Today’s marketplace is flooded.
New businesses open every day, and unless the product or service you’re offering is an utter game changer, you’re competing with a hundred other businesses.
Of course, having competition is a part of doing business, but how do you set your service or product apart from the pack?
The answer is easy: have a kick-butt Unique Selling Proposition.
What is a Unique Selling Position?
The Unique Selling Proposition (USP) was a concept first introduced in the 40s to explain the successes and failures of advertising campaigns. The idea behind USP marketing was simple: companies that offered Unique Selling Proposition to their customers were more likely to convert them to their brand or service.
The idea of a USP may be old, but the benefits of a killer USP are still relevant today. Differentiating yourself from your competitors is the key to a successful business.
But the question remains: how do you make a USP that will throw your competition for a loop?
Developing your USP
Developing a good USP is not something done overnight. It requires research, self-reflection, and trial and error. That said anyone could create a compelling USP if they put their mind to it.
First thing’s first– isolate what your product or service offers that your competitor’s version do not. Do market research to find out what makes the thing you have to offer truly unique. Is your service faster, cheaper, or more advanced than your competition? Well, if so, shout it from the rooftop!
Research your ideal market. You can’t effectively market your service or product unless you know to whom you’re tailoring your message. Are you providing an all-in-one social media service for teens? Or are you developing a dating service geared towards middle-aged men and women? Knowing who you’re speaking to will help you determine how your service provides something unique to that demographic.
Find your ideal customer. Now that you’ve discovered your market, you need to figure out who your ideal customer within that market would be. Out of all the teens in the world, to whom exactly does your product or service best apply? What about specific people within an age range? Do you want Americans? Europeans? Or how about people within a specific wage bracket? Narrowing your audience hones your message and speaks directly to those people most likely to get a kick out of your service.
Create a personality. This steps isn’t always necessary, but a brand with a strong, forward facing personality that engages with the customer on a personal level is, in actuality, giving the customer something unique. Think of Cards Against Humanity, a company that essentially repackaged the game Apples to Apples with their own unique twist and have made a killing doing it. Or what about Harry’s, a company selling razor blades? It’s a product as old as time, but Harry’s unique take on selling affordable blades that come in the mail is something other companies have failed to offer in the same way.
You see? By asking yourself a handful of simple questions, you are well on your way to finding new customers. It doesn’t take much to set you and your business apart from the pack.
