step 2: Create a value map for your products and services.

In this section of the value proposition canvas, three specific sectors help describe what the business offers to the customer.

Gain Creators

These are features your products or services have that make the customer happy. Think creatively about the elements of happiness your customers experience. Consider their financial and social goals as well as their psychographics.

Pain Relievers

In the section above, we discussed customer pains. Now let's define exactly how your business will help customers overcome those pain points.

Products & Services

While you don't need to list every single product or service your company offers, include the ones that will create the most gain and alleviate the most pains for your customers.

Step 3: Determine the value proposition-customer fit.

Once you've completed the value proposition canvas exercise, the next step is to determine how your value proposition fits within the customer profile.

To do this, you'll use a ranking process that prioritizes products and services based on how well they address the customer profile.

All together, your value proposition canvas should look something like this:

[Value proposition canvas for Tax-tastic!]

Next up, let‘s go over some templates you can use when you’re creating your value proposition and publishing it on your website.

Value Proposition Templates

We‘ve crafted 15 templates to help you create an amazing value proposition for your brand, and we’ve paired each of them with an example of how they may look for a real business.

This has all the tools you need to craft a value proposition that precisely communicates your brand to users and stakeholders, including:

• 10 value proposition writing templates
• 1 value proposition canvas template
• 1 mission statement brainstorm template
• 1 vision statement brainstorm template
• 1 competitive analysis template
• 1 brand hierarchy template

Now that we‘ve reviewed the elements, visual tools, and templates, let’s look at some brand examples that effectively identify and satisfy customer needs.

Value Proposition Examples

I talked to four marketing experts and leaned into my own decade-plus of marketing experience to analyze the following seven examples of value propositions.

Because value propositions are typically internal information, not all of these are official documents — but we can still perform an educated analysis of customer gains and pains as they align with well-known products and services.

1. HubSpot: “Free CRM Software That Grows With Your Business.”

We're pretty good at writing value props here at HubSpot (I might be biased). Our one-liner is manifest in everything we do: “Where go-to-market teams go to scale.”

And in a neat supporting sentence, we can incorporate all the elements of a great value proposition.

“Unite marketing, sales, and customer service on one AI-powered customer platform that delivers results fast.”

Most companies will benefit from using a CRM, even freelance businesses and small family-owned firms.

The problem is that most systems are expensive, over-complicated and cobbled together, creating challenges for businesses as they grow.

What we like: HubSpot's value proposition immediately addresses the two biggest barriers for go-to-market teams: fragmentation (one unified platform eliminates tool sprawl) and speed to results (AI-powered automation means faster execution without adding headcount).

Target Audience: The language tells you everything — “go-to-market teams,” “scale,” “unite marketing, sales, and customer service.”

Our target customers are revenue leaders and operators who own growth outcomes. They're building cross-functional alignment, measuring pipeline and customer retention, and need systems that accelerate their teams rather than slow them down.

HubSpot's value proposition targets both teams outgrowing fragmented tech stacks and those starting fresh who want to avoid the integration nightmare. These teams want a platform that makes scaling efficient, not complicated.

Product or Service: A customer platform with AI-powered tools, integrations, and intelligence that connects marketing, sales, and service operations in one system.

Benefits and Features: While each hub in HubSpot's Smart CRM delivers standalone value, the real power comes from unified go-to-market execution — shared data, coordinated workflows, and intelligence that flows across every customer touchpoint.

Instead of having to deal with incompatible software and productivity tools, you can manage all your marketing, sales, content, and customer service needs in one place.

To that end, the product's value proposition emphasizes its ease of use and ability to synchronize different teams across the business.

Bogaert walked me through the value prop he‘d worked on for HubSpot’s Sales Hub.

The core message is, “Sales software that connects without complexity, drives productivity with easy-to-adopt tools, and supports scaling sales orgs.”

You can see the relationship to HubSpot's primary value prop: “Sales software that connects” echoes “connect your data, teams, and customers.”

“Easy-to-adopt tools” references “seamlessly,” and “without complexity” refers to “all on one platform.”

Pro tip from Bogaert: Write the core message last.

2. SparkToro: “Do better marketing.”

Amanda Natividad, SparkToro‘s VP of Marketing, tells me right off the bat, "We’re not sure that a lot of people are even searching for audience research."

