The world of business is loud and booming. Whether you own a fintech company, a restaurant or a consultancy, the chances are you have some fierce competition out there. So, you need to shout and be heard, but what are you shouting about? To put it bluntly, you aren’t unique. There’s no point in investing lots of money in a marketing campaign that gets your name out there if you haven’t yet decided what it is that sets you apart.
Let’s assume you’re a vegan restaurant owner, for example – great, it’s a growing and lucrative market with 250,000 people participating in Veganuary in 2019. But what is that one thing that makes you different from Davina and her vegan restaurant across the street? Is your restaurant focused on helping others, sourcing local produce, teaching people to cook or a niche food group, to suggest a few?
Your USP should define you, it should hold a sense of the values and goals of your company and why a customer should choose you over your competition. Why are you worth doing business with?
It is key that you refine this, your USP should fit into one attention-grabbing phrase. Think of the big brands out there:
“When it absolutely, positively has to be overnight” – FedEx
“The milk chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your hand” – M&Ms
“You get fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 3 minutes or less or it’s free” – Domino’s
No customer wants a long rambling list of reasons to dine at your restaurant, one succinct phrase which sums you up will be enough.
So, how should you approach drafting your USP? Consider the following:
Who is your customer?
Companies that have a strong USP have a clear awareness of who exactly their customer/target market is, what they want and what will drive them to buy.
What issue do you solve?
What is it that you can do to improve their lives? How does your offering meet their needs and what does life look like after they have come to you?
Why are you different?
Write down a few things which you feel make you different and offer something to your customer that they couldn’t get elsewhere. Are you the best on price, dependability, speed, values, service, product range? Why are you irresistible? What is it that you can wholeheartedly promise to your customers?
Prepare to Cut
Once you’ve answered the questions above, cut it back and revise it into one phrase which will help you to sell your product and grow your brand. Ideally, your USP will fit into 2 sentences, max! You don’t get much time before your prospect makes their decision on your offering, so it is key that anything which isn’t indispensable is cut from your USP.
Accept Feedback
Once you have put this USP out into the world, don’t be afraid to ask for feedback. Ask anyone and everyone – potential customers, employees, colleagues, anyone who can give you fair, impartial advice. Go in with an open mind and a patient attitude, perfection takes time.
It is wise to consider testing your USP, you can do this by creating a couple of slightly different phrases and A/B testing them or by testing ads with completely different benefits and language variations. It’s always good to see how potential customers react to your choice in branding – in turning some people off you may turn valuable customers on.
Hopefully, with this information in mind, you’ll be well on your way to creating the perfect USP and growing your business.
Guest blog by Air Marketing Group, B2B full cycle sales and acquisition specialists.