The value proposition is arguably the most important element of any FinTech’s marketing messaging.
It tells your prospects why they should take a leap and part with a huge slice of trust and budget to do business with you instead of your competitors, or similar/alternative solutions.
It makes the benefits of your proposition crystal clear either at brand proposition level or for specific campaign.
The Value proposition is integral and interlinked to your go to market strategy - not to be confused with a mission statement.
Value Proposition v Mission Statement
While a mission statement may inspire your value proposition, the value proposition is different. A mission statement sometimes faces outward, but is actually intended as a rally call internally – a 'why' statement of what the organisation believes and is aiming for. The value proposition on the other hand is a 'why' statement for clients (and their end customers), it's about them, not you, and explains why they should buy into the proposition.
Aside from the mission v proposition confusion, there are a few common traps to avoid.
Marketing don’t figure out the value proposition – so just do tactical 'features and benefits' campaigns
Marketing think they’ve figured it all out - but there are differences of opinion inside the organisation – favouring different approaches dilutes clarity, so needs to be resolved
Value proposition is buried or is instead mistaken for the meaningless slogan of jargonistic buzzwords. We unlock performance advantage through our nascent embedded integrations – might have come out of an internal workshop, but means nothing to the CTO or a CFO you’re trying to impress
Value proposition is not front and centre of website or in marketing campaigns – returning to the point of tactical 'features and benefits' marketing!
Types of Value Proposition
There are four broad categories of value propositions, so you need to work out where you sit
Price: why your proposition is the most cost-efficient option
Value: unique features of your service or product proposition
Client/Customer convenience: how you make their lives easier
Results: How proposition gets results: growth, savings, secure etc
The key questions to answer
Our template enables a comprehensive on a page proposition. Boiling down the four key questions - and backing up the answers with evidence.
Are we clear (and in agreement) about what makes the proposition unique or better than the competition/alternatives?
Are we clear about how we explain what the proposition actually does (without jargon)?
Are we clear about the problem we are trying to solve or what opportunity we are trying to unlock for our future clients?
Are we clear about the target audience – and what their world looks like?
How to create your Value Proposition
From the template, your goal should be to develop a succinct statement, sometimes paired with a visual element. It sets out your declaration of how the proposition is both notable and unique.
Larger or more complex organisations often have multiple value propositions for different campaigns to show different areas of value, (refining for different geographies or targeting different vertical markets and audiences), but for FinTechs, we say keep it simple. Laser focus.
With the Value Proposition understood, you can move on and create a simple expression (some say slogan) or a big idea that links more than one expression.
The result - marketing can communicate with consistency, clarity and force.
Tools for the job – use our template
At GTMHive, we embrace simplicity. On a page (or at a push two sides) is best – especially for FinTech. Capturing key information so that senior leaders agree and colleagues are informed.
Speed - quicker to complete, share and circulate - simple and efficient
Focus - people creating the templates need to focus, collaborate and agree
Easy - 20 page documents get put in the 'read later' pile. A one pager is simple, well signposted, easy on the eye and easy to digest - more likely to get read.
No nasty surprises - because it's easy to read, questions and requests for more information should be up front - not when it's too late.
More intel will sit behind the scenes, but using the value proposition one page template can be really effective summarising to share. It’s not intended as a one size fits all – so can be refined and adjusted to suit your needs
Further Help
If you need help to shape your value proposition or marketing strategy, one of our GTM HIVE Fintech SaaS fractional experts can help you. Check out our available expert and their rates now.
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