What Is a Unique Selling Proposition: The Fundamentals
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Your business needs a unique selling proposition, and here’s the “why.”
Gone are those days when one or two giant brands dominated an entire industry. The internet has leveled the playground.
But running an online business comes with serious competition. It doesn’t matter what your niche is.
You’ll compete with thousands of others to reach a common audience. So, it helps to sit back and ask;
How many businesses are doing the same thing? Selling the same product? making similar offerings? And worst still, doing so on the same channel as you are?
With these questions, you’ll realize your business belongs to a crowded market. No matter how big or small you are.
As such, there are two ways to market yourself:
Keep yelling at the crowd with a high hope that someone will look your way. Or,
Call out a specific audience and run with them.
The truth is that one is nerve-racking and fruitless-ly engaging. The other is less strenuous and more rewarding.
So, how do you call out a specific audience to run with from the market?
A unique selling proposition is the answer.
In this article, we’ll look into what a USP truly is and what it isn’t.
We’ll also discuss why a unique selling proposition is crucial for your business. And how it differs from a value proposition (VP).
Table of Contents
- What Is a Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?
- Your Business & USP
- What’s Not a Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?
- Why Is Unique Selling Proposition (USP) Important?
- A Few Points to Note
- 7 Differences between a Unique Selling and Value Proposition
- Rosser Reeves on Unique Selling Proposition
- M&M’s Unique Selling Proposition
- Wrapping Up
What Is a Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?
A unique selling proposition, USP, also known as a unique selling point, is a bold marketing statement that motivates customers to buy from you, not your competitors.
In other words, it’s the one differentiating factor that makes people choose your business despite the availability of several alternatives.
Call it the unmatched value that makes your business, product, or service stand out in the market.
Or say it’s a brand-wide marketing message that communicates an outstanding value that resonates with your ideal customers.
Your Business & USP
Say you are starting a SaaS (Software as a Service) company.
There’s no crime in positioning yourself as the “best accounting software for businesses.“
But that’s a bit vague because every accounting software is built for some kind of business.
If you want faster growth and low competition, calling out a unique set of customers is the way.
Consider putting your product out as the “accounting software for freelancers and creators.“
Being the latter is far more specific and requires less marketing headache.
Now, be honest. If you are a freelancer or creator looking for accounting software, which of the two brands would you prefer to work with? You know the answer.
A unique selling proposition helps you streamline your marketing effort as it helps filter your leads from the get-go.
Instead of competing with big players in your industry, you take a cut of the market and become the go-to for a specific customer need.
And if you ask me- that’s the clarity every John Doe roaming the webosphere wants.
What’s Not a Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?
In the pursuit of differentiation, many businesses mistake a USP as a synonym for STANDING OUT.
They forget that the most important form of differentiation is to stand for a unique value that fills a market gap.
Remember, you aren’t in business solely to beat the competition. You’ve got a market to catch.
If you overfocus on the competition to lose customers, you gain nothing.
Here’s the fact…
A unique selling proposition isn’t what makes you the best in your market. Rather, it’s what makes you the best for your customers.
Why Is Unique Selling Proposition (USP) Important?
Short Answer-
A unique selling proposition delivers customers more than any marketing offer.
Long Answer-
Today’s internet is hypersaturated.
Millions of look-alike businesses are vying to make it to customers’ purses and hearts.
If all you do is compete on price, you have a hairline chance at success.
When customers face the battle of choice, they pit the options before them side by side.
This junction is where every “best” and “price” yelling business falls out of favor.
We have become so accustomed to hearing everyone claim that his product is the best in the world, or the cheapest, that we take all such statements with a grain of salt.
Robert Collier
A solid USP gives prospects reasons beyond price to consider your business.
Also, customers aren’t in the market for the best product. What they are looking for is the best solution to their problem.
Hence, the purpose of a unique selling point is not to position your product as the best in the world.
It’s to make someone out there say- “that’s for me, that’s perfect for me,” about your product. Despite the sea options before them.
Best in the world,” “lowest price in existence,” etc. are at best claiming the expected. But superlatives of that sort are usually damaging. They suggest looseness of expression, a tendency to exaggerate, and a careless truth. They lead readers to discount all the statements that you make.
Claude Hopkins.
