Step One

Writing a Value Proposition Statement

Every organization should be based around the principle that your products or services provide value to your customers or clients. A value proposition statement is the “why” behind behind your existence. A good place to begin is to establish the desired outcome from interacting with your organization, from your customer / clients perspective. Your value proposition statement should be front and center for most of your marketing messaging. A value proposition statement is also used within organizations to remind personnel about the “why” behind their work.

Example of a Good Value Proposition Statement:

“Skype keeps the world talking, for free. Share, message and call – now with group video on mobile.”

Step Two

Writing a Mission Statement

A mission statement should expand upon your value proposition, but should also be kept relatively short, consider aiming for between 2-4 sentences. A mission statement should outline your organizations purpose and values.

A well executed mission statement should answer the following four things:

1. What does your company do?
2. How does your company do it?
3. Why does your company do it?
4. What are your organizations core values?

The best way to start is to organize a bullet point list under the four key areas listed above. Once you have your lists, you can begin the process of bringing these words and phrases together in narrative form. Edit it down until you are left with a clear and concise mission statement.

Example of a good mission statement:

“Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. People use Facebook to stay connected with friends and family, to discover what’s going on in the world, and to share and express what matters to them.“

Step Three

Writing a Vision Statement

Different from a mission statement, your vision statement should describe what the future looks like for your organization and it’s impact on your customers / clients, employees and community. Think of your mission statement as being timeless and your vision statement as something that can change over time. Although vision statements tend to be used more internally than externally, your vision may also end up making its way into your brand copy as well. 

A well executed vision statement should answer the following three things:

1. What doesthe future of your organization look like?
2. How does this help you to support your mission?
3. What type of impact will this have on your organization, personnel, customers, clients and community?

The best way to start is to organize a bullet point list under the three key areas listed above. Once you have your lists, begin the process of bringing words and phrases together in narrative form. Editing this down until you are left with a clear and concise vision statement.

Example of a good Vision statement from Patagonia:

“Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.“

Step Four

Writing a Unique Selling Proposition

A unique selling proposition or USP, is a promise that delivers. A well written USP should outline what makes your organization different, the value you offer through your products or services and the promise that you are making to your clients / customers. A USP and a tagline often get confused and can be interchangeable. A USP should be short, concise and memorable.

A well executed USP should answer the following three things:

1. What makes you unique?
2. What is the value you deliver?
3. Whats the plan / promise?

The best way to start is to organize a bullet point list under the three key areas listed above. Once you have your lists you can begin the process of bringing these words and phrases together in narrative form. Edit it down until you are left with a clear and concise unique selling proposition.

Example of a good USP from Dominos:

“You get fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less or it’s free.“

Step Five

Writing Professional Bio’s

Depending on your type of business you may want to include professoinal bio’s of your key personnel. If you are in professional services, having professionally written bio’s is a must. When writing a bio you do not want to just copy your resume, or write your bio in resume format. If schooling, degrees, certifications etc. are important in your line of work then you will want to outline those in your bio, however, your bio should be written in narrative form and not simply a list of degrees and accomplishments. In the end your bio should outline your background, perhaps some personal interests and hobbies, certifications and accolades as well,  but tie that all back in to how this helps you to deliver value to your customers / clients.

A well written bio should answer the following four things:

1. Educational background, degrees, certifications etc.
2. Professional background and experience.
3. Your “why”
4. How your background delivers value to the organizations mission

Click here to view an example of a well written professional bio.

Step Six

Writing Service Landing Page Copy

If you are a service provider, it is important to break down your services to their lowest common demoninator and write copy specific to each service area. Once you have outlined your core services we can use some of the copy developed from the steps above to communicate the value of these services. We recommend each service area to be atleast 300 words and no longer that 750.

A well written service area landing page should contain the following four elements:

1. Headline (name of the service)
2. Sub hedline (value proposition)
3. Body Copy (description of the why and how)
4. Call to action (whats the next step)

Click here to view an example of some well written service area copy.

Step Seven

Writing Product Descriptions

If you are selling physical or digital products, it is important to craft well written product descriptions. Well written descriptions help to educate your potential customers and will help to enhance the searchability of your product.

A well written product description should contain the following elements:

1. Sku
2. Title
3. Value proposition statement
4. Outline of features and benefits