Historically, audience research is expensive, it‘s time-consuming, and it’s slow. Smaller businesses or lean teams may not even pursue it, thinking it's out of reach.

Natividad says that SparkToro's value prop is heavily focused on education — “spreading the word about the problems [so] we can lay the groundwork and spread the word about our solutions.”

She also tells me that SparkToro has experimented with several value props, although they‘re philosophically similar. An earlier example, "We make audience research fast, easy, and accurate," indicates SparkToro’s internal emphasis on educating its potential customers.

The company's product page shows the current value prop, “Get instant audience research. Do better marketing.” In just seven words, it speaks to its audience, defines the product, teases the benefits and features, and demonstrates how it can solve long-standing audience research problems.

Best for: In-house marketers, lean marketing teams, and agencies — “people who are doing a lot of research on different kinds of audiences.”

Target Audiences: Natividad tells me that SparkToro is ideal for in-house marketers, lean marketing teams, and agencies — “people who are doing a lot of research on different kinds of audiences.”

Product or Service: Instant audience research that's accessible to a much larger audience than traditional methods, online behavior analysis and trend monitoring, and competitor analysis and benchmarking features.

Benefits and Features: These are summed up on SparkToro‘s website as a target audience’s “behaviors, characteristics, and demographics.”

That includes:

• Precise audience insights for targeted marketing campaigns
• Increased engagement and conversion rates through audience understanding
• Competitive intelligence for informed decision-making and strategy planning
• Customizable reports and recommendations for optimizing marketing efforts
• Easy-to-use tools for discovering audience demographics, behaviors, and preferences

3. Asana: “Work works better with Asana.”

As a bit of a workflow geek, I've used Asana (and some of its competitors, like Trello) for several years.

I‘ve worked at some smaller companies that don’t have enterprise-size resources for project management and training, and I've used Asana to set up automated workflows for things like copy editing and approvals.

Asana says that “Work works better with Asana” is the company slogan, and that one version of its value prop is, “Asana helps cross-functional teams overcome their organizational growing pains and ensures that goals, processes, and collaboration can continue to scale.”

In 2024, Asana announced a new campaign that “celebrates the power of connection,” leaning into qualities like seamlessness and effortlessness.

Source

What we like: Asana‘s value proposition speaks to a universal truth — work often doesn’t work well. The simple phrasing makes the benefit immediately clear without requiring explanation.

These help differentiate Asana from competitors like Trello, which emphasizes productivity in the era of remote work.

Target Audiences: Business professionals and teams looking to manage projects efficiently, organizations who need task management and collaboration tools, remote teams and freelancers, managers and team leaders who want to streamline workflows and communication, and individuals and teams looking to increase productivity and prioritize tasks.

Product or Service: A SaaS designed to help teams collaborate on goals and processes, project management platform for task organization and tracking, team collaboration tools for efficient communication and sharing, customizable project workflows and task assignments, integration with other tools and platforms for seamless workflow, and reporting and analytics to track progress and performance.

Benefits and Features: Centralized platform for organizing and managing projects and tasks; collaboration tools for real-time communication and sharing of updates; customizable project templates and workflows for tailored task management; integration capabilities with popular tools such as Google Drive, Slack, Jira, Notion, etc.; and reporting and analytics features to track project progress and performance.

4. Booking.com: “A piece of paradise just for you.”

Source

Booking.com's homepage proclaims, “A piece of paradise just for you.”

Its About Us page expands on the value that Booking.com brings to customers: “By investing in technology that takes the friction out of travel, Booking.com seamlessly connects millions of travelers to memorable experiences, a variety of transportation options, and incredible places to stay — from homes to hotels, and much more.”

Compare that to competitor Expedia's key differentiator: “When we power more travel, we unleash more opportunities to strengthen connections, broaden horizons and bridge divides.”

Booking.com is more technology- and service-focused, and Expedia is more people-focused.

Target Audience: Travelers looking for accommodation options worldwide; individuals or groups planning vacations, business trips, or special events; budget-conscious travelers who want competitive pricing; travel enthusiasts interested in a variety of accommodation styles; and travelers seeking user-friendly and convenient online booking platforms.

Product or Service: Frictionless booking of hotels, flights, and other travel experiences; an online travel accommodation booking platform; a wide range of accommodation options including hotels, vacation rentals, apartments, and hostels; real-time availability and pricing information for easy comparison; secure online payment options and reservation management; and customer reviews and ratings for informed decision-making.

