How to Create a Unique Selling Proposition with 5 Great Examples
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Creating a unique selling proposition is no rocket science. Yet, a lot of businesses fail at it.
This guide will show you how to create a USP that accelerates business growth.
But first, let’s talk about the two biggest mistakes you must avoid when looking for a USP.
Before Creating a Unique Selling Proposition: 2 Mistakes to Avoid
To create a USP that will lead to business growth, you must avoid these two pitfalls.
- Perceived USPs: Ideas masquerading as USPs, and
- Creative-First Mindset: Brainstorming a USP before listening to the market
1. Avoid Perceived USPs
On a single thought, lots of phrases and ideas will appear as a perfect USP for your business.
It might be a beautiful phrase or some self-indulgent ideas about your business. You want to avoid either.
Creating an effective unique selling proposition (USP) requires you to be objective. It involves researching your business, competitors, and market without sentiment.
That’s the only way to arrive at a “unique” and not a “perceived” selling point.
The more you research, the closer you move toward a unique selling point that will move the masses.
As Rosser Reeves put it:
The proposition must be strong enough to move the masses, i.e., attract new customers.
Reality in Advertising by Rosser Reeves
2. Creative-First Approach
Many business owners think coming up with a USP is a creative process. Well, It’s not.
More often than not, this approach results in fancy lines with little to no business impact.
A USP is a means to an end: Capturing a segment of a competitive market and building your business around it.
Think of it as a bridge that connects the path between you and your unique set of customers.
To create a USP that resonates with them, you need to know who they are and why they are in the market.
So, you don’t start a unique selling proposition discovery process with outright brainstorming. Because,
A unique selling proposition is discovered, not written.
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In this article:
- Before Creating a Unique Selling Proposition: 2 Mistakes to Avoid
- How to Create a Unique Selling Proposition in 5 Steps
- 7 Characteristics of Great Unique Selling Propositions
- 5 Great Examples of Unique Selling Propositions and Why They Work
- Wrapping up
How to Create a Unique Selling Proposition in 5 Steps
Creating a unique selling point requires some legwork- Research.
You don’t have to rack your brain. Here are five steps to find the best USP for your business:
- Pick your target market
- Define your unique customers
- Know their pains and desire
- Identify the competition
- Choose your edge
Using the steps above should help you easily find an effective USP.
Step 1: Pick a Target Market
A market is the set of customers you and your competitors are trying to reach.
These customers have different needs and respond to messages in unique ways.
For example, say you are starting a software development company.
The market for software development companies is too broad. It includes all businesses that need software, which is too many for one brand to target.
Trying to reach every business that needs software might be a high-labor-low-reward endeavor. It might even be outright futile.
Streamlining your market is a big step towards your best unique selling proposition.
There are two ways to streamline your market:
a. By scope
b. By niche
a. Streamline Your Market by Scope
Streamlining by scope means identifying business types and sizes you want as customers.
Here are some examples of target markets a software company can target:
- Small businesses looking for custom software for their operation
- Fortune 500 companies in need of enterprise software
- Startups that want the software to automate workflow
- Mid-size digital enterprise seeking an all-in-one project management software
b. Streamline Your Market by Niche
When you streamline by niche, you select your target market by focusing on niches.
Here are some examples:
- Social media marketing software for solopreneurs
- Funnel automation software for new business
- Affiliate management dashboard for affiliate marketers
- Invoicing and accounting software for eCommerce stores
- Patient intake software for medical doctors
The more granular you get about the process, the better.
Step 2: Define Your Unique Customer
You’ve narrowed things down. Great!.
Now, you run an accounting software company for eCommerce.
Let’s face it. Your product is not the only invoicing and accounting software for eCommerce.
- You are not the only company in that market
- Customers still have different needs and
- They respond to messages differently.
Therefore, within this target market, you must identify a unique set of customers, respond to their needs, and give them a reason to choose you.
Picking your unique customers requires crystal clarity. Targeting a rough demographic is not enough.
For this purpose, you’ll get from research what brainstorming won’t give you.
Start by asking yourself these five questions.
- Who are the ideal customers I want to reach?
- What specific problem are they trying to solve?
