How to Define Your App’s Unique Value Proposition [The Definitive Guide]

Henn Akimov

Marketer, Startup Advisor

Ihor Polych

CEO at Devlight

Every entrepreneur seeking guidance on launching a mobile app business and achieving success will encounter the concept of an app’s unique value proposition (UVP). A strong value proposition for your potential clients is what makes you stand out from the competition, so it is vital for the product you want to sell.

Yes, your target market will require a compelling reason to pick your app above the competition, and you shouldn’t make them go looking for it. Give them one or more convincing value propositions that will persuade them. What exactly motivates people? Let’s delve into the topic together.

What Is a Unique Value Proposition (UVP) For Mobile App?

A unique value proposition (UVP) is something that distinguishes you from competitors. It might be a benefit, an offer, a distinguishing feature, or a statement. You can guarantee that you will offer it to your target audience, benefiting them and addressing their issue.

What distinguishes your goods from those of competitors? What advantages does that bring? These questions are the main ones when it comes to identifying your app’s unique value proposition. Further details on developing the UVP for your business are provided in the following sections.

Value Proposition’s Difference from Other Terms

Your company’s distinctive identification is your value proposition. Without it, customers won’t be motivated to buy your products. Consumers might even decide to choose a competitor merely because of how well that company’s marketing and sales efforts convey its value offer.

In light of this, you might question whether your app’s unique value proposition is synonymous with your slogan. Nope. Your value proposition can be mistaken for other brand components like your mission statement, tagline, or slogan. The differences are described below.

Mission Statement vs. Value Proposition

Your value proposition explains what you have to offer and why clients should choose you, whereas your mission statement explains what you want to accomplish as a company. While the two can have certain similarities, a value proposition is more goal- and product-oriented than a mission statement is.

Here are two imaginary illustrations:

• “Our CRM is easy-to-navigate and well-designed” is the value proposition.
• Our mission is to “assist businesses in better growth.”

Slogan vs. Value Proposition

A slogan is a succinct, memorable phrase that businesses use in advertising campaigns to promote a particular commodity. While the elements of your app’s unique value proposition (at least typically) wouldn’t be used in an advertisement, a slogan and tagline would. The most crucial thing to remember is that a business can use various slogans for various campaigns or goods:

• “Dazzling gems, top-notch designs, and breathtaking jewelry” are the value proposition.
• The slogan may sound like “A diamond lasts forever.”

Tagline vs. Value Proposition

A tagline is a succinct phrase that encapsulates a certain element of your brand or company. Although a value proposition is more specific, a tagline can convey a principle or ideal that your company upholds. Most companies have a single, distinctive catchphrase that serves as the foundation of their brand:

This is an illustration from Apple:

• According to the value proposition: “Best experiences. On Apple only.”
• “Think Different is the tagline.”

The difficulties you want to help customers with and what makes your product or service the ideal answer are both covered in detail in your value proposition. Establishing an app’s unique value proposition is crucial before you compose the statement itself. After creating a value proposition canvas, you can go on with determining the next brand components.

What Makes a Value Proposition?

Most frequently, your app’s main page or your company’s landing page will contain your value proposition. Although you can put it on marketing campaigns and brochures, your home page, and, if you’d like, your product pages are where it will be seen the most. The headline, the subheadline, and the graphic component are the three key components of an app’s unique value proposition.

1. Headline

Your value proposition’s headline outlines the advantage the customer will experience from making a purchase from your company. The headline can be original and alluring, but it should, first and foremost, be succinct and precise.

2. Paragraph or Subheading

It should be clear from the subheadline or paragraph what your business provides, who it serves, and why. You can expand on the details in the headline in this area.

3. Visual Elements

In some instances, a video, infographic, or image may be able to communicate your value proposition more effectively than just words. Use graphic components to strengthen your message and draw the audience in.

Why Is It Important to Have a Unique Value Proposition for Mobile App?

Why would you need to create an app’s unique value proposition? First and foremost, this statement explains why users and potential consumers should choose your product and offer above those of your competitors. These days, there are so many apps on the market serving the same purpose that it could be very challenging to stand out. 

Every week, customers are exposed to tens of thousands of offers. They don’t want to conduct extensive studies on each purchase they intend to buy. Formulating an app’s unique value proposition obvious to the users is crucial for this reason. It helps them to quickly understand what you offer and whether it matches their needs.

This assurance of value has the power to alter the target market’s perception of your company completely. It explains to them why you are the best option for their issues and pain points.

Step-By-Step Guide to Defining Your App’s UVP

Value propositions can have a variety of formats as long as they are particular to the business and the clients it serves. An app’s unique value proposition should distinguish a good or service from the competition, not contain any specific hard-to-understand marketing terms, and quickly convey the product’s value.