Benefits and Features: Extensive selection of accommodations around the globe, best-price guarantee and price comparison tool for cost-effective bookings, and a user-friendly platform with easy search and filter options.

5. UberEats: “The easy way to get the food you love delivered.”

UberEats has a bit of an advantage in the value prop game: By the time UberEats was introduced in 2014, Uber had been a recognized brand for seven years.

When your company name is widely used as a verb, simply adding “Eats” to it is … pretty descriptive, actually.

UberEats' value proposition focuses on convenience (“the easy way”) and selection (“the food you love”).

Compare Uber Eats to DoorDash, which differentiates its brand by focusing on local economies and connection: “When consumers get their goods, local merchants get business, and Dashers get paid.”

Target Audience: Hungry users who want food from their favorite restaurants delivered to their door, people who want convenient food delivery options, busy professionals looking for quick and easy meal solutions, food enthusiasts interested in exploring various cuisines, and customers who want a wide range of restaurant options.

Product or Service: Food delivery platform connecting users with local restaurants; a variety of culinary options ranging from fast food to gourmet meals; real-time order tracking and updates for improved transparency; and special promotions, discounts, and loyalty programs for users.

Benefits and Features: Access to a diverse selection of cuisine choices from local restaurants; seamless ordering with easy payment options and quick delivery; real-time tracking and updates on order status; special discounts, promotions, and rewards for users; and a user-friendly app interface for straightforward navigation and ordering.

6. Hulu: “All the TV You Love”

If you watch half as much TV as I do, you know that Hulu is the streaming service of choice for watching premium-cable shows the day after they air on their respective channels.

Hulu has a reputation for delivering on the promise of “All the TV You Love” — emphasis on all.

It offers at least four different add-ons for other premium streaming services, like Paramount+ and STARZ. And that doesn't even include live options like sports and Spanish-language live streams.

Hulu's About Us page opens with a long and descriptive brand position: “Hulu is the leading and most comprehensive all-in-one premium streaming service that offers an expansive slate of live and on-demand entertainment, both inside and outside the home, through a wide array of subscription options, that give consumers ultimate control over their viewing experience.”

Simple it is not, but customized and expansive? Very.

Compare that to Netflix, which says, “We want to entertain the world.”

Netflix‘s brand promise is quality, simplicity, and accessibility. It’s available in nearly 200 countries — Hulu is primarily available in the U.S. — and its three subscription levels vary based on how many ads you can tolerate and how many devices you want to use.

Target Audience: Entertainment enthusiasts looking for on-demand TV shows and movies, viewers who want popular and original TV series and movies, sports fans who want to watch live TV and sports events.

Product or Service: On-demand streaming platform offering a varied library of TV shows and movies, live TV subscription package with access to live channels, original content, including movies, series, and documentaries, add-on packages for premium channels and additional features, personalized profiles and recommendations for tailored viewing.

Benefits and Features: Extensive library of current and classic TV shows, movies, and original content; customizable viewing preferences and personalized profiles, live TV option for real-time access to channels and sports events, ad-supported and ad-free subscription options, compatibility across multiple devices.

7. Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams: “A creative-led, community-spirited company on a mission to make better ice creams and bring people together.”

“We are a creative-led, community-spirited company on a mission to make better ice creams and bring people together.”

Compare that to Häagen Dazs, which promises luxury, quality ingredients, and flavors that go far beyond the strawberry-chocolate-vanilla basics (rum raisin ice cream, anyone?).

Jeni‘s revolving flavors include novelties like sweet cream biscuits and peach jam (pro tip: it’s delicious), but the brand promise is quite different from Häagen Dazs — even though both brands boast a freezer full of far-out flavors that you can't get elsewhere.

Where Häagen Dazs goes for luxe vibes, Jeni's value prop is more community-centered.

What we like: Jeni‘s doesn’t just sell ice cream — they sell an experience and a set of values. This emotional connection creates brand loyalty that goes beyond product features.

Target Audience: Ice cream enthusiasts who want to indulge in unusual and gourmet flavors; consumers interested in high-quality, artisanal ice creams; people who value locally sourced ingredients; foodies and culinary enthusiasts looking for inventive flavor combinations.

