Ever been asked what your USP is? Were you able to answer?
USP – Unique Selling Point is something that people talk about a lot. When I was in a weekly networking group we were advised to talk about our USP regularly to help other people understand how we were different from our competition. It’s an important part of your brand because it’s very rare that the service or product you are selling, or the cause you are supporting will be unique.
You need to focus on ONE point because if you try to be known for everything, you’ll be know for nothing. People need to categorise you to remember what you do. As they get to know you better they’ll understand all you offer, but your USP helps them to understand why they might be interested in you initially.
How do you identify your USP and explain what makes you different?
It is something that should become clear as you work your way up from the bottom of your brand iceberg. Confused? Read this blog!
When we did some work to define our brand recently we worked on our vision, purpose, values, did a SWOT analysis and then filled out this table below. We found it really useful:
I’ve included one of our differentiators in there too to give you an example of what you might want to include. We’ve got seven different strengths and each of them are useful for us to use in website copy, proposals etc.
When you write them all out it gives you the chance to rate them, look at what other organisations are doing and pick out the one you can use as your USP, the thing you can be known for. Remember it’s a way of introducing yourself so it needs to be specific and something that fulfils a need or solves a problem for your audience.
For example, it could be about your team and their experience, your product, your way of working, a guarantee you offer or a promise to deliver within a certain time period.
A lot of charities use aspects from their vision or mission to explain how they’re different. A lot of products and services lead with their USP. Some examples you might recognise:
Head and Shoulders – Clinically proven to reduce dandruff.
M&Ms – The milk chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your hand.
Tattly – Fake tattoos by real artists.
Patagonia – we’re in business to save our home planet.
What’s your USP? Not sure? Give me a ring!
Jo Grubb
Managing Director, JG Creative
Now read V is for Values…