A unique value proposition – UVP for short – defines what separates a business or brand from competitors in the market. It’s what makes a brand unique. It highlights the unique benefits your brand offers consumers that others don’t. 

If you’re a business owner, brand manager, or marketing professional, a UVP is essential to crafting a memorable experience. This resource will provide a comprehensive overview of unique value propositions in relation to branding. Continue reading to learn: 

• What a UVP is
• Why it’s important to your business
• How to create a UVP 
• How to write a UVP 
• Examples of strong UVPs in the real world

 What Is A Unique Value Proposition?

The definition of a unique value proposition is the distinctive value a company or brand creates for customers to differentiate itself from competitors. While it also refers to product-specific values, this resource will focus primarily on UVPs for brands and businesses. 

A unique value proposition is a clear, thorough statement that solves a specific problem, fulfills a need, or offers a benefit not available anywhere else in the market. It creates the impression that your brand is uniquely suited to meet your customer’s needs. 

Components of a UVP

Three core components go into a unique value proposition: 

• What a company or brand offers 
• How it solves the customer’s problem 
• What differentiates it from other options in the market

To create a strong UVP, you need to understand the market and internal strengths of your business. An effective UVP requires a succinct, compelling presentation of your brand’s uniqueness. It should focus on specific advantages your brand offers that resonate with consumers, such as: 

• Product quality 
• Cost efficiency 
• Technological innovation 
• Customer service 

Why Is A Unique Value Proposition Important To Your Business?

There are multiple reasons why a unique value proposition is important to your business. In the most general sense, a UVP helps you stand out among your competition. It helps to build a strong, recognizable brand. 

There are many reasons why a UVP is essential to your business. Your brand’s unique value proposition can: 

• Bridge the gap between customers and your business 
• Define your brand 
• Guide your marketing strategy 
• Attract new customers and retain existing ones 
• Drive consistent sales 

In the sections below, I’ll provide more detail about each benefit.

Bridge The Gap Between Customers And Your Business

A UVP facilitates clearer, more effective communication with potential customers. It states what makes your brand unique and sets you apart from competitors while resonating with your target audience’s needs and desires. 

There’s no guessing or trying to piece together a puzzle on the consumer’s end. No one is sending mixed signals. You distinctly communicate how and why your brand is best suited for prospective customers. 

Define Your Brand 

Your unique value proposition serves as a core brand identity and informs all subsequent branding decisions. While multiple components go into defining your brand – including your mission, vision, values, purpose, and more – your UVP separates you from competitors. 

The framing and narrative of this unique value within your brand strategy help support prospective consumers through their entire journey. Sometimes your UVP intersects with another component, like your values or mission. Defining the unique component of your brand increases the likelihood of forming emotional connections with consumers, transforming them into loyal customers. 

Guide Your Marketing Strategy

What makes you unique and how that directly resonates with your target audience’s needs and desires is key to your overall marketing strategy. All messaging should incorporate your unique value – from visual marketing images to content marketing blogs and everything in between. 

Marketing your UVP provides a consistent, convincing narrative that supports customers through their journey. That’s a similarity shared between defining your brand and guiding your marketing strategy. Consistently interweaving your UVP into messaging to convince consumers your unique value directly addresses their specific needs and desires, whether it’s crafting your brand or guiding a marketing campaign.

Help Attract New Customers And Retain Existing Ones

A strong unique value proposition clearly states the reasons new customers should choose you over the competition. Highlighting why you’re unique and what separates you from the competition helps win over undecided consumers. 

Once they support your brand, your UVP reinforces existing customers’ decision to stay loyal. So long as you remind them there is no option like you in the market, they’ll have no desire to support anyone else. Implanting your unique value in their mind through branding, marketing, advertising, and any other communication leads to customer brand loyalty that outlasts price fluctuation and competitor offerings.

Drive Consistent Sales

All of the previously described benefits lead to more consistent sales and support for your brand. Connecting consumers to your business through branding and marketing helps to attract new customers and better retain existing ones. More loyal customers equate to increased, steady sales. That’s the true power of your unique value proposition.

How To Create A UVP For Your Brand

Now that you understand what it is and why it’s important, I’ll walk you through the process of creating your brand’s unique value proposition. There are multiple steps in creating a UVP – each building upon the last to ensure it’s crafted strategically

Here is my six-step approach to writing and creating a unique value proposition: 

1. Gain a deep understanding of your brand, audience, and market 
2. Evaluate what you do best and how it uniquely meets the needs of your target audience 
3. Identify the core benefits of your brand 
4. Differentiate yourself from competitors 
5. Develop your UVP statement 
6. Analyze, test, and refine 

I’ll expand on each step in the sections below.

Step 1: Gain A Deep Understanding Of Your Brand, Audience, And Market

Before you can communicate your unique value to consumers, you need to know your brand inside and out. That includes all the elements of your brand – your purpose, mission, values, and any other important components. Why do you do what you do? What are you working towards? What core values go into your process? Answer these questions and more.

You should understand your audience as well as yourself. The preferences, pain points, characteristics, and other qualities of your target audience directly impact your UVP. Use marketing analytics, surveys, and focus groups, and existing customer purchase data – among other resources – to build a foundational knowledge of your audience. 

Finally, be aware of the market you’re in and how competitors position their brands. You’ll dive further into the competition later in the process, but you should have a solid grasp on your direct competitors, how they position themselves, and where you differ. 

Step 2: Evaluate What You Do Best And How It Uniquely Meets The Needs Of Your Target Audience 

Even with a deep understanding of your brand, take the analysis to a more granular level. Analyze what you do best to identify the component (or components) of your brand to highlight as your UVP.

In highlighting what you do best, consider your target audience. What are their needs and desires? Which components of your brand resonate most with those qualities and preferences? 