- What is the biggest pain this problem is causing them?
- What are they looking for in a product or service?
- And most importantly, what are their motivators?
Step 3: Know Their Pains and Desires
A good copywriter knows what persuades and dissuades buyers. The underlying emotions that drive customers towards a specific product in the market.
Beauty and fashion marketers have a solid grasp of this concept. They understand why people buy fashion products-
They want to look beautiful, feel luxurious, and impress their friends.
So, instead of selling the products, they sell those desires.
Think.
If all you do is sell clothes, build furniture, or develop software, your competitors are in the same race.
To edge them out, you must differentiate yourself by selling the sizzle, not the steak. Your USP will light the sizzle.
For our e-commerce accounting software, we’ll consider what deters people from these products. Look into integrations, compatibility, usage difficulty, large files, and manual inputs.
And with that, you can create a USP that addresses the pains. Propositions like;
- The Only Accounting Software that Integrates With All E-commerce Tech Stack.
- The E-commerce accounting Software with Zero Learning Curve
- Ecommerce accounting, 100% Automated
Step 4: Identify the Competition
It’s time to come to reality with your strengths and weaknesses. To beat your competitors or steal from their market, you must know them.
Trying to stand out will not materialize without answering these questions:
- Who are your competitors?
- How are they different from you?
- What are they doing right, and how can you do it better?
- What are they doing wrong?
- What aren’t they doing at all?
You can find out this much about the competition in many ways. Start with online surveys, reports from trusted sources, industry stats, and trends. Also, look for data in online communities and forums.
Your truest sources of information are your customers. And then your competitors’ customers.
Ask them why they prefer your product or service over others. If you are new to the market, don’ hesitate to approach competitors’ customers.
Conducting voice-of-customer research will also be of great help here.
Also, you should check your competitors’ websites to understand their USPs. Look more and even more, and you’ll find gaps in the market.
Your USP may be from a market-influencing question your competitors are yet to answer.
An example is the M&M’s USP for its sugar-coated chocolate. Check out this fundamentals of unique selling propositions guide for details.
Step 5: Find Your Product/Service Edge
The step above will put several fillable gaps at your mercy. What’s left is for you to choose the best angle to hit the market.
And that should take you back to the drawing board.
What leverage do you have? How do you position your brand to make customers see it as the perfect option for their needs?
The answer is simple- Map the gaps with relevant aspects of your business.
To do this, put yourself in the customer’s shoes and ask as many questions as they’d ask.
- Where does your business fit into their life?
- What’s your brand orientation or core belief?
- What’s unique about you, or what can you make unique?
- What problem can you solve in your market?
- What new thing can you introduce to the market?
- Who are customers looking for in a product?
- What are your competitors doing that you are missing?
- What can/do you do better than others?
Pit your answers against the competitors and market information you’ve gathered so far. You’ll see your unique selling proposition come to life.
Sometimes, you’ll answer all these questions to unearth anything worth banking on. But it’s also possible you get it right from the get-go.
Using the five steps above, you should have something solid to consider as your USP. You may not know how best to present it.
Why not take a cue from some of the most successful USPs ever written?
We’ve handpicked five great examples of unique selling propositions and explained why they work below.
But before that, let’s look at the characteristics of a unique selling proposition.
7 Characteristics of Great Unique Selling Propositions
- Offers Benefits: A USP must offer something of value that nobody else promises or does your way. It can be direct or indirect value.
- Memorable: A good USP should be easy for customers to remember in concept and its message.
- Appeals Emotionally: Your prospect should be able to connect with your USP on an emotional level.
- Clarity: You don’t need it fancy. A USP should not make your customers think twice before they know it. Literary and idiomatic expressions? Save those for your next writing contests.
- Conciseness: Crisp and to the point are what matters. A paragraph-length USP is best not used. A great USP says it all in as few words as possible.
- Believable: A USP must be true. Don’t make wide or illogical claims your market can’t take in.
- Deliverable: USPs are not created only to sound good. It must be what your business can deliver.
5 Great Examples of Unique Selling Propositions and Why They Work
Businesses enter the USP playground with all sorts of attires. The goal of each is to put up a unique show that attracts its ideal set of spectators.
