Kill Your Vague Value Proposition Before It Kills Your Business
Most value propositions are exercises in corporate poetry, written by committees to sound important in a boardroom. They use big words like ‘synergy,’ ‘optimise,’ and ‘leverage’ to say nothing.
The result?
Your potential customers land on your website, read your headline, and their eyes glaze over. They don't know what you do, who you do it for, or why they should spend another second thinking about you.
So they leave.
A value proposition isn't a slogan. It’s not a mission statement. It’s a tool for brutal clarity. It’s the honest, simple answer to the only question that matters:
“Why should I buy from you instead of anyone else?”
If you don't have a clear answer, you don't have a business. You have a hobby. Let's fix that.
- Value propositions should provide clarity about what you offer and why potential customers should choose you.
- Avoid jargon and corporate speak; focus on simple, direct language that explains your value clearly.
- The core of a value proposition answers: What do you sell, who is it for, and how will it improve lives?
- Testing your value proposition in real-world contexts helps refine its clarity and effectiveness.
- A strong value proposition shapes your brand identity and informs how you communicate with your audience.
What a Value Proposition Is (and What It Isn’t)
Before writing a good one, you need to understand what you’re aiming for. It’s easier to start by clearing out the rubbish.
It’s Not Your Mission Statement
I have a particular hatred for mission statements masquerading as value propositions.
Your mission is your internal ‘why’. It’s about your grand vision. “To empower human potential through innovative digital solutions.” Lovely. It will look great on a plaque in reception.
But for a customer? It’s useless. It doesn't tell them what you do. It doesn't solve their problem. It's self-congratulatory noise. A value proposition is external. It’s about their why, not yours.
It’s Not a Catchy Slogan
Slogans are memory aids. They’re clever, short, and punchy. Nike’s “Just Do It.” Apple’s “Think Different.
They are designed to reinforce a brand that already exists. They are not intended to explain the value of that brand from a standing start. Your value proposition does the hard work of explanation. Your slogan is the catchy summary that comes later. Don't confuse the two.
It’s Not a Boring List of Features
Here’s a pet peeve of mine. A business lists what its product has instead of what it does.
- “Our CRM has 256-bit encryption.”
- “This blender has a 1,200-watt motor.”
- “We use a proprietary algorithm.”
So what?
Nobody buys a drill because they want a drill. They buy a drill because they want a hole. Stop selling the drill's features. Sell the perfect hole. Sell the ease of making it. Sell the result, not the machine.
So, What Is It?
Right. Now that the rubbish is cleared away, here’s the simple truth.
A value proposition is a simple promise of the tangible result a customer will get from buying from you.
The headline on your website makes your ideal customer stop and say, “That's for me.” It answers three questions in a heartbeat:
- What do you sell?
- Who is it for?
- How will it make their life better?
That's it. It’s not complicated. But it is challenging to get right because it forces you to make choices.
The Anatomy of a Value Prop That Doesn’t Suck
Think of the top of your homepage. That's where your value proposition lives or dies. It has four key parts that work together.
The Headline: The Big, Bold Promise
This is your hook. It’s the most critical sentence. It should communicate the number one benefit you offer. It must be outcome-focused.
How Stripe does it:
“Financial infrastructure to grow your revenue.”
It's brilliant. It doesn’t say, “We sell payment APIs.” It sells “infrastructure.” It's for “the internet.” It's enormous, credible, and immediately understandable. It’s the result.
The Sub-headline: The Plain English Explanation
This is a 2-3 sentence paragraph directly below the headline. It expands on the promise. It explains what you do, for whom, and why it's different. No jargon. Just simple, declarative sentences.
Continuing with Stripe:
“Millions of companies use Stripe to accept payments online and in person, embed financial services, power custom revenue models, and build a more profitable business.”
See? What is it (software and APIs), who is it for (startups to Fortune 500s), and what does it do (accept payments, send payouts, manage business)? Perfect.
The Bullet Points: The Tangible Proof
Underneath the explanation, you can list 3 to 5 key benefits or features that support your central promise. This is where you can briefly mention the ‘how’.
- Fraud prevention
- Global scalability
- 24/7 support
These points back up the claim of being “infrastructure.” They add credibility to the headline's promise.
The Visual: The Instant Reinforcement
This is the hero image or video. It should show the product in action, visualise the outcome, or create an emotional connection. It needs to work with the text to tell the same story. A picture of your smiling team is not a good visual for your value proposition. A screenshot of your clean software dashboard is.
Step 1: Stop Guessing and Figure Out Your Customer
The biggest mistake in business is thinking your product is for everyone. It isn't. Your first job is to decide who it's for and who it's not for.
Who Are You Actually Talking To?
Be ruthless. If you're a freelance graphic designer, you are not for “small businesses.” That's too broad.
Are you for tech startups that need a pitch deck in 48 hours? Are you for local restaurants that need a new menu design? Are you for authors who need a book cover?