Take a look at the following segments when considering your target audience’s needs and desires: 

• Demographics
• Psychographics
• Purchase Intent 
• Lifestyle 
• Subculture

Step 3: Identify The Core Benefits Of Your Brand

While you’ve started the process in previous steps, take your strengths and what you do best to identify the core benefits of your brand. Break below the surface level. This is more than flashy product features.  

Figure out what impactful, substantial benefits your brand provides and how they affect your target audience: 

• Does your product or service save the audience time? 
• Does your brand improve your audience’s quality of life?
• Does supporting your brand cost your audience less money?
• Do you offer a unique brand experience that isn’t available elsewhere?

Take your strengths and link them to what your audience values most.

Step 4: Differentiate Yourself From Competitors

Remember the final component of a UVP: what differentiates your brand from others in the market? Take what you’ve learned in the first three steps of the process and use that information to differentiate yourself from competitors in the market. 

This involves a detailed competitive analysis. Compile all of the major competitors in your market. Familiarize yourself with their offerings and brand. Identify any gaps that you can fill. What audience segments are they not targeting where you can? How can you position yourself to win over segments that competitors already target? These questions and more help inform your UVP. 

Step 5: Develop Your UVP Statement

With all of your research, information, and data gathered, you need to write your UVP statement. This statement serves as the base of all messaging to consumers. 

Your UVP statement should showcase the benefits you provide and its differentiation into a clear, compelling message that can be easily communicated to your target audience. In your UVP, highlight what makes you the better, correct choice over the competition.

Step 6: Analyze, Test, And Refine 

Once you’ve launched your UVP, an important final (and ongoing) step is managing its impact. Your unique value proposition is fluid and never-ending. As you progress or change as a business – whether it’s operationally, philosophically, or some combination – your UVP transforms. Rebranding? Your UVP changes too. 

Analyze various results, test different variations, and refine your messaging based on the information you find. To analyze and test the effectiveness of your UVP, you can: 

• Review customer feedback: This includes analyzing social media engagement, comments, likes, online reviews, and other public customer feedback
• Adapt to market changes: As the market changes, so might your UVP. Continue to stay updated on the market and competitors. 
• A/B testing on your website: Test variations of your UVP statement on your website and in online marketing and advertising campaigns. 
• Surveys and focus groups: Gauge the strength of your UVP by conducting surveys online or focus groups in person. You can use existing customers or unbiased consumers to find new insights. 

This process evaluates how well your UVP communicates value, differentiates the brand, and influences customer behavior.

How To Write A Unique Value Proposition

Although I walked you through the steps to create a UVP, physically (and mentally) drafting a unique value proposition varies – and warrants a separate blog post. To get started – at the very least to get your brain flowing, you can follow this simple formula: 

• Headline: Summarize your UVP in one concise sentence that grabs consumer attention.
• Sub-headline: A longer explanation of what you offer to whom, and why it’s beneficial to them. 
• Bullet points: Listing key benefits and features

Examples Of Strong Unique Value Propositions

I’ve covered a lot of information in this resource so far. While there were some practical references, it can be difficult to completely grasp the concept of a UVP without seeing concrete examples. 

In the following sections, I’ll analyze a few strong examples of unique value propositions, including: 

• Slack
• Evernote
• Uber 
• Airbnb

Slack

Slack is a cloud-based team communication platform that shook up the workplace communication industry upon introduction to the market.

Their UVP is simple – Slack replaces email inside your company. 

It addresses the pain points of their target market – cluttered, inefficient workplace email inboxes and communication strategy. Slack positions itself as a brand that improves workplace communication and streamlines the process in one all-encompassing app. 

Evernote 

Evernote is a note-taking and task-management application with a UVP that boils down to two words. 

Remember Everything. 

An unforgettably simple UVP, Evernote packs its message into a concise and effective phrase. It describes the unique functionality benefits, including that Evernote captures and organizes information effortlessly, manages large amounts of information, and keeps track of everything in one convenient place. 

Uber

If you’ve opted for a night out without driving, you’re probably familiar with Uber. While they’ve expanded into numerous service options, Uber originated as a transportation and ridesharing service. 

Uber’s UVP is plain and simple – The smartest way to get around. 

In a brief sentence, Uber explains that other options are available, but any choice aside from them is not “the smartest” choice. They uniquely position themselves as not just another taxi or transportation company, while providing a unique service that combines convenience and cost-effectiveness as core benefits.

Airbnb

Airbnb disrupted the traditional hospitality industry when the app was introduced, offering short and long-term homestays. They have a lengthier UVP, but it’s an all-encompassing overview of what Airbnb has to offer. 

Airbnb exists to create a world where anyone can belong anywhere, providing healthy travel that is local, authentic, diverse, inclusive, and sustainable. 

The statement covers Airbnb’s commitment to 

• A unique, genuine local experience
• Diverse housing options
• Cost-effective stays
• Community-driven feedback 

Capture Your Unique Value Proposition In A Picture With Casey Templeton

Your brand needs to stand out among competitors, and a unique value proposition does just that. After reading this resource, I hope you feel more informed about UVPs: what they are, the components that go into them, and why they’re so important to success as an organization.

We live in a visually dominant world. Visuals are essential in branding, and to succeed in the modern landscape, you need to highlight your UVP through branded imagery and text. Finding the right photographer equips you with an image library tailored to your UVP – with pictures for your business website, social media platforms, print advertising, and more. 

Casey Templeton Photography offers professional corporate and commercial lifestyle photography services in the greater Nashville, TN area and beyond. Casey has years of technical practice behind the lens and business branding experience with organizations of all sizes and in various industries. 

To learn more about photography’s role in your unique value proposition or get started on a project, fill out our contact form.