Unique Selling Proposition (USP) - Benefits & Features | USP Meaning

The helpful mantra of digital marketing is, first sell your products or services to yourself before approaching any other person. This is particularly significant when your products and services are the same as your rivals on the market. Perhaps, only a few businesses are unique of their kind. Check out the market, and observe the number of clothing retailers, hardware shops, electronic markets, and technicians that are genuinely unique?

Perhaps, the effective way of selling in the present circumstance is only via marketing and advertising; experts call it (USP) a unique selling proposition. Until you figure out what makes your business unique in the market full of competitors, you can't focus on sales metrics effectively.

Therefore, pinpointing the USP demands some effective searching and new strategies. If you are seeking to know about USP and how it works and affects the sales of a business, this guide will walk you through the details of a Unique Selling Proposition. 

What is a Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?[Definition]

USP stands for Unique Selling Proposition. It is a marketing term referring to a differentiating factor that makes a brand, product, or service unique from its competitors. USP reflects the benefits that a company provides to its customers and informs them how its products or services are better than the same kinds of products or services offered by its competitors. 

The concept of USP was developed in 1940 by an American advertising professional, Rosser Reeves. 

Multiple brands are selling similar kinds of products and services. This homogeneous nature of the market necessitates companies to develop their own USPs. Communicating the USP of the brand to the customers is imperative for a brand to carve its own niche space in the highly competitive market. Numerous customers every day look to buy various products ranging from a pen to a car. The high number of choices leads to confusion among the customers. An ideal USP assists the customers to contract between that specific brand and its competitors. Amidst the heap of brands, those with clear USPs are most likely to get more paying customers than others.

USP also makes the goals and missions of the business clear to both the top management and the staff, and everyone is geared towards achieving those goals. USP is a driving force for a company to maintain and improve the differentiating factors of its products or services.

It also acts as the platform on which marketing campaigns are based. Whether it is print, television, or digital marketing, USPs must influence the customers' buying decisions. 

To further dive into the complex concept of USP, it is essential to understand the types of Unique Selling propositions.

Different Types of USPs

There are multiple kinds of Unique Selling Propositions. Some of the categories of USPs are as follows.

1. Product Base USPs

Product-based USPs are associated with features like quality, new customizations, durability, warranty period, and more. The aim is to convince the customers that the products offered by a particular brand have more benefits than the similar kinds of products provided by its competitors. 

2. Benefit-Based USPs

This type of USPs is used by brands that are more concerned with providing customers with specific benefits than their competitors. This kind of USP clarifies to the customers that certain benefits offered by that brand are unique. For example, a search engine can enhance privacy as its USP.

3. Customer Support USPs

Customer support-based USPs are another type for brands that are more focused on providing better customer support than their competitors. Such a USP informs the customers about the unique features of the said brand's customer service, which makes it a cut above its competitors. Customer support includes various elements such as returns, helpline numbers, complaint processing, and more.

4. Position based USPs

Businesses use this type mainly to create a unique space for the brand in the customers' minds. The purpose of using position-based USPs is to make the brands associated with specific kinds of benefits. For example, a watch brand can use position-based USPs to establish itself as synonymous with luxury watches among customers.

5. Cost USPs

 Customers always consider the cost as an essential factor in buying activity. Cost-based unique selling propositions seek to make the customers believe that they are getting good value for their money. Cost-based USPs do not discount the importance of the products. Instead, such USPs emphasize the value of the products.

Advantages of Unique Selling Propositions

A unique selling proposition is a critical situating message an organization or sales team presents to prospects. Therefore, a USP of a brand clarifies the superior level of products and services, preferable or different from other alternatives in the market. A good USP consists of numerous advantages of a business or company. However, key benefits that highlight the brand include clear separation, better income, faithful clients, and less complex selling.

1. Clear Differentiation

Separation is the business or product attribute that distinguishes it from competitors. A unique selling proposition makes the Business unique to possibilities and propels them to give the brand solid thought. Without a USP, Business permits the prospect's purchasing choice to turn out to be highly arbitrary. In such cases, the low cost frequently wins out. Unique features, quality materials, good style, best service, and brand image are standard attributes an organization makes a USP.

2. Enhance Revenue

The income eventually improves or surpasses assumptions whenever a company offers a unique selling proposition and prospects see it. Customers purchase the products and services that perfectly complete their necessities and submit the best blend of advantages and cost. A business with a considerable USP tends to have a prominent potential revenue advantage. Knowing prospects might pay on top-end expenses for a good brand with materials they consider high-quality or durable.

