Most marketing messages highlight product features: faster performance, sleek design, new technology, more functionality. While these details can be useful, they often fall short of connecting with what customers actually care about: solving their problem or improving their life in a specific way.

That’s where the Jobs-To-Be-Done (JTBD) approach offers a transformative advantage. By focusing on the customer’s motivation – the real reason they choose a product – brands can craft a value proposition that’s more relevant, engaging, and persuasive.

What Makes JTBD Messaging More Effective?

A JTBD value proposition speaks directly to the outcome your customer wants. Instead of promoting features, it highlights how your product helps them get a job done. It creates a narrative that aligns product offerings with a real-life scenario.

• Customer-first focus: JTBD centers on needs and outcomes, not specs or technical details.
• Emotional resonance: It connects with the customer on a deeper level by tapping into their frustrations, goals, and context.
• Differentiation: Competitors may offer similar features, but few are talking about your customer's job in their language.

Feature-Based vs. JTBD Messaging: A Simple Comparison

Let’s say you’re selling a high-end blender.

Feature-based value proposition: “Our blender has a 1200-watt motor and 6 stainless steel blades.”

JTBD-centered value proposition: “Make nutritious meals in minutes – even on your busiest mornings.”

The second message conveys a clear job to be done: helping someone prepare healthy food quickly. It’s more meaningful and emotionally engaging for someone juggling work, parenting, or wellness goals.

The Difference Between Product Features and Customer Jobs

Product features are what your product does. Customer jobs are why people use it.

By focusing on customer jobs, marketing messaging becomes more aligned with what buyers are already thinking about. People aren’t just looking for features – they’re looking for solutions. When you frame your product around those solutions, your value proposition becomes clearer, more actionable, and more compelling.

In short, if you want to connect with the real motivation behind customer decisions, job-based messaging is the way forward. And it starts with one crucial step: understanding the job your customer is hiring your product to do.

Identifying the core job your customer is trying to get done is at the heart of applying the Jobs-To-Be-Done framework effectively. Think of the 'job' not as a task, but as a desired outcome: what the customer hopes to achieve by using your product or service.

What Is a 'Customer Job' in JTBD?

In JTBD theory, a 'job' is the progress a person is trying to make in a specific situation. This could be functional (solve a problem), emotional (feel better), or social (look good in front of others). It’s not about your offering – it’s about their goal.

For example:

• A financial planning app isn’t just providing tools – it helps users feel more in control of their future.
• A skin care product isn’t only reducing blemishes – it’s helping someone feel confident before a big event.

To create a strong JTBD value proposition, you need to understand this deeper motivation. And that means going beyond assumptions and listening to your customers closely.

Steps to Uncover the Job Your Product Solves

1. Talk to real users
Start by gathering consumer insights through qualitative interviews, user research, or observational studies. Ask open-ended questions like:

• What were you trying to accomplish when you used our product?
• What alternatives did you consider?
• What obstacles did you face before finding our solution?

2. Look for patterns in behavior and language
As you collect data, identify recurring phrases or themes. People will often point to stress points, goals, or situations your product helped them navigate. These insights are rich clues to uncover the true job.

3. Define the job in a job statement format
Once you’ve found the pattern, write it in a job statement structure. A common JTBD value proposition template is:

“When I [situation], I want to [motivation], so I can [expected outcome].”

For example: “When I’m getting my kids ready in the morning, I want to serve a quick, healthy breakfast, so I can get out the door without stress.”

Why Consumer Insights Matter

At SIVO Insights, our custom research studies help brands uncover these hidden jobs through a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods. When you base your value proposition on real customer needs – not guesses – your messaging becomes sharper, more relevant, and more effective across segments and industries.

From product development to marketing messaging, defining the customer job your product solves brings your brand closer to the people you serve. It’s insight you can use to fuel smarter decisions, stronger connections, and sustained growth.

Once you've identified the job your customer is trying to get done, the next step is to translate that understanding into a compelling, customer-focused value proposition. This process is about shifting your messaging from what your product is to what it does for the customer. The Jobs-To-Be-Done (JTBD) framework helps you do just that – aligning your product messaging with real customer needs, motivations, and goals.

What is a Jobs-To-Be-Done Value Proposition?

A JTBD value proposition clearly communicates how your product helps a customer complete a task, solve a problem, or achieve a meaningful outcome. Instead of listing out product features, you're expressing the value in terms of the job the customer is hiring your product to do.

