How to Create a USP For Your Business?
Every business faces fierce competition, especially when everything can be bought online. Customers are overwhelmed with the number of options available. They want to understand why they should buy from you and not from any other brand. This is where Public Relations and USP are so important.
It is crucial to create a USP for your business that helps your customers make decisions quickly.
What Is a USP?
Your USP (Unique Selling Proposition) is the one thing that differentiates your business from your competitors. An excellent value proposition encourages customers to buy your products as suggested in this article by Maryville University. It tells your potential customers what’s so special about your product/service.
Until you create a USP for your business and capitalize on it, it would be difficult for you to create a name in the industry or even convince people to buy from you.
Your USP helps marketers sell your products easily as the customers can clearly understand the benefits of buying from you.
Now that you know what a USP is and how it can benefit you let’s have a look at how to create it.
1. Understand Your Target Audience
Before you even start crafting your USP, you need to have a good understanding of your target audience. This helps in creating a USP that they want to hear, which, in turn, will boost the conversion rate.
Here are a few questions you must ask to understand your target audience better.
- What does your ideal customer really want?
- How does your product solve their problems?
- What factors influence their buying decisions?
- Why do your existing customers choose you over your competitors?
- Where do they spend most of their time online (social media or any other website)?
- Is there anything stopping them from buying your services (such as high price)?
While most of the answer lies in your website’s analytics, you can also use JotForm Survey Maker to create a survey and send it to your existing customers via emails.
To target new website visitors, it helps you display the form as a popup on your website.
2. Explain The Problem Your Business Solves
People don’t buy products. They buy a solution to their problems. Take the automobile industry for example. They don’t just sell vehicles: they sell comfort and luxury.
Considering it in a problem-solving context: people who want to travel comfortably and look financially stable are more likely to buy a car.
Similarly, you need to show your customers how your product can meet their needs and solve their problems.
As someone said, “sell Benefits, not features”. This concept is also applicable when creating a USP for your business.
3. List What Makes You Different From Your Competitors
The next step is to list at least three to five things that differentiate you from your competitors. What benefits your customers cannot get from any other company but only from your brand?
One of the excellent examples of a brand explaining the benefits they sell is FedEx. There are lots of delivery services companies but what makes them different from others is their slogan (USP).
FedEx’s USP (tagline) was “when it absolutely, positively has to be overnight”. It guarantees their customers that their packages will be delivered overnight. However, FedEx doesn’t use this slogan anymore.
4. Create An Elevator Pitch
Finally, it’s time to craft an elevator pitch that attracts your target audience’s attention immediately. It should be something that explains the problem you solve, differentiates you from your competitors, and is unique.
Make sure your USP is as specific and simple as possible. Also, try to include a promise in your USP.
For example, a moving supply company can have a USP that says, “Sturdy boxes in 24 hours”. This is an excellent USP because it guarantees boxes within a day that won’t collapse. Even if you fell short of boxes while moving your house, this company has got you covered.
Nerd Fitness surely knows how to create an elevator pitch. It says, “we help nerds, misfits, and mutants lose weight, get strong, and get healthy permanently”. This is great because it explains who should choose them and why and guarantees to make them healthy permanently.
The Best USP Examples
Beardbrand is one of the brands that have nailed the art of crafting a USP. Their product ethos reads, “Many competing products are formulated to address a man’s insecurities rather than helping them embrace their own awesomeness. We think you are awesome, and our products are designed to help you be the man you want to be.”
This is great because it explains what makes them different from other similar products and how their product can benefit the customer.
GoPro is yet another brand that has an expertise in creating a USP. They know their audience consists of young, thrill-seeking adventurers who have a strong preference for social media. They created a simple USP: “A portable camera that’s small, easy to use and robust”.
Bellroy understands their products and target audience really well. They know people carry important items in their wallets. Most often, pockets get full and clumsy. Their website reads, “Don’t let leather weigh you down. We’ve eliminated those extra layers of leather between your cards to give you a slimmer silhouette”.
Dollar Shave Club definitely knows what influences its target audience into purchasing. The Dollar Shave Club is a subscription-based service that delivers grooming products to customers through the mail. Their USP is “Our goal is to make sure you always have everything you need to look, feel, and smell your best”. This is a great USP because everyone wants to look their best every time.
Wrapping Up
Irrespective of which industry you’re in, it is vital to create a USP that defines your brand. Understand what your target audience’s problem is, specify what makes you better than other similar companies, and explain the problem you are solving in the best possible way.
