📈 How to Craft a Killer Value Proposition & High-Converting Landing Page For Your Newsletter

Welcome to BetterLetter 🫡 

In the next few weeks and months, we’re dropping new tools for newsletter operators. Stay tuned 👀

In today’s email:

• ✍️ How to define your value proposition

• 🔻 The 2 main problems with most newsletter value props

• 👀 3 characteristics of strong value props

• 📈 The process we use to refine our agency clients’ value propositions and turn them into high-converting landing pages

Helpful Links 🔗

• 🧵 Why you should limit the number of subscribers you allow on your newsletter (link)

• 👀 ICYMI: When to start running paid ads to grow your newsletter (link)

• 🛠️ Our favorite tools: beehiiv (ESP), Descript (video editing), Sparkloop (growth & monetization), Typedream (custom landing pages)*

_{*Some of these are affiliate links}

Let’s dive in.

If you’ve been here long, you’ve heard me say this over and over:

the value proposition of your newsletter is the most important thing about it

From a philosophical standpoint, it’s the foundation of everything you do related to your newsletter.

• If your value proposition is strong, you have a chance to build something successful

• If your value proposition is weak, everything else you build will eventually crumble

From a practical newsletter growth standpoint, your value prop is the main thing that influences:

• Your rate of organic growth

• The speed and cost of paid growth, including:

  • The effectiveness of your ad copy + creative

  • Your landing page conversion rate

  • Your CPA (cost per acquisition)

So, let’s dive into:

1. What a value prop is

2. Why most newsletter value propositions suck

3. How to improve yours

4. An in-depth training to help you create a killer value proposition and high-converting landing page

1/ What exactly is a value prop? 🤔 

value proposition (n) - a compelling statement that explains how your newsletter benefits potential subscribers

Said a few different ways, your value proposition is:

• the valuable thing your subscribers will get by subscribing to your newsletter

• the tangible end result your subscribers get by reading your work

• the beneficial thing you offer in exchange for their email address + time

• the problem you solve for your subscribers

• the job your newsletter accomplishes in the life of a subscriber

👉🏼 If someone asks you, Why should someone subscribe to your newsletter?

👉🏼 You would say, Because they will [value proposition].

Here’s the problem…

The operative word in the definition above is compelling.

Many value propositions are NOT compelling.

Why?

2/ The Top 2 Reasons Newsletter Value Props Suck 😬

1. They are weak (the reader doesn’t actually want the offer)

2. They are unclear (the reader doesn’t understand the offer)

Examples of weak + unclear value props:

• Stay informed, stay inspired. Our weekly facts & insights will change your perspective! → I have no clue what this is about

• Learn how to crush it on Instagram → I don’t know what “crushing it” means

• Become more flexible → Are we talking mentally or physically?

• The newsletter that makes your life better → Vague

and the worst one of all time…

• Sign up for our free newsletter!

→ Signs and symptoms of a weak or unclear value proposition:

• Slow organic growth

• High unsubscribe rate

• Low open rates & click rates

• Low landing page conversion rate

• No or little growth via word of mouth

• High CPAs (cost per acquisition) for paid growth

• No or little unsolicited positive feedback from subscribers

Okay, so bad value props are weak and unclear.

How do you make yours strong and clear?

3/ How To Craft a Strong & Clear Value Prop 💪 

Value props come in all shapes and sizes, but they have 1 thing in common:

they offer something that people actually want (in a clear way)

It should have your ideal subscribers feeling like..

Let’s break this down into 3 aspects of strong value props:

1/ Strong value props offer something people actually want.

• Practical: They solve a problem, move someone closer to a goal, and accomplish a “job” for the subscriber.

  • Save people time (Morning Brew)

  • Help people save or make money (Tired & Rich)

  • Make something easier (Malachi Daily)

• Entertainment: They provide enjoyment.

  • They amuse or educate

  • They make people laugh

Some of the best newsletters find a way to do both: give practical value while also entertaining subscribers.

2/ Strong value props speak the language of your ideal subscribers.

Offer people what they consciously want, not necessarily what they need.

• Example: This newsletter you’re reading right now.