Product or Service: Handcrafted artisanal ice creams in a variety of unique flavors, seasonal and limited-edition flavor releases, online store for nationwide delivery of ice cream pints, retail locations and scoop shops for in-person purchases.

Benefits and Features: Creative and inventive ice cream flavors using high-quality ingredients, rotating menu with seasonal and exclusive flavors for variety, nationwide shipping for accessibility outside of local areas, sustainable and eco-friendly practices in production and packaging, community engagement through events and collaborations with local producers.

Now that you‘ve seen some top value propositions, let’s review examples of value proposition canvases.

Value Proposition Canvas Examples

Value proposition canvases are typically internal marketing documents. But we can use publicly available information — and extensive personal experience eating ice cream and watching TV — to map out the examples above.

1. HubSpot Value Proposition Canvas

Customer Profile

• Customer Jobs: HubSpot customers need to effectively enable their sales teams to do their best work while avoiding complicated workflows.
• Gains: Customers want to increase their sales rep productivity levels and boost sales.
• Pains: There are plenty of CRM options, but they're often over complicated and create silos.

Value Map

• Gain Creators: HubSpot Smart CRM offers streamlined contact management software and productivity tools that will help sales teams do their best work.
• Pain Relievers: The user-friendly interface and unified platform offers ease-of-use and high visibility across systems.
• Products & Services: The HubSpot customer platform includes natively built CRM, marketing, sales, customer service, website content management, commerce, and operations software, open APIs, and hundreds of certified integrations.

2. SparkToro Value Proposition Canvas

Customer Profile

• Customer Jobs: Identify and understand target audience demographics, discover where and how to reach target audience online, and monitor industry trends and competitor activities.
• Gains: Precise audience insights for targeted marketing campaigns, increased engagement and conversion rates, data-driven marketing strategies, competitive intelligence for informed decision-making.
• Pains: Lack of accurate audience data for targeting, difficulty understanding audience behavior and preferences, limited visibility into competitors and industry trends.

Value Map

• Gain Creators: Targeted outreach and engagement strategies, data-driven marketing campaigns, market trend monitoring and alerts, customized reports and recommendations for growth.
• Pain Relievers: Accurate and up-to-date audience data, insights into online behaviors and preference, targeted audience profiling for effective marketing, competitor analysis tools.
• Products & Services: Audience research and segmentation tools, online behavior analysis and trend monitoring, competitor analysis and benchmarking, and customizable market research reports.

3. Asana Value Proposition Canvas

Customer Profile

• Customer Jobs: Asana customers need to efficiently manage projects, collaborate and communicate across teams, stay organized and on track with tasks, and easily share progress.
• Gains: Streamlined project management process, increased team productivity and collaboration, visibility of progress and tasks, and better communication.
• Pains: Difficulty keeping track of multiple projects, lack of transparency, inefficient communication, and missed deadlines.

Value Map

• Gain Creators: Seamless team collaboration, project timeline visualization, progress tracking and reporting, integration with popular apps and services.
• Pain Relievers: Centralized project management system, real-time updates and notifications, customizable dashboards and reporting, task dependencies and due dates.
• Products & Services: Task and project tracking, team collaboration tools, customizable project workflows, and integration with other tools and platforms.

4. Booking.com Value Proposition Canvas

Customer Profile

• Customer Jobs: Find and book accommodation easily and quickly; compare prices and options for hotels, vacation rentals, and other accommodations; access reliable reviews and ratings for accommodations; manage reservations and travel plans in one place.
• Gains: Wide selection of accommodations, best price guarantee and price comparison tool, trusted reviews and ratings from other travelers, convenient reservation management with real-time updates.
• Pains: Difficulty finding suitable accommodations within budget, lack of transparency in pricing and availability, uncertainty about the reliability of accommodation, inconvenience of managing multiple reservations and travel plans.

Value Map

• Gain Creators: Personalized accommodation recommendations, special deals and discounts for users, instant booking confirmation and seamless payment process, mobile app for on-the-go reservation management.
• Pain Relievers: Extensive accommodation options for all budgets, transparent pricing and availability information, verified guest reviews and ratings, centralized reservation management and itinerary planner.
• Products & Services: Accommodation search and booking platform, price comparison tool, accommodation reviews and ratings, reservation management dashboard.