Simple Formula for JTBD Messaging

One easy way to begin writing Jobs-To-Be-Done value propositions is to follow this format:

• When I am... (describe the situation or challenge)
• I want to... (describe the goal or job)
• So I can... (describe the desired outcome or benefit)

Let’s look at how this works in practice:

Example (CPG brand):
Instead of: “High-protein snack bar with only 3g of sugar.”
Say: “When I need a quick, healthy energy boost between meetings, I want a snack that powers me through, so I can stay sharp without the sugar crash.”

This customer-focused messaging moves beyond product features and speaks to the real job being done – staying energized and focused during a busy workday.

Tips to Make JTBD Propositions Stronger

• Start with the customer’s context. Where and when are they using your product?
• Use everyday language that mirrors how your audience talks about their needs.
• Show emotional and functional outcomes. What do they accomplish and how do they feel as a result?

When value propositions are built using the Jobs-To-Be-Done framework, product messaging becomes instantly more relevant and actionable. You stop talking at your customers and start speaking to their actual needs.

The best way to understand job-based messaging is to see it in action. Let's walk through a few real-world examples across different industries to show how businesses apply the Jobs-To-Be-Done framework to create messaging that connects deeply with customer needs.

Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG)

Feature-Based: "Now with 25% more vitamin C and zero added sugar."
Job-Based: "Support your immune system naturally – even during your busiest days."

In the job-based version, the brand ties the product directly to a desired outcome, reflecting the customer's deeper motivation: staying healthy while maintaining a hectic lifestyle.

Financial Services

Feature-Based: "Access to 5,000+ low-fee mutual funds."
Job-Based: "Take control of your future with investing tools that make growing your money simple – even if you're short on time."

This job-based message shifts the focus from what the platform offers to what the user achieves – building wealth without complexity.

Healthcare Products

Feature-Based: "Clinically tested with a patented delivery system."
Job-Based: "Feel better, faster – with solutions that work with your body, not against it."

The emphasis changes from technical details to the experience the customer wants: relief, confidence, and natural healing.

Why Job-Based Messaging Works

These examples of JTBD framework messaging show a clear difference between product features and customer jobs. While feature-based messages inform, job-based messages inspire. They demonstrate you understand what the customer is trying to do – not just what your product can do.

By tailoring your marketing messaging around the job, you improve product-market fit and help customers self-identify with your solution. It's not about dialing up every benefit, it’s about showing you’re the right tool for the job they hired you for.

This approach resonates because it centers on aspiration, outcomes, and usefulness – the ingredients of memorable, motivating brand communication.

Understanding the job your customer is trying to get done is at the core of JTBD messaging – but how do you discover what those jobs really are? That’s where consumer insights and market research come into play.

Why Consumer Insights Matter for JTBD

It’s easy to assume what customers want based on feedback, sales data, or product reviews. But truly uncovering the deeper motivations behind purchasing behavior requires getting closer to the person behind the purchase. That means asking the right questions, in the right way, to tap into both emotional and functional customer needs.

Whether through qualitative interviews, ethnographic studies, or behavioral surveys, consumer insights provide the WHY behind the WHAT.

How Market Research Reveals the Real Job

Here are a few methods commonly used by research teams like SIVO Insights to uncover the customer’s job-to-be-done:

• In-depth interviews – To hear directly from customers about what they’re trying to accomplish and what gets in their way.
• Customer journey mapping – To identify friction points, moments of motivation, and desired outcomes across a full experience.
• Diary studies or mobile ethnography – To observe real-world behavior over time, capturing needs that often go unspoken.
• Quantitative validation – To test emerging job themes across a larger population and prioritize based on importance and satisfaction gaps.

These tools go beyond surface-level preferences and expose what customers truly value – clarity and control, convenience, emotional relief, or progress toward a goal.

JTBD Messaging Informed by Insight

By combining the JTBD framework with robust consumer insights, your product messaging becomes more accurate and effective. You can confidently write a value proposition that speaks to customer needs – not guesses or generic claims. The result is a stronger fit between the customer and the experience you offer.

At SIVO Insights, our job is to help brands move from assumptions to clarity, using research to highlight the human side of business decisions. When insights are paired with strategies like the Jobs-To-Be-Done framework, the result is messaging that connects and grows.

In short: market research informs the job, and JTBD messaging delivers the value.