Why Should Customers Choose You? Avoid the #1 Value Prop Mistake
Don’t assume you know what customers need. Find out for real.
‘How to attract more customers?’
That’s always going to be a key priority for all businesses, whether you’re a small business, startup, or well-established brand.
And it’s getting harder and harder for businesses to stand out.
Thanks to smartphones, we’re inundated with a perpetual stream of marketing messages 24/7—whether in our inboxes, on our social media feeds or while surfing the net. To cope, we’ve mastered the art of tuning out the noise around us.
From a rapidly shrinking attention span to a growing tendency to skim the headlines, only the most compelling and relevant content will halt our incessant scrolling and keep us engaged.
And even if the copy is snappy and captivating enough to arrest our attention for a few minutes, the question remains: ‘What do I (the reader) get in return for investing my time/energy/money in this?’.
Therein lies the challenge: to grow your customer base, first, you need to give customers a good reason to choose you.
Table of Contents
A New Generation of Information-Hungry, Self-Service Customers
Soaring prices, the escalating climate crisis, social issues, plus an increasingly discerning consumer culture are a few factors causing shoppers to be more conscious of what, where, and how they buy.
According to the 2023 Consumer Behaviour Trends by Think with Google, “About a third of consumers globally in surveyed markets are spending more time making decisions, considering more brands, and considering more stores and retailers.”
While these findings pertain to general consumer behaviour, they highlight an important fact: buyers these days are putting more effort into weighing their options before making a purchase decision. They’re no longer just making a beeline for established brands or prioritising the best bargains.
This shift also seems to be affecting B2B buyers, based on LLR Partners' observation that this B2C revolution has inspired enterprise buyers to similarly shift from a salesperson-led model to a digital, self-serve journey.
“B2B buyers are leaving behind a massive digital footprint as they research and consume content prior to engaging with salespeople.”—LLR Partners
This makes it even more critical for businesses to have a compelling value proposition; one that spells out the unique benefits of their offering and answers the million-dollar question: ‘Why choose Brand X over Y?’
Our motivations to spend are complex; as consumers, we often make purchase decisions due to a combination of personal circumstances, values, desires, and priorities.
For business customers, purchase decisions are often influenced by:
Brand credibility and reputation
Peer recommendations
Customer reviews
Value: how helpful or effective the product or service is
Crafting a persuasive value proposition statement isn’t an exact science. It takes careful thought, analysis, and a clear understanding of the target audience’s needs. But it boils down to a simple rule:
The most convincing value proposition statements are the ones crafted with the customer’s problems and needs in mind.
At the end of the day, what’s important to the customer isn’t what you do or how you do it. It’s whether your product or service helps them solve a problem or achieve a goal, and how effectively it does it.
Make It About the Customer, Not Your Business
There’s a tendency for businesses—especially when crafting their value proposition—to focus on the product or service features. Yes, the technical capability of a product or service is an important factor in the purchase decision, but selling what it does is never as effective as selling why it’s the best solution for your target audience.
This is especially true if you’re operating in a highly competitive environment, where your competitors are offering similar quality products and services. In this case, your brand differentiation needs to be more strategic and aligned with your long-term goals.
This shift in perspective—making it about the customer, not your business—is a critical element in crafting a winning value proposition.
Instead of focusing on the ‘what’, emphasise the ‘why’ for customers to choose your brand. This means communicating the clear benefits of your product/service in language that speaks to your audience.
Those are the two key elements in crafting a compelling value proposition: the benefits and how it’s communicated. To get it right, it’s imperative to maintain a clear and unwavering customer-focused approach, where you put yourself in the customer’s shoes.
It sounds simple, but from personal experience, I know how challenging it is to detach oneself from one’s business and to look at the messaging through the eyes of the customer. It requires brutal honesty and an objective perspective: not an easy feat at all.
The #1 Value Proposition Mistake: Creating a Customer Profile Based on Assumptions
To identify your ‘why’ or unique value proposition, having an accurate customer profile (illustrated in the example below) is critical. This is where most business owners and marketers (myself included) often make the #1 value proposition mistake.
Here’s an example of a Value Proposition Canvas:
Source: HubSpot’s Value Proposition Templates
I recently used HubSpot’s Value Proposition Templates to refine my value proposition. The exercise required some serious introspection and reflection on how I wanted to differentiate my copywriting services. I had to evaluate the following honestly:
My strengths, values, and long-term goals
My ideal clients’ needs, wants & fears
How I’d like to make a difference as a copywriter
Areas of improvement to add more value to clients
What clients like about my work
In the process, I attempted to conduct a simple survey to identify clients’ needs, wants and fears using a Google Form questionnaire.
