.svg){kind=icon}
Value proposition templates are fixed sentences or grids with blanks for the customer, the problem, the benefit and what makes you different. Copy one of the three below, each filled in once from a real company's homepage. FounderPal can draft the answers for your own business.
Value proposition statement template (one sentence)
Wikipedia says a statement usually names the sector, product, target clients and what sets the company apart. Copy this and replace each bracket:
- For [target customer] who [need or opportunity], [product name] is a [product category] that [key benefit]. Unlike [primary alternative], [product name] [primary differentiation].
Here it is filled in from the text of Basecamp's homepage:
| Slot | What to write | Basecamp's version |
|---|---|---|
| Target customer | Who you serve, in one phrase | People juggling people, projects, and expectations |
| Need or opportunity | What they cannot do today | Need one system, because spreading work across apps, browser tabs, emails and chats does not work |
| Product category | The shelf your product sits on | Project management platform |
| Key benefit | The outcome they get | Straightforward, easy, and reliable |
| Primary alternative | What they use instead | Most project management systems, which Basecamp calls "bloated, complicated, and confusing" |
| Primary differentiation | The reason to pick you | "Famously straightforward, easiest-to-use", and "famously affordable" for small and medium-sized businesses |
Put together: For people juggling people, projects, and expectations who need one system, Basecamp is a project management platform that is straightforward, easy, and reliable. Unlike most project management systems, Basecamp is famously straightforward and easiest to use.
Keep one customer and one benefit.
Fill the template with the Value Proposition Generator
The free Value Proposition Generator in FounderPal writes a first draft of every slot:
- Enter the Business description: what your product is and how it works.
- Enter the Target audience: the segment you want to reach.
- Choose a Language for the result.
- Click Generate for FREE. The result appears on the same page after about 10 seconds, and you can copy or download it.
The result has eight elements. Four of them fill the sentence:
| Sentence slot | Generator element |
|---|---|
| Need or opportunity | Point A, the problem your audience hates |
| Key benefit | Transformation, the positive benefits your product delivers |
| Primary alternative | Nemesis, the status-quo solution your product fights |
| Primary differentiation | Differentiation, the unique angle of your positioning |
Features lists the product flows needed to deliver the transformation, so use it to check that your key benefit is something the product really does.
Value proposition canvas template
The canvas matches one customer segment to what you offer. Strategyzer offers the official template free. The customer profile is that segment's jobs, pains and gains. The value map is your products and services, plus pain relievers and gain creators.
Copy this list:
- Customer jobs: [what the customer is trying to get done]
- Pains: [what goes wrong or costs them time along the way]
- Gains: [what they would like to achieve]
- Products and services: [what you offer]
- Pain relievers: [how each product feature removes a pain]
- Gain creators: [how each product feature produces a gain]
Filled from Dropbox's homepage copy:
| Canvas box | Dropbox |
|---|---|
| Customer jobs | Send files, gather signatures, review feedback |
| Pains | Slowdown when sharing, time spent searching, switching between tools |
| Gains | Less time searching and more time working |
| Products and services | Cloud storage with synced team folders, file sharing, search |
| Pain relievers | Real-time syncing and large file transfers up to 250GB; find the right file fast; send, sign and review without switching tools |
| Gain creators | Previews for 175+ file types and built-in AI summaries |
Match every pain reliever to a pain. A reliever with no pain to answer is a feature nobody asked for.
Headline, subhead and bullets template (for a landing page)
This format turns the proposition into the top of a page:
- Headline: [outcome for the customer, under 10 words]
- Subhead: [what it is, who it is for, how it delivers]
- Bullets: [benefit 1], [benefit 2], [benefit 3]
- Button: [one action]
Filled from Stripe's homepage:
- Headline: Financial infrastructure to grow your revenue.
- Subhead: Accept payments, handle business banking, and implement custom revenue models, from your first transaction to your billionth.
- Bullets: Accept and optimize payments globally; Enable any billing model; Create a card issuing program.
- Button: Get started
For headline wording, see how to write a headline.
Which value proposition format should you use?
- The sentence: for positioning, pitches and aligning your team on one claim.
- The canvas: when you are still learning what your customer wants to get done.
- Headline, subhead and bullets: for your website, once the claim is settled.
For a pitch deck, turn the sentence into a slide with how to make a value proposition slide.
How to fill in a value proposition template
- Name one customer. If you need "and" to describe them, you have two templates to fill in.
- Write the problem in the words the customer uses. Start with the user persona template if you do not know them yet.
- State the benefit as an outcome, not a feature.
- Name one real alternative, including doing nothing.
- Cut every claim you cannot support.
For more, read how to define a value proposition or browse value proposition examples.
FAQ
What is the difference between a value proposition and a slogan?
Wikipedia describes a value proposition as a market positioning statement that summarizes why someone should buy. A slogan is a short, memorable line that can come from it, as covered in how to write a slogan.
How long should a value proposition be?
The statement is one sentence, or two with the "unlike" clause. The headline is under 10 words. Anything longer belongs further down the page.
Can I use a value proposition template in Google Docs?
Yes. Copy the bracketed lines or the tables into a document or spreadsheet and replace each bracket. Paste the generator result beside them.