Each of those is a different customer with a different problem. A value proposition for one will be meaningless to the others. The more specific you are, the more magnetic you become to the right people. Being brave enough to exclude people is a superpower.
What's Their Real Problem? (Not the One You Think They Have)
People don't buy products. They ‘hire' them to do a job. This is the core of the “Jobs-to-be-Done” framework.
A busy startup founder doesn't ‘hire' project management software because they want Gantt charts. They hire it to stop the feeling of chaos and the fear of missing a critical deadline. They want to look competent in front of their investors.
The job is to “reduce my anxiety about my workload.” Your software is the tool for the job.
How do you find this out? You talk to them, not via a 50-question survey. You have actual conversations. Ask them what they were using before. Ask them what the biggest frustration in their day is. Listen for the emotional drivers, not the feature requests.
Step 2: Find Your One Thing. Your Differentiator.
Once you know who you're talking to and their real problem, you must find out why you're the only one who can solve it.
‘Better’ Is a Lie. ‘Different’ Is a Strategy.
Stop trying to be “the best.” It's a weak position. “Best” is subjective, and every one of your competitors is saying it too. It's white noise.
Instead of being better, be different.
What is the one thing you do that your competitors won't or can't? This is where true value lies. You may be faster. You may be simpler. You may serve a niche they ignore. Maybe you can guarantee they will be too scared to match.
As Peter Thiel would say, you want to be a monopoly of one. What is your secret? What do you believe that nobody else in your industry does? Your differentiation is born from that belief.
- Masters, Blake (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 224 Pages – 06/04/2015 (Publication Date) – Virgin Books (Publisher)
A Simple-ish Framework: The Value Equation
I'm a fan of how Alex Hormozi frames this. He presents a “Value Equation” as a fantastic thinking tool. It's not about doing maths but structuring your thought process.
Value = (Dream Outcome × Perceived Likelihood of Achievement) / (Time Delay × Effort & Sacrifice)
Let's break that down.
- Dream Outcome: What is the perfect result your customer is imagining? (e.g., “I want to be a fluent Spanish speaker.”)
- Perceived Likelihood of Achievement: How much do they believe your product can deliver that outcome? (Testimonials, case studies, and guarantees increase this).
- Time Delay: How long will it take them to get the result? (The faster, the better).
- Effort & Sacrifice: How much work and pain must they endure? (The less, the better).
Your unique value comes from maximising the top half of that equation and minimising the bottom half.
Can you deliver the dream outcome faster than anyone else? Can you do it with less effort for the customer? Can you increase their belief that they'll succeed with a rock-solid guarantee? That's your differentiator.
Step 3: Stop Waffling and Write the Damn Thing
The theory is fine. Now, it's time to put words on a page. Don't aim for perfection. Aim for clarity.
Start with a Proven Template (Then Make It Your Own)
Templates are crutches, but sometimes you need a crutch to start walking. They force clarity. Two are particularly useful.
Geoffrey Moore's Template:
- For [target customer]
- Who [statement of the need or opportunity]
- The [product name] is a [product category]
- that [statement of key benefit – compelling reason to buy].
- Unlike [primary competitive alternative],
- Our product [statement of primary differentiation].
A Blank XYZ Template (Simpler):
- We help [X – a specific customer]
- do [Y – a particular thing]
- by doing [Z – our secret sauce].
Try filling these in. Don't treat them as the final copy. Treat them as a tool to force you to answer the hard questions. The output will be clunky but will contain raw materials for a great value proposition.
The “No Jargon” Test
Once you have a draft, read it out loud.
Does it sound like a human being talking, or does it sound like a corporate press release? Be merciless. Find every single piece of jargon and kill it.
- Instead of “leverage,” say “use.”
- Instead of “optimise,” say “improve” or “speed up.”
- Instead of “seamless integration,” say “connects easily with.”
If a reasonably intelligent friend wouldn't understand it immediately, rewrite it. A 2018 study showed that the average reading level online is surprisingly low. Simplicity wins—every time.
Real-World Examples: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Let's look at what works and what doesn't.
The Good: Shopify
- Headline: Sell everywhere
- Sub-headline: One platform that lets you sell wherever your customers are—online, in‑person, and everywhere in between.
This is superb. “Sell everywhere” implies it's the standard. “Wherever your customers are” feels solid and fundamental. The sub-headline gives social proof (“millions of customers”) and lists its three core jobs: sell, ship, and process payments. Clear. Confident.
The Bad and The Ugly: (A Fictional Company)
- Headline: Synergy Business Solutions: Unlocking Your Potential
- Sub-headline: We empower our partners by leveraging next-generation, paradigm-shifting strategies to facilitate best-in-class operational excellence and maximise stakeholder value.
This is the kind of drivel that makes customers flee. It is a sentence complete of impressive-sounding words that, when strung together, mean absolutely nothing at all. It's a smoke screen for a company that either doesn't know what it does or is too scared to say it.