A Few Points to Note
By now, you should understand that:
- A unique selling proposition is not standing out for standing out sake. It’s STANDING OUT FOR YOUR UNIQUE CUSTOMERS NEED.
- The objective of a USP is not for your product/service to be the best. But to be the best for a section of the market.
- A unique selling proposition is neither a creative statement nor a vague slogan. It’s a business-moving message.
- The point of a USP is to be something to someone rather than to appeal to everyone.
- Price is hardly a unique selling point
- A unique selling proposition is different from a value proposition.
You want to ask, what’s the difference between a USP and a VP? Find the answer below.
7 Differences between a Unique Selling and Value Proposition
Unique selling and value proposition are two different terms.
While they both convey marketing messages, they serve different purposes.
Although some marketers do use both interchangeably. We’ve found 8 distinctions between a unique selling proposition and a value proposition.
- A unique selling proposition is the why of your business. It expresses why customers should choose you and not your competitors. A value proposition, on the other hand, says what’s in it for your customers. That is, the value they are getting for the money they are paying at a particular time.
- A USP builds emotional connections with your audience. It makes them stay in business with you beyond the monetary exchange of value. Thus, a unique selling point can be dubbed a brand-wide marketing message. Value propositions are marketing messages for individual products/services you offer.
- USP drives brand recognition and identity. Value proposition drives sales of particular products/services.
- A USP focuses on your brand positioning as regards your competitors. A value proposition focuses on sales.
- You can have more than one value proposition for the different services/products. A business USP is always one. You can have different value propositions for various market segments and customer persona. A USP offers a benefit relevant to all customers.
- USPs are short and usually placed above the fold on a company’s homepage. Value propositions are longer. You can put them further down on your website, landing pages, or dedicated products/service pages. It’s uncommon to find a USP other than on the homepage.
- Unlike value proposition, a USP doesn’t, by rule, revolve around notable details like product quality or features. It can focus on a broader aspect of a brand’s life, such as convenience, dependability, philanthropy, services, ethics, speed, source, process, etc.
In Summary:
Value Proposition = What’s in it for me?
Unique Selling Proposition = Why should I buy from you?
On this note, two or more companies can have similar value propositions. What’s hard to come about is companies sharing a unique selling proposition.
Now take a closer look:
A USP is a value proposition. But not all value props are USPs.
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Let’s hear from the man who threw the term into the marketing limelight.
Rosser Reeves on Unique Selling Proposition
In his 1961 best-seller, Reality in Advertising, Rosser Reeves enunciated the three characteristics of a unique selling proposition.
Otherwise, it’s another creative string of words that won’t move a needle.
He wrote:
- Each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer—not just words, product puffery, or show-window advertising. Each advertisement must say to each reader: “Buy this product for this specific benefit.”
- The proposition must be one the competition cannot or does not offer. It must be unique—either in the brand or in a claim the rest of that particular advertising area does not make.
- The proposition must be strong enough to move the masses, i.e., attract new customers.
Reeves explained that a brand/business could highlight several products, features, and services, each with unique benefits, but must look for one big promise to emphasize.
This idea or promise must be big enough to move the masses. And it must be one that continuous emphasis will not render weary.
That promise should be at the core of their brand message, the heart of all their marketing effort, and most importantly, it must be what the brand can deliver.
On this premise sits the memorable USP Reeves created for M&M candy.
It melts in your mouth, not in your hands.
M&M’s USP by Rosser Reeves
M&M’s Unique Selling Proposition
Science says the melting point of chocolate is lower than the temperature of the human body. That means chocolates will forever melt in our hands.
M&M’s thought: “What if?” went all out and returned with bars of impossible chocolate. How?
By sugar-coating chocolate to keep it from melting in one’s hands.
And that was the differentiator: the only chocolate candy that doesn’t melt in your hand.
Hence the USP: “It melts in your mouth, not in your hands.”
In context, one of the most effective ways to arrive at a proposition that differentiates you and drives your business growth is to solve a problem in your market.
Wrapping Up
So far, you’ve learned what a unique selling proposition is and what it’s not.
You are also clear on the importance and why your business needs one. Plus, no more VP vs. USP debate.
Now, it’s time to find and create your USP. Check out our next guide on creating a unique selling proposition.
You’ll also find this guide on value proposition formulas helpful.
