What about Value Propositions? What about the Bible?
Shorter compelling messages are urgently needed to effectively communicate to people with shorter attention spans. In the language of the marketing and business worlds, that shorter messaging could be a tagline or slogan.
See this example of how the Apostle Paul's contextualized the message of the Bible in 1 Corinthians 9:20-23 (CEV) with different audiences—
When I am with the Jews, I live like a Jew to win Jews. They are ruled by the Law of Moses, and I am not. But I live by the Law to win them. And when I am with people who are not ruled by the Law, I forget about the Law to win them. Of course, I never really forget about the law of God. In fact, I am ruled by the law of Christ. When I am with people whose faith is weak, I live as they do to win them. I do everything I can to win everyone I possibly can. I do all this for the good news, because I want to share in its blessings.
Another form of a compelling message is what's known as a value proposition. What would it look like to craft a Gospel message in a value proposition format that speaks to business and marketing professionals? What is a value proposition for the Bible that is customer-centric? Before we look for value propositions in the Bible, let's learn more from these definitions for "value proposition"—
"A value proposition is a promise of value to be delivered, communicated, and acknowledged. It is also a belief from the customer about how value (benefit) will be delivered, experienced and acquired." ~ Wikipedia
"The benefit (such as profit or convenience) offered by an organisation's product or service." ~ Wordnik
"A value proposition is a business or marketing statement that a company uses to summarize why a consumer should buy a product or use a service. This statement convinces a potential consumer that one particular product or service will add more value or better solve a problem than other similar offerings." ~ Investopedia
The Kissmetrics Blog retorted with this: a more useful definition of value proposition is “a believable collection of the most persuasive reasons people should notice you and take the action you’re asking for.”
Looking at the value propositions of popular products and services in the American marketplace, we can glean "Inspiration from 82 Great Examples of Value Propositions: Learning from examples is probably the best way to get creative with crafting a unique message that’s compelling and clickable." You might recognize a couple of these value propositions:
- TOMS Shoes— With ever pair of shoes you purchase, TOMS will give a new pair of shoes to a child in need.
- DuckDuckGo— “The search engine that doesn’t track you.”
- Evernote— "Remember everything."
- Spotify— "Soundtrack your life."
- Christian Camp and Conference Association— “Maximize Your Ministry”
Can you see how a value proposition is more than a slogan or tagline? The words used to craft a value proposition not only impact catching the attention of busy people but can also affect how many people would respond to the "call to action."
This case study showed how a "value proposition affects name acquisition conversion"— the value proposition “Stand up for orphans and vulnerable children” resulted in a 80.5% higher conversion than “Protecting the Vulnerable and Lifting up the Fatherless.” Another case study demonstrated that "a different value proposition affected donor conversion," where the value proposition "Your gift helps reach the lost with the gospel of Jesus Christ" resulted in a 30.6% better conversion rate than "Tell Others About Jesus."
The best communicator ever in the history of humanity is Jesus Christ. Some have noticed that Jesus made some clear offers and invitations that could be considered value propositions, like these:
“Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke and put it on you, and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit; and you will find rest. For the yoke I will give you is easy, and the load I will put on you is light.” - Matthew 11:28-30
"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." - Matthew 6:33
"... those who drink the water that I will give them will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give them will become in them a spring which will provide them with life-giving water and give them eternal life." - John 4:14
"... Those who eat this bread will live forever.” - John 6:58
"... Whoever follows me will have the light of life and will never walk in darkness.” - John 8:12
"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, then you will ask for anything you wish, and you shall have it." - John 15:7
What other value propositions have you found in the Bible? Please share by adding a comment.