5. UberEats Value Proposition Canvas

Customer Profile

• Customer Jobs: Order food conveniently from a variety of restaurants, enjoy fast and reliable delivery services, track the status of food orders in real-time, discover new dining options and cuisines.
• Gains: Access to a wide range of restaurants and cuisines, quick delivery times and tracking, reliable and efficient food delivery service, convenient and hassle-free ordering process.
• Pains: Limited dining options, long wait times for food delivery or pickup, uncertainty about the quality and reliability of food delivery services, lack of convenience in ordering food.

Value Map

• Gain Creators: Personalized recommendations based on user preferences, loyalty rewards program for frequent users, seamless payment options for convenient ordering, user-friendly app interface for easy navigation and ordering.
• Pain Relievers: Diverse restaurant selection for different tastes and preferences, fast and accurate delivery services, transparent delivery fees and estimated delivery times, quality control measures for food preparation and delivery.
• Products & Services: Food delivery platform with a variety of restaurant options, real-time order tracking and status updates, special promotions and discounts for users, customer support for order-related issues.

6. Hulu Value Proposition Canvas

Customer Profile

• Customer Jobs: Watch a wide variety of TV shows, movies, and original content; access on-demand streaming on multiple devices; discover new and popular TV series and movies; watch live TV and sports events.
• Gains: Extensive library of TV shows, movies, and original content; personalized recommendations based on viewing preferences; flexibility to watch content anytime, anywhere; access to live TV channels and sports events.
• Pains: Limited access to current and popular TV shows and movies, expensive cable or satellite TV subscriptions, inconvenience of fixed TV schedules and commercials, difficulty finding and navigating content across platforms.

Value Map

• Gain Creators: Exclusive original content and award-winning TV series, seamless multi-device streaming, live sports coverage and special events programming, customizable viewing preferences and user profiles.
• Pain Relievers: Current and up-to-date TV shows and movies, ad-free viewing, user-friendly interface for easy navigation and content discovery.
• Products & Services: On-demand streaming platform with a diverse content library, live TV subscription package with access to live channels, personalized user profiles and recommendations, ad-supported and ad-free subscription options.

7. Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams Value Proposition Canvas

Customer Profile

• Customer Jobs: Indulge and explore high-quality, innovative ice cream flavors; experience artisanal and handcrafted ice cream creations; enjoy a premium dessert.
• Gains: Wide variety of creative and inventive ice cream flavors, premium quality ingredients and artisanal production, convenient access to gourmet ice cream in stores and online.
• Pains: Limited availability of gourmet ice cream, uninspiring and repetitive traditional flavors, difficulty finding high-quality ice cream with natural ingredients, inconvenience of traveling long distances for premium ice cream.

Value Map

• Gain Creators: Flavor innovation and collaboration with local producers, eco-friendly packaging and sustainable practices, community engagement through events and partnerships, membership programs and rewards for loyal customers.
• Pain Relievers: Authentic and natural ingredients for high-quality ice cream, rotating menu of innovative and seasonal flavor offerings, nationwide shipping, engaging and interactive customer experiences.
• Products & Services: Handcrafted ice cream in unique flavors and varieties, seasonal and limited-edition flavor releases, online store for nationwide delivery, retail locations and scoop shops for in-person purchases.

Tactics for Developing an Effective Value Proposition

1. Conduct research to determine the value proposition of your competitors.

Because your value proposition is the differentiating factor between your business and the competition, it's important to research your closest competitors.

You can use the value proposition canvas in this post to determine how each company meets the needs of your buyer persona.

Be honest here — it‘s tempting to focus on the areas in which your competition doesn’t excel, but you‘ll have a better idea of where your product or service fits within the market if you home in on your competitors’ strengths.

2. Explain the value of your products and services.

You‘re probably familiar with outlining the features and benefits of your product and service offerings. This tactic takes that concept a step further. By matching the benefits of your offerings to specific values that your customers have, you’ll be able to align what your business provides with what your customers need.

3. Describe the benefits your ideal customer will experience when they choose your product or service over the competition.

When crafting this part of your value proposition, include details about how your product or service will benefit the customer and use examples where you can. Videos, photos, and live demonstrations are all effective ways to illustrate your value proposition because they show the customer exactly what they can expect from your business.