  • What you want: more newsletter subscribers

  • What you need in order to do that: A strong value proposition

The problem is: Talking about value propositions isn’t sexy. It’s not something that keeps you up at night, so it’s not what I talk about on our landing page.

What do most newsletter operators think about constantly? Getting more subscribers.

Offer people what they consciously want.

How?

Use the language your ideal subscribers actually use when they:

• talk to friends

• search the internet

• think to themselves when their head hits the pillow at night

3/ Strong value props are concise. People get it quickly.

People don’t sign up for or buy things they don’t understand.

People should “get it” immediately.

Don’t make people work hard to understand how your newsletter will benefit their life.

The more words you need to explain it, the less compelling it probably is.

TL;DR

The most effective value props quickly and clearly communicate:

What’s in it for them?

Examples of strong value propositions:

• Malachi Daily: Memorize Scripture & Learn it’s Context

• Daily Drop: Learn how to travel hack your way around the world in under 5 minutes a day

• Houck’s Newsletter: Tactical advice to build, grow, and raise capital for your startup from an a16z-backed founder.

• The Gist: Get “the gist” of what’s up with women’s sports in 5 minutes. Written by women.

• Creator Wizard: Get sponsorship opportunities delivered to your inbox 3x a week.

• Parent Genius: Get smarter about parenting 0-4 year olds in just 5 minutes.

→ Signs your value proposition is strong:

• Ads get shared on social media (> 5% of subscribers share organically)

• Your specific topic has high organic search volume (Google, YT, Reddit, Quora)

• High email engagement (opens, clicks, reply rate) and positive feedback from subscribers

• High click-through-rate on ad creative (> 1.5%)

• High landing page conversion rate (60% +)

4/ Mini-Course 📈 

Want a stronger value proposition so you can get more newsletter subscribers?

Then, this is for you.

I created a mini-course on exactly how to:

1. Craft a winning value proposition AND

2. Translate that into a high-converting landing page

This is the EXACT process we use to walk our agency clients through refining their value proposition before scaling their ads.

This process is responsible for:

• Saving our clients $1000s/month in ad costs

• Acquiring tens of thousands of subscribers per month

• Improving landing page conversion rates to between 60%-90%

In this mini-course, I cover:

• 5 easy ways to uncover the exact language your audience resonates with (most of these can be done in less than 5 minutes)

• The 6 Ingredients of Strong Value Propositions

  • Target Audience

  • The Core Result

  • The #1 Benefit

  • The #1 Objection/Obstacle

  • Social Proof

  • Easy Way Out

• How To Use the S.M.A.R.T.O. Framework to Strengthen Your Value Prop

• The Exact Questions You Need to Answer to Define Your Value Prop

PLUS..

📈 Throughout the training, I’ll build an example newsletter value prop from scratch and you’ll watch me build a high-converting landing page.

You’ll walk away from the mini-course with:

• A killer (read: clear & compelling) value proposition, AND

• A high-converting landing page

..so you can grow your newsletter faster 🚀 

💡 Note: People who complete the Value Prop mini-course will receive a discount on our upcoming course: Step-by-Step: How to Grow Your Newsletter With Meta Ads

That’s it for today.

👉️ Here’s a summary of the takeaways:

Your value proposition affects everything you do, including:

• Your newsletter content itself

• Long-term sustainability

• The rate of organic growth

• The rate and cost of paid growth

Weak value propositions are weak and unclear. They’re either:

• Offering something people don’t actually want

• Aren’t clear enough to understand

Strong, compelling value propositions:

• Offer something people actually want (save time, make money, save effort)

• Speak the language of your ideal subscribers

• Are clear & concise

If you want a step-by-step training on how to craft a compelling value proposition and high-converting landing page, get it here.

There you have it.

Go get to work 🫡 

Until next time,

Isaac + Kieran ✌️

P.S. When you’re ready to grow your newsletter…

Let us do it for you. We help creators, brands and ministries grow their newsletters so they can drive more sales and donations. If you want us to grow your newsletter for you and are ready to invest at least $2k/month on ads, book a call with us here.