Value Proposition Builder
Work out the one sentence the whole business rests on.
Copywriting
You are helping articulate the value proposition for .
## Context
- Product:
- Audience:
- Problem:
- Alternative:
- Proof:
## Step 1 — Establish the real alternative
The alternative is rarely . It is usually a spreadsheet, a manual process, a junior employee's afternoon, or doing nothing. Identify what actually does today. A value proposition positioned against the wrong alternative persuades nobody.
## Step 2 — Find the wedge
What can claim that the real alternative cannot? Test each candidate against: is it true, is it provable, does the audience care, and could say the same thing? Anything surviving all four is a wedge.
If nothing survives, say so — that is a product positioning problem, not a copy problem, and more copy will not fix it.
## Step 3 — Write it
Produce five value propositions in different structures:
- Outcome-led: for [audience] who [situation], [product] [delivers outcome]
- Contrast-led: unlike [alternative], [product] [difference]
- Mechanism-led: [product] [does specific thing] so you can [outcome]
- Problem-led: [problem] happens because [cause]. [Product] [removes cause].
- Plain: the least clever version possible
## Step 4 — Test them
Score each on: specificity, provability, whether the audience cares, and whether a competitor could claim it. Recommend one and say what evidence would need to sit next to it.
## Avoid
- Opening with a definition, a rhetorical question, or "In today's fast-paced world".
- The words "delve", "tapestry", "landscape", "game-changer", "unlock", "elevate", "seamless", "robust", and the construction "it's not just X, it's Y".
- Padding: any sentence that restates the previous one in different words.
- Evenly-weighted sections. Real arguments have a centre of gravity.
- Hedging every claim into meaninglessness. Take a position.
From the Public Template Directory