Five Ways to Improve Your Value Proposition in Your Online Business: Image via Flickr

This graphic recording captures the conversation at a talk with the authors of Value Proposition Design, Alex Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur. The event took place at New York City in Lower Manhattan. They were introduced by Bob Dorf, startup coach extraordinaire.

If you are running a digital business, chances are that you are finding it hard to communicate your unique selling proposition and convince your website visitors that you are offering more value proposition than your competition. If you would like to stand out from the crowd and make sure that you are getting good conversion rates, customer engagement and offering more value are essential. Below you will find a few tips on how to get started.

1. Bonuses

If you are a startup business owner, you will need to have a value or price advantage. Undercutting your competition might not be the right market entry strategy, as you will need to eventually make some money, and your initial customers might move onto the next cheapest provider. However, offering bonuses for early bird customers will be a good way of getting the word out about your new business without having to lose money.

2. Expert Qualifications

One of the ways you can improve your value proposition is getting expert qualifications. If you are an SEO expert, you might want to seek a Google or agency qualification that will prove that you are good at what you are doing. This will also help you communicate your unique selling proposition and stand out from the competition without having to make your first customers crazy offers.

3. Industry Recognition

Team up with trade organisations in your industry and people will recognise your achievements. While this option is not available for all startups, you can volunteer projects that will get you the fame your brand deserves and later justify the higher price you are charging. You can even stand out by publishing an article or review in a famous industry or trade magazine, making yourself a name.

4. Safety and Security

Safeguarding your digital assets and your customer data will also be a value you can stand out with. You will need to implement safe payment processing systems and ensure that you verify your clients accurately. You might want to implement a KYC Check in your online sales process to avoid legal claims and fraud.  Also, you need to ask for feedback and get your reviews published on various directories and social media sites, so your potential clients will know that you deliver on your promises.

5. Customer Engagement

Attracting New Customers with Content Marketing from WSI World on Vimeo.

No matter what some seasoned marketers say, there is no better marketing tool to boost your conversion than customer engagement. You need to add personalised messages. Ensure that you get to know people through online chat/forums, and provide value before you try to sell them something. Digital marketers try to close a deal too soon. First, they have to have a chance to prove their skills and build customer trust. Obviously, it’s one of the common mistakes.

If you would like to improve your value proposition in your business, it is important that you focus on customer engagement, trust-building, and your most important asset; your reputation.