How unique is your USP?

To stand out from your competitors you need to articulate a strong Unique Selling Point (USP), the specific benefit you deliver that none of your competitors offer.

Marketing strategists want to put us into boxes so that they can define their “target” or “ideal” customer. From the perspective of a service or product provider knowing and clearly understanding your target customer is valuable information. However that detail is also available to your competitors.

So how do you win your market share? You need a proposition that explicitly defines the problem you solve and equally importantly the intangible benefits you provide. You can only differentiate yourself from the crowd if your product or service offers something that others do not. Your competitors transact in the same marketplace as you, so it is obvious that to succeed you need to be able to communicate to your potential customers that what you provide has features that cannot be found elsewhere. Tell them how you will better meet their needs compared to others in the market, identify and explain that essential something different and added value that you provide.

Search engines make it so much easier to find and compare services or products. As well as looking inward, you will also need to analyse your competition to understand their USP and how they present it. Look at their websites, their ads, social media and marketing messages. Examine how they promote and distinguish themselves.

A well-crafted USP can help you communicate your brand’s advantage in a clear and persuasive manner and more significantly, separate you from your competition. It will take time and effort and potentially several iterations to define your USP but the investment will be worth it as you watch those target customers queue up at your door.

To save you valuable time, let me help you explore and create your USP, then sit back and reap the benefit!