How to Craft the Perfect Unique Selling Proposition
How to Craft the Perfect Unique Selling Proposition
A Unique Selling Proposition (USP) highlights what separates your business from competitors, why your business deserves customer trust, and why customers should invest their time and money on your products and services. If your business is struggling to find what sets your product or service apart, read on to learn how to craft the perfect Unique Selling Proposition!
1. Appeal to your Target Customer
In order to know exactly what makes your product or service unique, you need to first learn about what makes your target customers unique! Find out what makes this audience tick, and why they’re on the hunt for products or services like yours. The best way to do this is through the usage of a website analytics platform, where you can get demographic data like age, gender, interest, location and more.
First, gather the website data to learn who is coming to your site (audience), how they’re getting there (acquisition) and what they’re doing once they’re there (behavior). Then, use this information to buyer personas and customer profiles. This will help you identify what drives them to do business with you, how you can appeal to other related (or unrelated – get creative) interest and how to attract new customers like them. Finally, use this targeted information to create personalized marketing materials that clearly identify your audience’s needs and wants while still emphasizing the benefits your company’s product or service provides. Remember, personalization is key to driving a successful customer experience and thus increasing conversions!
2. Keep it Simple & Straightforward
Everyone wants to simplify their life, and the online shopper is no different. Make it easy for prospective customers to identify whether or not your product or service is what they’re looking for by explaining upfront how they can help customers achieve their goals and solve their problems – and do it as simply as possible.
Know what motivates the customers’ buying decisions and what ties them to each of your products or services. You can do this by sending out surveys, interviewing your most valuable customers, or looking closely at website analytics and data patterns to uncover useful insights like favorite products or other sites they may be visiting. Then, condense it down to the most meaningful or differentiating factors to use in your marketing materials. Make sure that you’re answering the three questions below:
How does your business improve the lives of its customers?
What does your business do so well that others can’t compete?
What do your customers truly want from your business?
3. Highlight your Differences
After you’ve taken the time to learn more about your customers and narrow down to what product or service benefits are most meaningful to them, be sure to apply this gained insight to your marketing strategy. Just be sure that you are not being vague with language like “the best” or “the cheapest.” Instead, explain where specific differences exist between your business and the competition, then highlight why they make you uniquely awesome. Embrace the differentiators by selecting specific features, quantifying and qualifying statements with statistics or reputable third-party recommendations, employing a keyword strategy to help content rank on search engines and developing marketing materials that capitalize on unique selling factors.
4. Incorporate your Company Culture
In many cases, company values are just as integral to success and customer affinity towards the brand as the products they sell. That being said, customers often align themselves with the brand’s identity that is most similar to their own values. These brands inject messaging into their marketing that conveys social responsibility so that their customers feel that they’re also contributing when they make a purchase with that brand.
This socially-conscious marketing helps brands shape their identity and paves the way for businesses to connect with consumers on a deeper level. Companies that use conscious marketing have been known to attract fans and brand advocates because of their like-minded beliefs and desire for purchases to spread goodwill and support causes.
5. Get Personal & Creative
Don’t be afraid to get creative and let your personality shine in your marketing strategy. Have you ever started watching a commercial and immediately knew who the brand was? Find your brand’s distinct voice, and use it everywhere you can to make prospects and customers know exactly who they’re dealing with – even on a subconscious level. You can test and request customer feedback to see if your efforts are getting the response you want and tweak accordingly. If you can authentically connect with your audience through a unique tone in your USP that matches the look and feel of your marketing, then your materials will be more memorable, and your brand will stand out among the rest.
Let customers see the inner workings of your company with behind-the-scenes footage from an event, or by simply posting short videos or photos featuring employees or company parties on social media. You can also foster a connection with fans by appealing to their emotions (buying is an emotional process, after all), such as Nike does when promoting feelings of inclusivity and empowerment with their ads. Finally, whatever you do, give your brand a personality with effective storytelling. Think Dos Equis and their “The Most Interesting Man in the World” ads that caught on with humorously outrageous taglines and commercials.
Whatever you do in your marketing strategy, a strong Unique Selling Proposition is the glue that should hold it all together. If you apply the above tips, you will be more successful in developing a brand identity that is memorable and effective.