4. Develop a unique value proposition for each buyer persona you serve.

Ideally, you'll focus your marketing efforts on a specific target audience.

You'll also find that this audience will have different needs based on their buying behaviors. Buyer personas can help you segment your larger audience into groups of customers with similar desires, goals, pain points, and buying behaviors.

As a result, you'll need a unique value proposition for each persona. Different products and services you offer may solve certain customer pain points better than others, so developing a value proposition for each persona will better serve each one.

5. Test your value proposition with your audience using various marketing channels.

Each of these tactics will likely be developed internally by your team, which means you'll want to validate your work with your target audience.

Your value proposition will be communicated through various marketing channels like your website, social media accounts, video, audio, and in person.

Test your proposition with members of your audience (both existing customers and non-customers) using each of these channels. Tools like UserTesting can help you streamline this feedback process so that you can implement changes quickly to finalize your value proposition.

6. Deploy and monitor your value proposition at scale.

After adjusting your value proposition based on the initial tests, the next step is to deploy at scale.

Keep in mind that you'll likely need to make some adjustments — totally normal!

Your target customers will react differently depending on the marketing channels they use, and your value proposition must have a consistent impact across all customer touchpoints.

It's best to unify your data with tools like HubSpot's Marketing Hub, so you can identify patterns across different channels and audience segments. With tools like HubSpot's Smart CRM, Content Hub, and Sales Hub, you have a vehicle to deliver your value proposition effectively — through your website, email newsletters, sales outreach, and more. These integrated tools ensure your value proposition reaches customers consistently across every touchpoint.

This helps solidify your buyer personas with concrete evidence regarding your audience's pain points and what makes them tick, while any inconsistencies can indicate that your value proposition needs further refinement.

We know the makings of a value proposition, so how can you make it a good one?

Here are our final tips.

What Makes a Good Value Proposition?

1. Clear Language

Your value proposition should address a primary customer need.

Limiting your focus keeps your value proposition clear and easy to understand. With just one main idea, your audience can quickly decide whether your product or service will be the best solution for them.

2. Specific Outcomes

Next, you'll want to communicate the specific outcomes your customer can expect to receive from your product or service.

Will they save time? Demonstrate how. Will their workflow become more manageable? Show a before-and-after workflow diagram.

The specific outcomes will be critical components of your value proposition as they'll exemplify exactly how your customers will use your solution to solve their problems.

3. Points of Differentiation

Not only are your potential customers evaluating your business‘ offerings based on their own needs, but they’re also comparing what you offer against competitors.

As a result, your value proposition needs detailed points of differentiation. These will help customers understand exactly what sets your company apart.

Use Kassandra Rodriguez's litmus test: “You can tell a business has a strong value prop when everybody in the organization can be a salesperson for the brand.”

4. Ability to Execute with Excellence

It's not just about whether you can execute on your value proposition. You've got to be able to execute it with excellence, Liz Ellis told me.

The inability to execute with excellence isn‘t necessarily a commentary about your own strengths and weaknesses — here’s a great example she gave me:

"Say I'm selling a cancer drug and I know that there are clinical studies that show amazing results. Obviously I want that to be at the heart of my value proposition.

"However, legal regulations and the way the drug marketing industry works [might] make it impossible for me to publicize this claim.

“That's not a good value proposition because it's not possible to execute with excellence.”

Value Proposition Frequently Asked Questions

What is the main purpose of a value proposition?

The main purpose of a value proposition is to effectively communicate the unique value and benefits your product or service offers to target customers. It serves three critical functions: attracting and converting your ideal customers by clearly addressing their specific needs, differentiating your offering from competitors in crowded markets, and aligning your entire organization around a unified message of the value you deliver. An effective value proposition drives measurable business outcomes including increased ROI, higher conversion rates, improved customer retention, and clearer brand positioning in the marketplace.

How do you test if your value proposition is working?

There are several proven methods to test the effectiveness of your value proposition:

A/B Testing: Run split tests on landing pages, email campaigns, and ads comparing different versions of your value proposition. Track metrics like conversion rates, click-through rates, bounce rates, and time on page to see which version performs best.

Customer Interviews: Conduct one-on-one conversations with current customers and prospects. Ask them to explain what you do, what problems you solve, and why they chose (or would choose) your solution. If they can't clearly articulate your value, your proposition needs work.