The painfully low participation confirmed what I’d suspected: most clients simply don’t have the time or energy (even if it’s just a few minutes) to invest in an activity that doesn’t benefit them. Only 2 out of 10 clients and industry contacts—whom I’d emailed with a personal message—participated in the survey.
The experience also reminded me that questionnaires are difficult to keep objective. Our questions will always contain an element of bias. The best form of research for qualitative data would be in-depth, one-on-one interviews where respondents can provide insights in their own words. It’s also the most time-consuming, resource-intensive, and low-yield type of research.
It’s therefore natural, in the process of identifying our value proposition, for many businesses (especially those with limited resources) to make assumptions rather than carry out proper research. As a freelance service provider, I can relate to the dilemma.
But perhaps there’s a way to create a more accurate customer profile without having to go through the hassle of interviewing customers!
Social Listening: A Viable Alternative for Creating a Meaningful Customer Profile
Get it straight from the horse’s mouth
"Rather than making assumptions about what your customers want or need, social listening helps you hear what they're saying. It's common for people to share their opinions publicly, so it's no surprise they do the same about the brands they interact with."—HubSpot
The key to creating personalised content
“Social listening can help you gain a deep understanding of your target audience. You can figure out what issues they care about, what kind of language they use, and what content resonates with them. Think of it like a survey that’s always running in the background.”—Hootsuite
But first, what is social listening?
Social listening is defined as monitoring social media channels for mentions of your brand, competitor brands, and related keywords.
However, it can also be used to glean deeper insights into your ideal customer personas to discover their actual needs, wants, and fears relating to your product or service.
How I Used Quora to Learn What Clients Look for in a Copywriter
In my case, I used Quora, which in my personal opinion, provides an invaluable treasure trove of insights into conversations about all kinds of topics.
The only issue I found was that a majority of the comments were posted by copywriters (whom I excluded as they’re not my target audience). The only exception I made was for Mark Mehling (example 4), due to his refreshingly objective and pragmatic perspective.
Here are the most interesting and meaningful insights I found from going down the Quora rabbit hole:
Example 1: Business owner
Example 2: Industry professional (Advertising)
Example 3: Industry professional (Branding)
Example 4: Copywriter
Based on the valuable insights above—in addition to the responses from the 2 clients who took the time to participate in my survey—I drew the following conclusions:
What do my ideal clients (i.e. marketing-savvy business owners) need from a copywriter?
Ultimately, they need copy or content that:
Attracts readers and generates high-quality leads (builds awareness & interest),
Converts interest into action (creates desire & action), and
Keeps their customers engaged enough to keep buying their products or using their services (fosters brand loyalty).
How do I help these clients achieve their goals?
As a freelance copywriter, I help clients:
Identify & communicate their unique value proposition in clear and compelling language that resonates with their audience,
Improve their customer engagement through value-driven, reader-first content, and
Induce readers to take specific actions to achieve their business goals.
Putting the Customer’s Needs First
Even though my dream clients are businesses dealing with inclusive or sustainable products/services, this exercise reminded me of a vital fact. Despite any business’ long-term goal to contribute to social issues or shape a better world, increasing sales and revenue will always be a key priority.
This realisation helped me realign my perspective with reality rather than my previously idealistic notions of what inclusive and sustainable businesses might look for in a copywriter.
With that in mind, this is my refined Value Proposition Canvas:
My updated value proposition:
If you’re thinking that “genuinely helpful” seems generic, it is, but it also conveys a sense of inclusion and accessibility for businesses looking to elevate their communication and content quality.
It’s also meant to create intrigue—raising the question ‘how is it helpful?’—so readers will want to know more. The subheading below then elaborates with more specificity and clarity, telling business owners how the copywriting will benefit their business.
There were several steps between mapping out my Value Proposition Canvas to finally nailing my value proposition messaging. To find out what I learned and the specific steps I went through, stay tuned for my next post!
The most valuable lesson I learnt from going through this exercise was the humility required to set aside my own biases and preconceived ideas of what I think clients are looking for. We always think we know based on experience, but the truth can be a sobering reminder of the opposite.
The Bottom Line
It’s quick and easy to make assumptions about what our customers need, but they’ll likely be biased and lacking in accuracy.
It takes effort and resources to identify what customers are really after, but with social media and discussion forums such as Quora, we can glean real insights with minimal hassle.
Comments or tips to add? Feel free to share them below.
