You never get a second chance at a first impression. A Unique Selling Proposition can help with that. It helps establish what you have to offer to a prospect immediately and entices visitors to look further into the specifics of your product or service. A USP is considered to be the absolutely highest valued asset at your disposal.
What is a Unique Selling Proposition?
A unique selling proposition – also known as “USP” – is that which makes the business that you run and operate different from others within the same industry. It is the extraction of the underlying purpose of your business.
It identifies the most important aspects of your business. It is identified through a condensed statement, a unique proposition, or a general promise that you provide to your prospective customers. It is that which should not only be seen but also be remembered by those that stumble across it.
Many identify it as the single biggest influence over the sales that a business makes. It is also known by several other names. To date, these include the following:
- The Unique Selling Point (USP)
- The Unmatchable Offer
- The Unique Value Proposition (UVP)
- The Brand Promise
- The Commitment to the Customer
The unique selling proposition is what the customer will view as the perceived benefit of choosing your company over others in the industry.
It is the most powerful and highly dynamic benefit that a customer will experience by electing to utilize the service that you provide or by choosing to purchase a product that you offer.
At its core, it is that which makes a prospective customer feel as if what you offer stands out and that they should choose that instead of that which is offered by your competition. It is the core component to the process of “making” a business a success, or “breaking” a business.
The Good News
The unique selling proposition is a highly advantageous tool to your business, but it has to be utilized appropriately. If it is not, it will prove to be of little assistance to the overall success of your company.
The good news is, regardless of what type of business you have and what types of goods and/or services that you offer, your business already has a unique selling proposition.
The secret is, you simply have to identify it.
Once you succeed in this endeavor, you must then integrate it into your unique sales pitch and you must make it a part of your marketing campaigns.
It must become a solid component of who you are in the eyes of your target audience.
How Do I Identify my Unique Selling Proposition?
Now, you just have to know how to identify that unique selling proposition that your business has. While it may prove to be a challenging endeavor, it is a worthy one.
First, you must start by becoming familiar with the target audience that you wish to attract.
Your unique selling proposition must genuinely mean something to them. Consider the following:
- Who is my target audience?
- What is it that is most important to those individuals?
- In what way could I establish a connection with my target audience?
- What are these individuals struggling with the most right now that I may help them with?
- What are the greatest challenges that my target audience faces?
Once you have answered the above-listed questions, it is time to put yourself in the place of those that make up your target audience.
This allows you to “think” like your prospective customers. Instead of looking at your products and/or services as a business owner, you can look at them as a customer. Consider the following:
- Why am I attracted to what this company is offering?
- How is it different than other items that are similar in nature that are offered by other companies?
- What is most important about the products and/or services being offered by this company?
- What do I know about this product or service?
- What – in terms of this product or service – is most important to me, as a prospective customer?
Next, focus on why and how your products or services stand out above the rest. You must have a competitive edge.
If you are offering the same as others in the industry, why should a customer choose your products or services over that of your competition? This may be the most difficult aspect of determining your unique selling proposition, but it is the most critical component of the task. In order to determine your unique appeal and vantage point, ask yourself the following questions:
- What is the reason behind my creating the products and/or services that I offer?
- How does what my company offer add more value to my target audience’s life than that which others in the market offer?
- What type of solution does my product or my service offer?
- How does my product or service make my customer’s life easier?
- How does that which my company offer save my customer time and money?
A Unique Flare Will Ignite Sales
To have a truly effective unique selling proposition, you must ensure that it focuses on defining who your business is as a brand, it allows you to stand out above your competitors in the industry, and that it is a believable pitch that is not only honest, but also memorable.
The marketplace is highly saturated.
You will struggle to reach a point where you truly stand out; however, if you take the time to determine your unique selling proposition, it will have the boost that it requires to act as an incentive for prospective customers. This – in turn – will provide a boost to your sales.
A unique “flare” will ignite sales quickly and easily. You must take your time when creating a unique selling proposition. In doing so, it will allow you to consider strategies for adding that unique touch.
Your proposition should aid in demonstrating the value that your company offers, illustrate the sheer performance of your offerings, and it should highlight or showcase all of the unique and clearly distinct advantages associated with purchasing and utilizing the goods and/or services that your company offers.
If you are certain that these components have been met, the ignition will take place and your business WILL take off!
How to Write A Unique Selling Proposition
A unique selling proposition should be described in only a couple to a few different sentences. It is imperative that it is short and right to the point that you are trying to make.
This will quickly embed it in all associations with your business.
Once it has been created, it should then be integrated into all of the marketing campaigns in which you indulge. The unique selling proposition should be placed on your website, all social network platforms in which you associate, newsletters, blogs, and any other strategy you use to reach out to your target audience.
Your Unique Selling Proposition should become as familiar to prospective customers as the logo that you utilize and the name of your business.
Remember, it’s not merely a tagline.
It is a tool that is used to help you establish credibility among prospective customers and others that are part of your target market. It will help to figuratively and literally shape the general foundation upon which your company is constructed.
Writing your unique selling proposition starts with identifying it and then proceeds with providing information to others that will help them understand why your company stands out above the rest.
Structure Allows You to Build an Effective USP
To build a truly effective and successful unique selling proposition, you must start with a structure. This should be as follows:
- Identify the Problem
- Outline the Solution
- Point Out the Benefit
- Offer a Guarantee
- Integrate a Call to Action
When using this structure model, it is important to ensure that you are keeping it simple. You are – by all accounts – generating a story that you want to share with your prospective customers.
While most enjoy stories for what it included within them, your customers are interested in the ending result more than anything. Utilize the following to assist you:
Identify the Problem
What is the problem that your target audience is experiencing? Is there a certain question that they are searching for an answer to? What type issues are standing in their way when it comes to solving their problem?
Outline the Solution
What do you have to offer that will solve the problem of your target audience? Do you hold the answer to their question? How is your solution different than those that are offered by other companies that work within your industry?
Point Out the Benefit
When your target audience elects to utilize the product and/or service that your company offers, they will experience a benefit. What is it? How will what you have to offer improve the lives of your customers? How is it better than similar items that are currently available on the market?
Offer a Guarantee
What type of commitment are you offering your customers? What do you promise will happen if they use the product and/or service that you are providing? If it fails to provide them with a solution, what action steps will your company take to make it right?
Integrate a Call to Action
Once your customer is finished reading the unique selling proposition that you have created, what steps do you want them to take next? Obviously, it is the purchase of your product and/or service. Do they need to click on a link? Do they need to complete some type of form? Do they need to call your company directly? Provide clear and concise instructions in your call to action.
No One Really WANTS to Buy…
When creating your unique selling proposition, there is one thing that you really need to keep in mind. That is, no one really wants to buy – anything.
What they want is to solve a problem and make their lives easier.
If you attempt to “sell” your customer with your USP, they will see right through it and click right away from it; however, if you extend a genuine, helping hand, your prospective customers are more likely to reach up and grab it.
You may want to make sales, but your customer does not want to spend money. They simply want life to be a little bit easier.
If you keep this in mind when creating your unique selling proposition, you will appeal to the senses and desires of your customers.
Simply focus on informing customers on what you can do for them and they will help you achieve that which you need done to make your business a success.
As you can see from the information contained in this comprehensive guide, a unique selling proposition is a highly critical and extremely beneficial tool for your business. It will literally reshape who you are and what you stand for – regardless of the products or services that you offer. It will render you high levels of success; however, it must be done just right in order to be a success.
Brick Road Media can help you in creating highly profitable unique selling propositions and a vast array of content for your business. If you would like to learn more, contact us today at: https://brickroadmedia.com/contact/