The 5-Second Test: Show your value proposition to someone unfamiliar with your company for five seconds, then remove it. Ask them what the company does, who it‘s for, and what the main benefit is. If they can’t answer accurately, your message isn't clear enough.

Sales Team Feedback: Your sales team hears objections and questions daily. Gather their input on whether your value proposition addresses common concerns, differentiates you effectively, and resonates with prospects during conversations.

Analytics and Conversion Data: Monitor key metrics over time including website conversion rates, demo request rates, sales cycle length, and customer acquisition costs. Improvements in these areas often indicate a stronger value proposition is resonating with your audience.

What's the difference between a value proposition and a unique value proposition (UVP)?

While the terms are often used interchangeably, there's a subtle distinction. A value proposition communicates the overall value your product or service delivers to customers — the benefits, outcomes, and reasons why someone should choose your solution.

A unique value proposition (UVP) specifically emphasizes what makes your offering different from and better than competitors. The UVP is the differentiating factor that sets you apart in the market.

For example, “We help small businesses manage projects efficiently” is a value proposition. “We help small businesses manage projects efficiently without the complexity and high costs of enterprise software” is a unique value proposition — it adds the differentiation.

In practice, the strongest value propositions incorporate uniqueness by default, which is why the terms are often used synonymously. Every value proposition should answer both “what value do you provide?” and “why should customers choose you over alternatives?”

How long should a value proposition be?

Your core value proposition should be concise — typically one to two sentences that can be read and understood in about five seconds. Think of it as an elevator pitch for your product or service.

However, your value proposition should be supported by additional elements:

One-line version: 10-15 words that capture the essence (used in headers, ads, social media)

Full version: 1-2 sentences explaining who you serve, what you offer, and the key benefit (used on homepage, pitch decks)

Supporting details: 2-3 bullet points that expand on specific benefits or outcomes (used in marketing materials)

The key is that your shortest version should be clear enough to communicate your core value, while longer versions add context and proof without becoming overwhelming.

What are the most common value proposition mistakes?

1. Being too vague or generic: Using buzzwords like “innovative solutions” or “world-class service” without specific, measurable outcomes

2. Focusing on features instead of benefits: Listing what your product does rather than the problems it solves or outcomes customers achieve

3. Making promises you can't keep: Overstating capabilities or results, which damages trust and leads to customer dissatisfaction

4. Trying to appeal to everyone: Attempting to serve all audiences rather than focusing on a specific target customer with specific needs

5. Using jargon and buzzwords: Relying on industry jargon, technical terms, or corporate speak that confuses rather than clarifies your value

How often should you update your value proposition?

Your value proposition should be reviewed quarterly and updated when significant changes occur in your business or market. Major revisions are typically needed every 12-18 months to ensure your positioning stays relevant and competitive.

Specific triggers that warrant updating your value proposition include:

• Launching new products or significantly enhancing existing offerings
• Entering new markets or targeting new customer segments
• Shifts in competitive landscape (new competitors, competitor positioning changes)
• Changes in customer needs, pain points, or buying behaviors
• Poor performance metrics (low conversion rates, high bounce rates, lost deals)
• Company rebranding or strategic pivots
• Feedback from sales teams indicating the current proposition isn't resonating

Regular testing and iteration should be ongoing, but wholesale changes should be thoughtful and based on solid data about what‘s working and what isn’t.

Compose a Remarkable Value Proposition

The factors that influence a potential customer to become a loyal customer are limited.

Whether your industry has a lot of opportunities to differentiate (like retail) or virtually no unique identifiers (like dairy), you'll find that a value proposition will help you understand your ideal customer and position your business as the best solution for their needs.

Use the tactics, tips, framework, and examples in this post to craft your unique value proposition. Remember: a strong value proposition is clear, specific, differentiated, and deliverable. It addresses real customer pain points, communicates tangible benefits, and sets you apart from competitors in ways that matter to your target audience.

Most importantly, don't treat your value proposition as a “set it and forget it” exercise. Test it, refine it, and evolve it as your business grows and your market changes. The most successful brands continuously optimize their value propositions based on customer feedback, competitive dynamics, and business performance.

Ready to get started? Download our free value proposition templates to begin crafting a compelling message that resonates with your customers and drives measurable results.

Editor's note: This article was originally published August 2024 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.