Unique Selling Proposition, or USP, is a term that refers to
one thing about a product or service that makes it distinct from all others.No matter what you sell, it is critical to define what sets you apart from your competition, makes your product/service appealing to your target audience, and what benefits your product/service provides your customers. This is your Unique Selling Proposition or USP.
In order to successfully market itself, every company needs to focus on what's special and different about its products/services. The best way to do this is to try to express this uniqueness in a single statement/phrase. If you cannot concisely describe uniqueness of your offer, you may not have a chance to fully grow a successful business. Ask yourself following question: What benefit is so unique about your offering, and what is basis of this claim? If you are struggling with marketing your business, it could be because you aren’t giving potential customers a good enough reason to do business with you, instead of with your competition. Because competition is so fierce in most industries (except ticket sales: Ticket Master), only way to increase your sales is by offering prospects a benefit that no one else is. You need a Unique Selling Proposition, or USP. How to create a USP: Without a USP your marketing won’t work and business will inevitably stagnate. Are you currently stagnating? If so YOU MUST have a USP if you want your business to succeed. Amazingly 95% of businesses don’t have a USP. You should aim to make your USP one specific idea that first comes to mind when people think of your product or service. A very famous example comes from automobile industry: when people hear "Volvo" they instantly identify it with "Safety".
You must obviously educate your target market about your service/product's USP. People did not just automatically associate Volvo with safety. Volvo helped to instill this idea in their heads through advertising.
Your offer should be different, and more valuable than, your competitors' offerings and placing that idea in minds of a target group of customers. Positioning attracts customers by creating a positive and unique identity for your company and its offerings. Positioning is vital for distinguishing your offering from everybody else's. What position do you hold in your industry? There may be very little difference between your product and your competitors' but if you can't find a way to communicate uniqueness and connect it to a need of your target, you might as well quit fighting your competition. How do people perceive your business? How will your business be perceived as different from your competition in minds of your targeted customers? To figure this out, you must look for your best customer and then design a position that matches his or her wants and needs to an advantage that only you can offer. Do work now to develop a clear position for your business vis-à-vis your competition. You will ensure that you get most from your advertising budget. Think how much farther your advertising budget could take you if you had a unique selling proposition. Developing Positioning Statement and Tagline To begin creating your own sense of positioning for your business, answer following questions with short, articulate answers that relate your offering to your customers' needs. 1. What does your business do? 2. Who is your target audience? 3. What is your biggest benefit to your prospects? 4. Prove your claim. To what do you attribute that benefit? 5. How will your customers perceive this benefit, relative to competition? The easiest way to understand what a USP is and what it can do for your business is to look at an example of Domino’s Pizza in US that used a Unique Selling Proposition to become market leader in a competitive business. Domino’s incorporated key benefits into a compelling USP. “Fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed” The focus is on convenience, freshness and quick delivery all important benefits to people living rushed and convenience lives. Notice that USP focuses only on benefits that customer gets. Domino’s has included their USP in all their marketing campaigns. As a result, there is a strong awareness in market of what you can expect if you choose Domino’s Pizza. Their USP has enabled Domino’s to take ownership of a big piece of market as people who want quick delivery of fresh, hot pizza. The USP answers question of why people should buy Pizza from Domino’s. The answer is of course, call them if you want fresh, hot pizza delivered to you within 30 minutes. Note that USP is very specific. It says that you will get fresh, hot pizza delivered to you within 30minutes, guaranteed! The USP is like a promise to your existing and potential customers. You can imitate Domino’s and make a compelling promise to your customers. First, you have figure out a USP that will appeal to your target market. Then, you need to announce it in a way that attracts attention. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, you must make sure that your USP is delivered. Don’t make promises you cannot deliver. Now you know what a USP is. The trick is to develop a USP that will attract your target market and that your business can deliver on. You need to spend time developing a Unique Selling Proposition that will give your business a competitive advantage. Each advertisement must say to each reader: 'Buy this product and you will get this specific benefit.' The proposition must be one that competition either cannot, or does not, offer. The proposition must be so strong that it can move mass millions; i.e., pull over new customers to your product. Depending on real benefits of your product or service and void in your market that you are filling, your USP might be one of following (or any number of others you might think of):