3. Faithful Customers

Whenever a company promotes a USP and conveys an engaging value proposition, customers will probably return in the future for more purchases. After getting an extraordinary deal, a customer might hope to re-buy a vehicle acquisition with a similar vendor or salesperson. Every time customers repurchase products, it will add a positive experience to sprouting favorable feelings. Sooner or later, repeat buys convert into sentiments of loyal customers to a business. Consequently, it strengthens the bond, opens doors for more revenue, and drives reference deals.

4. Simple Selling

With the company's growth, its salespersons also get benefitted and offer a convincing unique selling proposition. It is simpler for a salesperson to convey the value of a product when he has utilized it himself. However, when a sales team battles to see value in itself, it might create an evil intention of pushing benefits or messages on clueless possibilities. However, assuming the sales representatives utilize the brand themselves, it turns out to be much simpler for them to enthusiastically and influentially sell the best value to prospects.

How to make a USP for your Business?

Unique Selling Proposition should not be hyperbole but truly convey the brand's special features to the customers. Creating a USP is a systematic process and requires a lot of research. Thus, if you seek to create a USP for your brand for better results, consider the following points before making USP.

1. Identify Target Audience

It is not enough to target specific demography. The people likely to buy your products/services need to be identified. For instance, a cosmetics company is more likely to target the young female population in the urban areas with more demand for glamorous products. Undertaking thorough research to identify the target customers is essential.

2. Solve Customers Issues

The backbone of a strong USP is the knowledge of the needs and problems of the ideal customer that the brand is targeting. A profile of your ideal customer must be created. This helps pinpoint the expectations of your target audience and the specific kinds of problems they face. Your USP must contain the method to solve your customers' issues more effectively than your competitors. The USP should make a strong case about the lives of your customers getting improved by your products/services.

3. Competitive Advantage

Competitive Advantage cannot be ascertained without getting thorough knowledge about your competitors. Determine how your competitors are fulfilling the needs of their customers and devise ways to fulfill the exact needs better. Make a list of the things that your company can do better. Better methods of manufacturing products or providing services can be created.

Once you have pulled out some competitive advantage points over your competitors, use those points to create a USP. The USP should clarify to the customers that your company is doing certain things better than other brands

4. Make Promises for Better Services

Look for a unique benefit that you can offer your customers. The use must be relevant to your target customers. After that, incorporate that benefit in your USP in the form of a promise. For example, FedEx promises to deliver packages anywhere overnight. This USP has made it a global giant among many other package delivery services. 

Your company should be in a position to honor the promise made by your USP statement. Thus, the USP should include only those promises which the company's operations and policies permit.

5. Make Succinct USP

Once you have determined what unique benefits you offer to the customers, it's time to create the USP. The USP should not be lengthy but tell the customer why your Business is different in a condensed form. Customers do not have the time or patience to read long paragraphs; hence the USP must be short but concise. Like an advertisement gets just a few seconds to attract the customers' attention, a USP also must convey its message within a few seconds.

6. Correct Position

The USP should be highlighted in the advertisement. It can either be the headline or the first line of the ad. USP followed by the description of the benefits to the customers by the products/services of the company should be positioned before the features of the products or services

How to Test your USP with A/B testing?

At the initial stage, businesses often were unaware of the impact of USB on their growth. However, if you are one of them and uncertain regards to what drives your clients to purchase from you, then, at that point, A/B testing would prove to be an ideal testing system to determine this. You can run A/B testing your brand's USP on landing pages. By testing different USPs against one another, you can decide the messages that reverberate best with your primary targeted audiences by estimating a particular conversion goal, an item buy.

Suppose that you sell Lutz marbles, an intriguing collectible type of marble. You are uncertain whether individuals are more compelled to get them for the 'goldstone' in the marbles or their age. A/B testing would an ideal option to check the response for your landing page where you test two unique features:

Variety A - Precious and Rare 'Goldstone' Marbles available to be purchased

Variety B: Precious and Rare 100-Year Old Marbles available to be purchased

Incidentally, the USP on the point of a landing page isn't, in every case, simply the headline. For the most part, it comprises a combination of a headline, subheadline, and bulleted points of advantages.

Final thoughts

Undoubtedly, USP has become a precious instrument for marketing professionals. USP can add revenues to its coffers because it has a high persuasive value and enables brands to better engage with customers. A USP isn't simply a full line of duplicates on your landing page. It's an excellent way to position your product & services or even your whole business globally among the competitors. Your products don't have to be unique entirely by themselves to have a solid unique selling proposition, even though the search for a spot in the market where you can establish your brand is generally unnoticed by the rivals.

There might be numerous ways you could sell your products; however, your USP is a fantastic idea that would position your brand as per your desired goals. The tips mentioned above to create your USP would help to begin with a unique selling proposition.