Researching the target market and examining the competitors is the first stage in identifying the Unique Value Proposition for your company. To outperform your competitors, you must thoroughly research their business operations, objectives, marketing plans, and value propositions. Let’s examine this process in more detail.

Step 1: Identify Your Target Audience

Every company has a target audience, and reaching out to people outside of this group can bring about disappointing results. A product for everyone is a product for no one. Thus, don’t try to benefit everyone. Seek the audience that matches your general app’s purpose and then narrow it down to a more specific category. There is too much competition in all businesses to neglect this step.

What can you do to reach this category? Where are your app’s target consumers located? What are their pain points? What benefits do they seek in a product like yours? Make up a user profile and try to cater to real people with real problems and expectations. 

Step 2: Identify Your Competitors

Identifying your app’s unique value proposition requires researching other market players because it helps you determine how to make your product stand out. Even if you may have discovered a fantastic client need and a fantastic solution to address their issue, don’t forget there are other apps on the market. Your product will fail inevitably if it doesn’t offer more benefits than the one already existing. 

When conducting your research, focus on at least three reputable competitors that your customer considers when choosing an app like yours. List each one’s features and the means they use to transfer their market offer. After doing that, search for gaps: What advantage does your product or service have over those of your rivals? Your starting point for the following action is here.

Consider changing how you define “benefits” if you have trouble coming up with original ones. For instance, your product’s functional advantages could be identical to those of your rivals, but what about intangible advantages like brand perception? A strong app’s unique value proposition exists when a customer can feel a certain way about your product, the way they don’t feel about other apps.

Step 3: Identify Your App’s Unique Features and Benefits

You’ll know what advantages to emphasize once you identify the problems that your solution solves for your target market. When developing your app’s unique value proposition, make a list of the advantages and principles of your app. Describe your competitive edge. What sets you apart from your rivals? What makes your product special? While developing a new marketing strategy, value propositions frequently incorporate the answers to these questions.

Step 4: Narrow Down Your UVP to One Sentence Using UVP Formulas

Marketing specialists have been using special formulas to identify the app’s unique value proposition for years. They can serve as a foundation for your statements:

GEOFF MOORE’S VALUE POSITIONING STATEMENT

1. For ______ (target user)
2. who _______ (need)
3. our app is _____ (product category)
4. that ______ (primary benefit)

For instance, “Our app is a tracker that discovers budget-friendly restaurants for hungry college students based on the recommendations of other students.”

STEVE BLANK’S XYZ

1. We help ___ (X – target user)
2. Do ___ (Y – need)
3. Doing ___ (Z – primary benefit)

“We help busy parents choose responsible babysitters by conducting rigorous background checks,” for instance.

COOPER & VLASKOVITS’ PROPOSITION TEMPLATE

Patrick Vlaskovits and Brant Cooper, co-authors of The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development, created the following template to help startups position themselves:

Customer: Who your customer is.

Problem: The problem you’re solving for the customer.

Solution: Your solution for the customer’s problem.

Customer: Athletes who need to follow a healthy diet. 

Problem: They suffer from a monotonous diet. 

Solution: Revolutionize your meal routine with our AI-powered mobile app that suggests personalized meal options based on your dietary preferences and available products.

DAVE MCCLURE’S VALUE PROPOSITION TEMPLATE

Dave McClure, investor, and entrepreneur developed a template based on the classic elevator pitch. The following are the rules for crafting this message:

Be short, simple, and memorable; what, how, why.

Contain a maximum of three keywords or phrases and two sentences.

Contain no jargon.

“Our customization app is the quickest and easiest way for you to create personalized t-shirts that are shipped to you in two days or less.”

DAVID COWAN’S VALUE PROPOSITION TEMPLATE

Venture capitalist and entrepreneur David Cowan wrote a post called “Practicing the Art of Pitchcraft” in which he outlines his tips for creating a value prop. His template is structured like this:

Show Something Interesting Right Away: Intrigue the person hearing or reading the VP.

Don’t Make Them Think Too Hard: Keep it short and easy to understand.

Science Not Allowed In The Elevator: Say what your product or service does, not how it does it.

Establish Credibility. Name Dropping Allowed: Explain why you or your company is qualified to provide the service or build the product.

“Four out of five doctors have lousy handwriting, leading to patients taking incorrect medication. Using the new PrescriptionPad app, doctors can are create legible prescriptions in a flash. Jointly developed by handwriting experts and Doctors Without Penmanship.”

ERIK SINK’S VALUE PROPOSITION TEMPLATE

Software developer and entrepreneur Eric Sink developed a basic value proposition template that includes the following:

Superlative: Why this product

Label: What is this product

Qualifiers: Who should choose this product

Example: The most effective flock protection system with an app for tech-savvy chicken farmers.

