Unique Selling Proposition: 4 Keys to Finding Yours


Unique Selling Proposition

A unique selling proposition (USP) is what your business stands for. It’s what sets your business apart from others because of what your business makes a stand about.

It can help you attract and retain customers and reduce turnover.

Many companies who are just starting out are driven by fear and want to claim stake to being the best at everything. They want to be the be-all, end-all for customers. This irrational and blind fear will only drive them into the ground.

By choosing to stand for something specific, and becoming known for it, you’ve established your unique selling proposition for your brand. Unless you can pinpoint what makes your business unique in a world of homogeneous competitors, you cannot target your sales efforts successfully.

Defining it by the four Ps of marketing, a business can peg its USP on product characteristics, price structure, placement strategy (location and distribution) or promotional strategy.

To help you hone in on what this is, let’s define what determines the best USP.

WordStream states that the best USPs directly address a specific need experienced by a company’s ideal customer. A great unique selling prop, sometimes known as a value proposition, should also emphasize what individual quality separates a business from its competition.

Identify Your Biggest Benefits

Your prospect doesn’t care if you offer the best quality, service, or price. You have to explain exactly why that is important to them. Think in terms of what your business does for your customer and the end-result they desire from a product or service like yours. So go ahead and jot down the biggest benefits that you offer.

Identify Motivation for your Unique Selling Proposition

What spurs customers’ behavior and buying decisions?  We’ve discussed buyer personas before as well as lead segmenting. If you’ve done the work in this area already, it will be a relief that you have it at the ready. If not, check out our post here to get started.

Identify Your Customers’ Pain Points

What are the most frustrating things your customer experiences when working with you or your industry in general? Alleviate that “PAIN” in your USP and make sure you deliver on your promises.

Create Content Around Your Unique Selling Proposition

Now you are ready to develop your messaging to educate your potential customers on what you can deliver that will specifically benefit them – and it will allow you to tell your company story, another essential piece of branding. Your products, sales pages, email sequences, and blog content will be centered around your core value proposition, or USP. As you continue to deliver value in a unique way, it will increase your conversions and decrease customer friction.

As Entrepreneur says: Successful business ownership is not about having a unique product or service; it’s about making your product stand out – even in a market filled with similar items.