How to write a value proposition: A guide for B2B technology companies

Author: Stephen Reilly

For B2B technology companies, standing out from the crowd can be tricky. In an industry where every business is a “trusted partner”, where every team is overflowing with “seasoned professionals”, and positively dripping in “specialist expertise” – what can you say to differentiate your business? That’s the challenge of B2B technology marketing. 

To communicate your value consistently in your marketing, you need a value proposition. The challenge is being able to express your value proposition in a way that engages your audience. 

What is a value proposition? 

Simply put, a value proposition is a description of the value you deliver to customers – how you understand it and how it should be communicated. 

It isn’t a slogan, a positioning statement, or a list of product features. It’s a comprehensive document that clearly defines how you help customers and what they can expect from investing in you, your product, or your services. 

Our approach at Fifty Five and Five 

Fifty Five and Five is a full service digital marketing agency. We help technology companies grow their business, drive brand awareness, and achieve their marketing goals. The importance of value propositions to our work cannot be understated – it forms the crux of everything we do and ensures our efforts are perfectly aligned with our clients’ ambitions. 

Sometimes creating a value proposition is the primary reason we are brought on board by a client. Other times it just forms the beginning of a long-term relationship and marketing strategy. Either way, we treat it with a great deal of respect as getting it right will make all the difference for the work we do. 

How to write a value proposition for B2B businesses 

We’ve taken inspiration from the classic Five W’s and the H, and created our own set of questions that’ll help you home in on your target audience. Answering them will build the foundations of your value proposition.  

1. Who? 

Who is your audience? Who are the people your product or service is trying to help? What is their industry and their business? 

What are their problems? What issues do they have, both generally and in relation to their industry? For example, do they experience problems with current technology set up? 

2. What? 

What do you do? Try to condense your company blurb into one or two sentences. Only include the essentials. 

What is your unique selling point? What does your company do differently to others? It might be your technology, service, people, practice, cost… find your niche and explore it. 

What value do you bring to the customer? This obviously refers to your offering, but it’s also about the customer experience you provide. How are you exceeding the normal expectations of customers? 

What are you running your business for? You need to know the ultimate goal of your company. For instance, at Fifty Five and Five our goal is to help technology companies realise their ambitions. 

3. How? 

How can you solve the customer’s problems? Solve the customer problems that you identified in question one. For example: 

• Minimise the cost and risk implications of a cloud migration.  
• Take a cybersecurity assessment to gain control over your company data and minimise the threat of cyberattacks.  
• Offer a friendly and professional service from start to finish. 

4. Why? 

Why should the customer choose you? Show (don’t tell) the customer why they should choose you over your competition. Focus on the real-life benefits they can expect. Do you: 

• Make users’ day-to-day tasks easier? 
• Improve employee productivity with collaboration tools? 
• Provide customers considerable return on investment? 
• Offer constant support and advice throughout the customer journey? 

What is your product differentiation? What does your software or service offer that others don’t? Does it have more processing power or a user-friendly interface? 

Involve the whole organization 

Value propositions can benefit from being tackled collaboratively – an interdepartmental workshop is a great way to brainstorm and identify what sets your company apart. Encouraging representatives from every department can be hugely beneficial. 

Creating your value proposition 

Now you know how to write a value proposition, or at least how we do it. And you have a template to guide you. You can also look at our case studies to see how we have worked with organizations to deliver a wide range of marketing projects including value proposition work. However, as mentioned above, all our work begins with value propositions to some extent. Without a good value proposition, marketing efforts can only go so far. That’s why creating a value proposition for B2B businesses is so important. 

Enjoyed these tips? Find a lot more B2B marketing content on our website.  

Originally published on fiftyfiveandfive.com.