Hence, unique selling propositions are not created equal.
Regardless of a business’s playstyle, its USP revolves around its product or service. That may be direct or indirect.
Philanthropy and brand orientation are examples of indirect USPs. Tom’s defunct USP is a good study case.
Let’s make it #1 on our list of great USPs.
1. Philanthropy- Tom’s one-for-one USP
Charity makes everyone feel good. A unique selling proposition can sit on such an emotional principle.
Before its fall, Toms’s one-for-one concept is a prime example. It brought a humane perspective to USP that shoe shoppers respond to.
Consumers perceived buying from Toms as a way to help poor people. This crusade kept Toms in business for decades.
Even if consumers have to pay more, they wouldn’t mind. Since they’d satisfy the desire to help children in need. Albeit, Toms’s products were affordable.
Buying a pair of shoes from Tom’s was never perceived as a financial ask. Instead, consumers see it as fulfilling part of their obligations to humanity.
With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for One
TOMS Shoes’ USP
2. Simplicity- Everyone can design with Canva
Simplicity is another effective means of differentiation. 
Canva is an online design tool that allows anyone with or without design knowledge to create and publish high-quality visuals.
Canva brings simplicity to the design market and, in no time, puts traditional design tools like Photoshop and Illustrator in its wake.
Canva USP goes thus;
Empowering the world to design.
Canva’s USP
The design tools available before Canva were sophisticated. Mastering them takes months of intensive training.
Canva breaks the barrier with its drag-and-drop editor, billions of customizable templates, and millions of pre-set use cases.
Today, anyone with an internet connection can use Canva on any device. They can choose templates and create professional-looking visuals in minutes.
Thanks to Canva, small businesses and entrepreneurs can decide not to spend money on a design team or agency. They now have a forest of customizable graphics at their fingertips for all marketing purposes.
3. Speed- FedEx overnight delivery
FedEx pulled the speed lever in the logistics industry in 1973. And to prosperity, it did.
FedEx pulled the speed lever in the logistics industry in 1973. And to prosperity, it did.
FedEx was not the first delivery company in the United States and possibly not the best then. However, the company was the first to introduce overnight air shipping.
When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight, choose FedEx.
FedEx’s USP
When the market yearned for super-fast delivery, FedEx responded. It carved a new market for its business.
The USP catalyzed FedEx’s growth above competitors like DHL and UPS. Even though competitors have caught up today, the pioneering advantage stands for FedEx.
4. Guarantee- Domino’s 30-minute Pizza
Pizza shops are ten in a penny. Domino found itself in a crowded market like this, wanted a clear differentiator, and came up with this USP:
Fresh, hot pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less—or it’s free.
Domino’s USP
It’s on record that this USP catapulted Domino to the best-selling brand in the United States. But why does it work? Guarantee.
Customers’ minds are at peace about getting fresh pizza delivered on time. It saves them the trouble of visiting outlets or waiting for journey-tired pizzas.
In a competitive market like this, many brands run to the cover of price to stay in business. Domino did not. It didn’t even promise the best quality, just fresh, on-time pizza delivery.
The USP is a huge risk reversal. “Fresh pizza in 30 minutes or free”. Even as a no fan of pizza, I’d love to put Domino to the test. What about you?
5. Cause- Patagonia’s eco-friendly clothing
The sustainability campaign has never been louder. As more people become aware of how their choice of products affects the environment, companies that champion environmental safety are at an advantage.
Patagonia is an outdoor clothing brand that uses only nature-safe and eco-friendly materials. Its USP reads;
We are in business to save our home planet.
Patagonia’s USP
If your target market pursues a particular interest, having a USP to support it can move your business. Patagonia does just that. Eco-conscious buyers have a solid reason to choose Pantagonias over its competitors.
Wrapping up
A unique selling proposition shows customers why your brand is better than competitors. It’s a marketing statement that makes your products and your brand stand out in the market.
We’ve shown you steps to find the best USP for your business. You’ve also learned the characteristics of a great USP. Plus, the mistakes to avoid during the process.
Now that you know how to develop a USP, you may need some help phrasing it. Using a unique selling proposition formula could help. Check it out.