Step 5: Test Your UVP With Your Target Audience

Your app’s unique value proposition should be put to the test and improved. Do clients begin associating your company with your UVP, and does this result in a recognizable brand? Do the clients you work with don’t exactly understand what market benefits to expect from your app? How do you plan to measure your marketing strategy effectiveness?

Building unnecessary products is one of the most expensive development mistakes. This is why it’s crucial to validate your work before you start creating it through user interviews, demos, etc. The easiest way to verify your app’s unique value proposition is to perform user interviews with your competitor’s customers before you’ve even considered hiring someone to develop your app. For example, what would you like to see improved in your present software solution?

You will either get more confident in your idea after conducting enough interviews, or you may have new information to iterate on. The only way to engage with your potential users is to get closer to the ideal product earlier in the process, saving you time and money.

Examples of Strong UVPs for Apps

The app’s unique value proposition explains to the users why your app is the best choice for them. It assists customers in making decisions and, occasionally, in defending those decisions to others when it is incorporated into marketing materials and the customer experience. A persuasive justification might make them feel confident about their purchase and become brand followers. Here are examples of such UVPs:

Grammarly “Great writing, simplified”

The headline for Grammarly makes it clear what the company is delivering. The extremely clear UVP statement summarizes the services offered in terms that are relatable to the target audience. The advertising materials Grammarly uses (videos, campaigns) visually illustrate what makes Grammarly so excellent and distinguishes this app’s unique value proposition from other marketing techniques.

Anyone looking to improve their writing qualifies as a customer.

• Problem: Users make errors in writing (grammar, spelling, formatting, clarity, etc.)
• Solution: A capable AI that detects all writing faults and offers suggestions for enhancements or correcting.

Slack “Make work life simpler, more pleasant and more productive.”

There are two groups of individuals worldwide: those who adore Slack and those who haven’t used it yet. Slack is a chat and workplace productivity software. What makes Slack different from the tens of thousands of other messaging and productivity apps is that it is deceptively simple to use but robust enough for large teams working on complex projects (as demonstrated by Slack’s very clever inclusion of the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab example on the homepage).

Slack summarizes its value proposition by stating that it “simplifies cooperation, makes work more enjoyable, and increases productivity.” The NASA JPL example is also quite brilliant because it implies discreetly that if it is good enough for vast teams of NASA scientists, the kind of people that send robots to other planets, then it is good enough for everybody.

Digit “Save Money Without Thinking About It”

Another fiercely competitive industry is personal finance, where tens of thousands of apps are available to support better money management. The value proposition of a few services is as strong as that of Digit, a relatively new service that enables users to “save money, without thinking about it.”

Users can safely link their bank accounts to the Digit service so that it can analyze their spending patterns and regular expenses using an algorithm. Afterward, it starts to “optimize” users’ accounts to put a little cash aside here and there into an FDIC-guaranteed savings account, from which users can take their funds whenever they like.

Digit is completely automated, which sets it apart from other savings applications. Users don’t have to set the Digit to begin contributing money to a savings account; a few dollars here, a few dollars there, and before you know it, you’ve got a respectable sum saved for a rainy day while still having enough money set aside to cover monthly outgoing costs. It’s fantastic.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Defining Your App’s UVP

A clearly defined app’s unique value proposition improves brand perception and market positioning. Stating why your product is different from others sounds easy. However, in practice, product owners often make the following mistakes:

Mistake 1: Being Too Broad or Vague

A too-general or vague UVP will not be memorable or effective. It must be specific and unique. Using false statements or exaggerations in your UVP can also lead to mistrust among your target audience and a bad reputation. Don’t try to sell to everyone. Define your target audience and give them exactly what they want.

Mistake 2: Focusing Too Much on Features Rather Than Benefits

An app’s unique value proposition that focuses on the features of a product rather than the benefits it provides will not be as effective. Features can be common to several products. The way every app performs them is different. Your design, personalized approach, or strong brand perception are all keys to distinguishing the app from competitors. 

Mistake 3: Not Testing Your UVP With Your Target Audience

Creating an app’s unique value proposition based on personal experience is a bad trick. Your goal is to sell to people other than yourself. Arrange a survey among potential customers or old customers, find out their opinion from friends — use all available ways of obtaining valuable information.

A fine line exists between “we know better what you need” and the buyer’s decision to choose a competitor who takes better care of their desires. As a product owner, you may feel tempted to convince the users that they need your app. Instead, listen to the users and create hypotheses of what they might like. Then, test them.

Unique Value Proposition (UVP) For Mobile App: Summary

Developing a successful app’s unique value proposition can save money and draw in ideal clients whose problems you can solve. Compete with others in your market effectively by offering the users a unified solution between what they want and what you have. 

What is more, creating a UVP is now easier with so many famous examples from market giants. Don’t copy their statements; study their approach and use their experience to make your app stand out. Formulate a simple and brief UVP using formulas from professional marketers, then test your statements on real users.