An entrepreneur’s Unique Selling Proposition is their most important asset.
But what is a USP, exactly?
How can you create a brand identity for your business?
Let’s take a closer look at Unique Selling Propositions, why you need one, and how to create one.
What Is a Unique Selling Proposition?
A Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is a statement that outlines what makes your business stand out from others in your industry. It explains to customers why your company is better than your competitors and why they should do business with you.
An Unique Selling Proposition is a expression of what separates your business from the others in your field and makes it appealing to your target consumers. A clear statement explaining why a customer should do business with you instead of one of your competitors is essential.
A unique selling point is a marketing term that refersto a feature that makes a product or service unique and more appealing to customers. Although it is not the original term, it expresses the concept well. Your company’s main selling point is crucial in determining your brand, market positioning, marketing messages and techniques, and client interaction. It is essential to have a Unique Selling Proposition when you are trying to be successful in business.
Why Is a Unique Selling Proposition Important to My Marketing Strategy?
The things that make you unique are important because they are the things that make you different from your competition. A strong customer base is essential to both acquiring new customers and keeping existing ones satisfied. Your unique selling proposition should be something that is easy for potential customers to understand and should be a concise statement.
If you spend time developing a strong USP, you can use it for all your digital marketing, interactions, and business branding. When you develop a unique selling proposition (USP) for your business and pair it with your mission statement, you can give yourself and your employees a lot of clarity about your business model, what you do, and why you do it. This can help to keep everyone on the same page and ensure that your business is achieving its goals.
When creating or revising your company’s USP, keep these factors in mind:
- Your target market: who are you targeting and what needs or desires do they have?
- What makes your company unique: what are your strengths and how can you capitalize on them?
- The benefits of doing business with you: what value do you offer customers that they can’t find elsewhere?
- How will you communicate your USP: what materials or slogans will you use to get the message across in your digital marketing or physical collateral?
To establish a unique selling proposition, you need to focus on your target audience, assess your competition, and look at what you have to offer.
Why You Need a Unique Selling Proposition
Many potential customers have difficulty deciding which option to choose in your industry. They may not be sure which one is worth their time, money and trust.
The selection process can be very overwhelming for customers who don’t have the experience to know what makes one competitor different from another.
Helping potential customers understand what makes your business unique will make it more likely that they will choose your company over others. Make sure your unique selling proposition is clear, different, and memorable.
It’s easier for your business to be remembered if it has a trait that makes it stand out from the crowd.
Having a great product and fantastic service are the key to expanding a company rapidly, however there is also the chance to use being different as an advantage to make your company more noticeable.
Creating a Unique Selling Proposition that Works
When it comes to developing a unique point of difference for your business, it’s difficult to give advice that would work for every business.
There are a few things that all businesses can do to make their products more appealing to customers.
Below are some of my favorite methods for keeping customers engaged as well as examples of how certain companies put them into practice.
1. Unabashedly Appeal to an Ideal Customer
To find your ideal customer, you need to do a lot of research. After finding your ideal customer, you want to make sure your whole business appeals to them.
Would you go so far as to exclude people who don’t support your brand to try and encourage loyalty? This retail chain has adopted this practice to an extreme degree. Despite criticism, Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries has remained adamant that their ideal customer is “cool and good-looking.” He has said that the brand refuses to market to anyone outside of that group.
Is this crazy or tactical? In a recent article, Roger Dooley argues that the backlash from Jeffries’ comments on A&F’s practices may not be as financially detrimental as one would think.
Jeffries’ insensitive comments drew mostly negative responses from older consumers, but it didn’t appear to affect the purchasing patterns of A&F’s younger customers. In fact, retail analyst Gabriella Santaniello points out(Open Link in new window) that this long-term exclusionary strategy has generally worked out for A&F:
They have stuck to the same image since the beginning and it has worked well for them. You can’t please everyone and trying to do so would be more dangerous.
No, I don’t think you should be as callous, rude and insensitive as Jeffries. Absolutely not. You can find a much better way to identify and only sell to your ideal customer. I’m trying to say that the company’s strategy is so effective that even negative comments from the CEO couldn’t damage it much.
2. Leverage Unique Personalities in Your Industry
The personality of an industry is determined by the collective personality of the people within it. An industry’s personality is a result of the personalities of the people within it. There are certain industries that have a bad reputation that is not accurate, and this causes people who are not involved in that industry to view it in a negative light.
The SEO industry sometimes has a bad reputation because some people in it spam the internet with low-quality content to try and make money. This hurts the experience for other users of the internet. Rand Fishkin of Moz says that people who do not engage in black hat SEO are still technically skilled and hardworking and should not be lumped in with those that do.