Step 4: Your Value Prop Is a Hypothesis, Not a Tablet of Stone
Here’s the thing: you will not get it perfect on the first try. Your first value proposition is your best guess. It's a scientific hypothesis. Now, you must go into the real world and test it.
How to Test It Without Spending a Fortune
You don't need a massive budget for this.
- The 5-Second Test: Show your homepage to someone for five seconds and then hide it. Ask them what your company does. If they can't tell you, it's not clear enough.
- A/B Test Your Headline: Create two landing page versions with two headlines. Drive a little bit of traffic to them with cheap ads. See which one converts better. Data beats opinion.
- Use it in Conversation: Use your value proposition when someone asks what you do at a party. Do their eyes light up with understanding, or do they glaze over and look for the exit? That's the most honest feedback you'll ever get.
When to Know It's Time for a Rethink
Your value proposition isn't static. It will need to evolve. Look for these signs:
- Your website has a high bounce rate. People are landing and leaving immediately.
- Your sales team struggles to explain what you do.
- You consistently attract the wrong type of customer.
- You have pivoted your business, and your primary product has changed significantly.
Don't be precious about it. If it's not working, admit it and return to the drawing board.
The Final Piece: Your Value Prop Dictates Your Brand
This is the part most people miss. Your value proposition isn't just a line of copy. It is the strategic heart of your entire brand identity.
Once you know your value is “simplicity for busy freelancers,” that informs everything. Your logo should be clean, not complex. Your website design should be minimalist, with lots of white space. Your tone of voice should be direct and to the point.
If your value is “powerful, customisable tools for enterprise experts,” your brand can be more complex, technical, and detailed. The visual identity can reflect that power.
Your value proposition is the brief you give to your designer. It ensures the look and feel of your business is an honest reflection of the value you provide. A strong brand is built on this foundation of clarity. Without it, you're just picking pretty colours. If you want a brand that works, you have to nail your value proposition first. That’s the core of any serious brand identity work.
If you're at the point where you need that external, brutally honest perspective to nail this down, it might be time to have a direct conversation. You can request a quote, and we can see if we're the right people to help you kill the jargon and find clarity.
Conclusion
Your value proposition has one job: to make your ideal customer feel understood.
It's not about sounding clever. It's not about impressing your industry peers. It’s about making a clear, compelling promise to a specific person.
Stop hiding behind vague language. Stop trying to be for everyone. Be brave enough to be specific. Be bold enough to be different. Most importantly, be honest about the real, tangible value you deliver.
Here's a challenge. Take 30 minutes. No distractions. Use the “We help X do Y by doing Z” template. Don't overthink it. Just write it. You might be surprised by the clarity that falls onto the page.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the difference between a value proposition and a Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?
A USP is often a component of a value proposition. The specific, unique factor differentiates you (e.g., “The only carbon-neutral web host”). The value proposition is the broader promise that includes the USP, the benefit, and the target customer.
How long should a value proposition be?
The headline should be a single, powerful sentence. The explanatory paragraph below should be no more than two or three short sentences. Any supporting bullet points should be concise and scannable. Brevity is key.
Can a business have more than one value proposition?
Yes. You may have a primary, overarching value proposition for your company, but specific products or services might have their own, more focused value propositions that appeal to different customer segments.
Where should I display my value proposition?
It should be the first thing people see on your homepage—the “hero” section. It should also be consistently reflected in your marketing campaigns, social media bios, and sales pitches. It’s your core message.
How do I create a value proposition if my product is brand new?
Focus on the problem you solve. Your value proposition will be a hypothesis since you don't have customer data yet. Define your ideal customer, state their most significant pain point, and promise how you'll solve it. Then, your first job is to test that hypothesis with real users.
Is “lowest price” a good value proposition?
It can be, but it’s a dangerous game. Competing on price is a race to the bottom. Someone can always undercut you unless you have a massive, unassailable structural advantage like Walmart or Amazon. Competing on a different value axis, like speed, service, quality, or convenience, is usually better.
My industry is very technical. Do I still need to simplify my value proposition?
Yes. Even experts appreciate the clarity. Your value proposition should be understandable to a potential buyer who might be an executive or manager, not just the engineer who will use the product. You can keep the deep technical details for product pages, but the front-door promise must be clear.
What is a Value Proposition Canvas?
It’s a strategic tool, part of the Business Model Canvas, that helps you map out your customers' “jobs,” “pains,” and “gains” on one side and your product's “features,” “pain relievers,” and “gain creators” on the other. It’s a helpful framework for brainstorming and ensuring your product meets customer needs.
How often should I review my value proposition?
Review it at least once a year or whenever you notice key metrics (like conversion rates) dropping. Also, revisit it whenever you make a significant change to your business, such as launching a new core product or targeting a new market.
What if my competitors copy my value proposition?
First, take it as a compliment. Second, if your value proposition is based on a genuine, hard-to-replicate differentiator in your business operations, they can copy the words but can't copy the delivery. A promise without proof is just marketing. Keep innovating so your value is always a step ahead.
Last update on 2025-07-15 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
