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Do You Really Need A Usp?
A USP, or Unique Selling Point, is a unique attribute of a service, product or firm that can't be obtained anywhere else. By developing USPs, the received wisdom goes, firms can stand out from competitors and fight ‘commoditisation', where competing products are effectively equal and customers buy primarily on price. Sugar and oil are commodities; iPods are not.
Most markets have products and providers that are, to some extent, interchangeable: not 100% commoditised, but not completely unique either. Each product or provider is likely to have some unique attribute, but it's just one of the many factors affecting buyers' choices, along with price, convenience, quality, the cost of switching and so on.
If uniqueness isn't the key selling point for your product or firm, it follows that relying on USPs doesn't always make for good marketing. ‘Unique' doesn't necessarily mean ‘good'. In order to be useful for selling, your USP needs to meet all three of these criteria:
- Does it deliver a benefit for the customer?
- Is it clear – easy to communicate and understand?
- It is compelling – that is, does it have the power to encourage a switch from a competitor?
The sorts of attributes that might constitute strong USPs are:
- The only product to deliver a particular function (patented solutions)
- The only supplier to provide a particular range of services or set of skills in one place (the ‘one stop shop' argument)
- The only product, service or company of a certain type in a particular place
- The leading or largest company of its type, perhaps in a particular area
- The cheapest product or service of a particular type (but use with great caution: if price isn't compelling, it won't work as a USP – plus if you're undercut, your USP disappears).
The recipe for Coca-Cola is a good example of a USP. If you want the taste of Coke, you have to buy Coke. That's a unique benefit, and one that's easy to communicate (‘Coke is it', ‘The real thing', etc) and compelling for customers. However, there are many ‘generic' colas that people also like and buy.
Very few firms have this kind of ‘killer' USP that can drive their whole marketing effort. But that doesn't stop them using the USPs they do have, however ill-advisedly. I once worked for a firm that was over 200 years old. This point was much used in marketing and PR, since it positioned the company as an important part of local history – which, of course, it was. But although being long established is easy to communicate, it offers no real benefit to customers and therefore no reason to switch.
Other companies bend over backwards to achieve a USP just for the sake of it, setting up tiny ponds in which they can be the biggest fish. Don't fall into this trap. If you have to scratch around for your USP, it's unlikely to be effective. For example, I could position myself (I think) as ‘the only copywriter in Norwich with both publishing and agency experience', but my clients couldn't care less about that. ‘Experience, professional, reliable' is clearer, more compelling and offers more benefit, even though it's pretty generic and far from unique.
So what should you do if you haven't got a strong USP? It comes back to the three points above:
- Communicate benefits. Work out (or ask!) what customers really value about what you do, and build your marketing messages around that. Don't worry if it's not unique – very few companies do have a genuinely unique offer.
- Make it clear. Just clearly and simply convey the value you offer, and leave it at that. So much marketing falls at the first fence by trying too hard to be unique – or different, or clever, or quirky – and neglecting the audience in the process. Why not stand out with some straight-talking copy, strong branding and elegant design?
- Compel the audience. Give people a reason to switch to you with a special offer, fixed-price package, free consultation or some other variation on the standard offering in your market.
Not being unique isn't a barrier to success. But failing to connect with your audience is.
About the Author
Tom Albrighton is a freelance copywriter and founder/director of ABC Copywriting. ABC, based in Norwich, provides professional and creative copywriting services to businesses and agencies throughout the UK and Europe. Specialities include B2B marketing, SEO copywriting, website writing, articles and academic copywriting.
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