How to: Easily Identify Your Value Proposition

Is there an easy way to brainstorm the your product, service, or personal brand’s value proposition? Over the years, I’ve enhanced the Business Goals and Values Map work tool that helps me:

Define the target audience
Identify the business goals for each target audience group
Identify the value provided by the product or service
Identify the features that support each value statement

After applying the Business Goals and Values Map, how can this critical information be used? On everything, ranging from marketing collateral, web content, and sales tools to investor pitches.

I’m getting ready to blog again. So to get inspired and hopefully improve the quality of my content, I decided to apply the Business Goals and Value Map to the SmartLemming.com. I analyzed the Smart Lemming Diary series, so I could unearth the benefits I want my readers to receive. This series organically evolved over time. I regret not mapping it out prior to the series, but I’ve mapped it now, so I’ll tighten up the content moving forward.

Listing your Product or Service

My first step was to identify existing or future content on the Smart Lemming. Within the Smart Lemming blog, I listed the Smart Lemming Diary series, Smart Lemming Review, Lessons Learned Personal Log series (new), Smart Lemming Rundown podcast, Twitter Digest, Videos, and Affiliate Ads. Once this step was completed, I matched up the target audience for each of these content areas.

Mapping the Target Audience to Goals and Value

As you can see from the diagram above, the SmartLemming.com is a resource workers at various stages in their career: new knowledge worker, advanced knowledge worker, senior knowledge worker, director, VP, or entrepreneur. After listing these segments, I brainstormed what goals I think the user will want to achieve from reading these posts. After thinking through this step, I listed the value I want the Smart Lemming Diary series to provide these types of workers.

Mapping the Value to Features

Here’s an example a mapping of the new and advanced knowledge workers’ business goals to Smart Lemming value to post/content features. Smart Lemming Diary series new/advanced knowledge worker mapping:

Business goal(s): To understand promotions to the C-level.
Smart Lemming Diary value to new/advanced knowledge worker: (1) learn how new departments, positions, and duties are created; (2) understand the work relationships dynamics at the C-level & implementation; and (3) learn from the experiences of first-time C-level position.
Post content features should include: Description of the process and thinking behind new job and initiatives; describe the camaraderie behind the scenes; and share experience of first-time C-level position.

Action Item

I recommend you start mapping your product, service, or personal brand today. As you can see, the process isn’t that mysterious. It’s easy to do in Microsoft Visio or any simple organizational charting program like SmartDraw. You can mind map it too. Don’t worry that you only can use an organization chart to depict your Business Goals and Values Map just because I used org charts and mind maps in this example.

As long as you’re brainstorming the basic concept of mapping, you’ll discover your product, service, or personal brand’s value proposition can be used and re-purposed by everyone in your company. And you’ll also look like a rock star to your boss and coworkers.

Free Dowloadable Template

Download Business Goals, Values, and Features Map template

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