Fishkin has always branded Moz as a business that offers software and community support for professional and aspiring search engine optimization specialists. He has worked hard to develop a brand that is open, friendly, and honest.
Roger is a great example of how Moz is working to improve the perception of the SEO industry. The Moz team, led by Roger, has made an effort to be the friendly entry point for those interested in the SEO community, which is often seen as shady and full of people with personality defects.
3. Promote Your Unique Selling Proposition
Make sure people are aware of what makes you unique.
Your website, social media, and other marketing materials should highlight your unique selling proposition and be consistent with your overall message.
You should mention the product’s features in your sales conversations, and be ready to explain why those features would be beneficial to potential customers. It will be difficult for customers to see the value if you cannot elaborate on what makes you special.
Develop an elevator pitch that explains why people should buy from you instead of your competitors.
A key part of your elevator pitch is your USP. If you can explain what makes you different quickly and concisely, you will be better able to close deals.
Your elevator pitch should be concise enough to be memorized, but also allow for more detail about your business. It should also be adaptable for use in marketing materials.
4. Avoid the “Superstar Effect” Rat Race
Cal Newport, who graduated from MIT, wrote about the “Superstar Effect”, which is when top applicants to prestigious colleges are pigeonholed. Most people try to be the best at what they do in order to stand out, but this only puts them on the same level as everyone else.
In a discussion, entrepreneur and marketer Corbett Barr talked about how this way of thinking affects business. Companies who want to be successful should focus on being different rather than being the best.
How would you feel if you were a restaurant owner and saw this goal? Given the subjective tastes of an entire city of people, being the “Best Restaurant” in town would be a far less fruitful endeavor (and require far more effort) than becoming the place you must go for the best pizza.
The proposal is to change the game’s rules so that competition will be less of a concern. You should try to do something better by doing it uniquely, rather than trying to be the best in a crowded category.
There is a lot of customer loyalty advice on the Internet, but it is mostly based on personal experiences and opinions. If the advice given was supported by consumer studies, academic research and specific examples, it would be more trustworthy. If you want your customer service blog to stand out, try offering content that you won’t find on other blogs.
5. Come up with a tagline that sums up your USP in a catchy and memorable way.
A tagline is a phrase that is meant to be memorable and communicates the key benefit of what you are branding or selling. A good tagline is driven by a clearly-defined USP.
Your tagline should be clear, concise, and easy to remember, just like your USP. A tagline that is successful can make a marketing campaign successful, while a tagline that falls flat can make a marketing campaign fail.
What makes a good tagline memorable?
A few key things that make a tagline memorable are its ability to be easily remembered, its relevance to the product or service, and its punchiness. It should be:
- Unique: Don’t try to be like everyone else. Stand out from the crowd and be creative.
- Concise: Keep it short and sweet, no more than 10-15 words at the outside.
- Relevant: Make sure the tagline captures your product or brand.
- Energetic: Use strong, active words to capture people’s attention.
Create marketing materials that support your USP.
Create marketing materials that support your USP. It’s important that every element of your website reinforces what makes you unique from your competitors, starting with your main landing page and extending to your customer support templates. Your marketing materials should be clear, attractive, and easy to use.
There are endless ways to promote your USP. Brainstorm some out-of-the-box ideas to spread the word about your product or service.
Stay consistent.
Your unique selling proposition is what makes you different from your competition and should be a key part of your branding and marketing efforts.
The way you conduct your business should be a reflection of your values in every aspect, from the language you use to the way you treat your customers, to your marketing to your customer service.
Keep your messaging consistent across all channels. make sure that your message is clear and concise, and that you keep to the same message in all your marketing materials, on your website, in your content marketing, and in any other customer communications.
It is important to be consistent when creating a strong brand identity.
Continue to measure and optimize.
Briefly, we validated our new USP messaging in the previous step. But market needs and tastes change. It’s important to keep testing and improving your unique selling proposition over time.
When you’re making changes to your website, whether it’s a new landing page or a whole new online store, keep track of how well your unique selling proposition is working. The impact of the new product should be measured in terms of sales, customer loyalty, and other key metrics.
Make tweaks as needed to improve results. If something isn’t going well, don’t be afraid to try something different. You should always be aware of what is causing your successes so that you can reproduce them in the future.
Conclusion
Now that you know the keys to creating successful unique selling points, you can start working on creating them. To make sure you deliver a message that resonates with your customers, follow these steps and stay focused. It’s important to be consistent with your branding so your customers always know what to expect from you. Maintaining a strong USP will help you stay ahead of your competition.
