How to create a unique selling proposition? Unique Selling Proposition (USP): development rules from A to Z.

When you come across some USPs, it comes out: "Oops!".

Typical, no benefits, lackluster, too general.

But it is unique trade offer is the heart of any business. The thing around which everything revolves marketing strategy, which helps to differentiate favorably from competitors and occupy its part of the market.

Let's think of the USP as a core surrounded by hot marketing magma. It moves and mixes positioning, target audience characteristics, competitive information, product or service benefits, and the company's business objectives.

If the core is weak, then the magma spreads, smearing the outlines of the company throughout the sales market. And sooner or later, the boundaries of business are erased, and then disappear altogether.

Here's a metaphor. It’s easier to say this: a strong USP = a strong company.

John Carleton in one of his speeches says that in search of “that same USP” may not leave alone a sleepless night. But the result should be something special that will make your business take its place in the buyer's mind.

To help you in this difficult task, we have collected 8 scenarios, using which you will create your own competitive offer without much loss of time and nerve cells.

Scenario #1: Unique characteristic

If there are a great many analogues of your business on the market, then try to find some unique difference. Either find or create.

What the Twix TM marketers did in this situation: they divided an ordinary chocolate-wafer bar into two sticks. And the entire communication strategy was built on this.

Scenario No. 2. What remains outside the attention of competitors

It is very difficult to come up with something original in a classic business. Then it’s worth looking for what your competitors are missing.

For example, Claude Hopkins once noticed that toothpaste not only cleans your teeth, but also removes unpleasant plaque (film). This is how the slogan was born "Gets Rid of Film on Teeth".

And when developing the USP for a beer brand, he noticed that at the factory the bottles are not just washed, but are doused with a powerful jet of steam. Mr. Hopkins brought this workflow (which, in fact, all beer producers use) into the concept - "Our Bottles Are Washed With Live Steam!"

Of course, here you need to immerse yourself in all areas of the business: from production to the work of secretaries and delivery services.

By the way, you probably remember the classic example of Domino’s pizza delivery. It sounds like this: “Delivery in 30 minutes. If we’re late, we’ll give you pizza as a gift.”.

There is a small stratagem in this scenario: the business owner often gets blinded, but an experienced copywriter with the makings of a Maigret detective is able to pull out a hot and fresh USP into the world.

Scenario No. 3. John Carlton Formula

The formula is ideal for service businesses. You don’t even need to come up with anything revolutionary or creative here. Submit your details and get a working USP.

“With the help of ________ (service, product) we help ________ (ca) solve ______ (problem) with ____ (benefit).”

Options:

With the “Weight Loss” course we will help women put on their favorite bikini by summer.
The “Be Your Own Copywriter” training will help businessmen save hundreds of dollars on freelance services.
The “Mary Poppins” service will help mothers calmly go to the gym, cinema and shopping while the baby is under the supervision of an experienced nanny.

The examples are not perfect, but they demonstrate the very principle of working with the Carlton formula. The main thing is that we explain to the target audience what benefits our product or service brings.

Scenario No. 4. Innovation

If the product solves the buyer’s problems in a completely new way, then this must be stated in the USP. AND "…do not be shy"- as Ivan Dorn sings in his hit.

What could it be:

innovative formula;
new product;
new packaging;
a new format of interaction with the buyer;
revolutionary delivery method;
and so on...

Innovation! The first 3 in 1 roller gel Nivea Q10 against wrinkles, dark circles and swelling.
Vicks - We combine healing ingredients and the smooth taste of lemon tea to relieve 6 cold symptoms.

Scenario No. 5. USP with a problem

You can include your audience’s problem in your unique selling proposition. Those. go not from the description of the service, but from the solution difficult task potential buyer.

Is your tooth aching? Nebolin ointment will relieve pain in 5 minutes.
Bad mood? Invite a friend for coffee at McDonald's.
Confused about finding cheap air tickets? Check out our offers from 183 airlines.

Example of a TV commercial:

— Got a cold? Flu? With Aflubin tablets, a noticeable improvement in health occurs much faster. (Translation from Ukrainian).

Scenario No. 6. USP with a bow

This is what we call any advantage that is associated with gifts, bonuses, discounts, guarantees and other consumer goodies.

Samsung phones have a 5-year warranty. Order dessert and get coffee as a gift.
Buy 2 pizzas, the third one is free.
Place an order for 1000 rubles, and our taxi will take you home for free.

This is a successful scenario for a unique offer, but it is unlikely that such a USP will work with equal efficiency for a long time. Use this formula for seasonal promotions.

Scenario No. 7. USP with muscles

Here you need to flex the muscles of your business, show all your friends and envious people the most strengths company, product, service.

What could it be:

low price;
huge assortment;
free service;
products from cool brands;
support for a bright personality;
hundreds of awards and diplomas;
offices throughout the country.

In general, all the characteristics to which you can add the word “most”.

Just declaring your “self” is not enough for USP. We need facts, figures, evidence.

USP! USP! USP! It sounds just like a curse word if you don't know what it is. But in fact, this is a very useful topic in business. For use in marketing, advertising and sales. Helps the company stand out from its competitors, I would even say, to some extent, wipe their nose with them. But first things first, otherwise it seems simple at first glance. It's a lot more complicated than you think, and even more rewarding than you imagine.

Stop swearing

Americans will definitely think that USP is a Russian curse, because we have a lot of such short and bad words. But I don’t want you to think the same way, so I’ll answer your silent question about what UTP is. This actually stands for Unique Selling Proposition.

The definition of this term looks like this - it is your unique difference from another company or other products that a client can distinguish you from and say: “Wow, what an offer!”

Such an emotion is, of course, difficult to achieve, but nothing is impossible.

Gentlemen, let's not delve into theory for too long. All you need to know about unique selling propositions is that they make a company stand out from the crowd. And to quickly understand whether you have it or not, just answer one of the questions right now:

How are you different from other companies/products?
Why should I choose your company/product?

Usually at this moment there is a short 5-second pause, after which, as a rule, the well-known options follow:

High quality;
Good service;
Flexible conditions,

And my favorite thing is individual approach. Don’t tell me you answered the same?! I beg you! After all, it is fatal if your sales specialists and you, including you, answer your clients like this. Because thousands of other companies around the world answer them this way.

How to choose in this case? Who are the best on the market? That's right, purely based on where you liked it best for some reason subjective feelings. This, of course, is also good. True, in this case it is impossible to talk about systemic growth of the company.

We have decided that you urgently need to read this article further, since your answers should already be in business by default. It’s the same if a restaurant writes: “We have the best tasty food”, it seems that in all other establishments the waiters say: “Gentlemen, our food is not very tasty, but what music, what music!” Badly! Badly! Bad... Well, you already understood this without me.

WE ARE ALREADY MORE THAN 45,000 people.
TURN ON

The difference between USP and positioning and promotions

I have two important thoughts for you to dot the i’s.

USP is not a PROMOTION
USP is not positioning

Let's look at it more thoroughly so that there is no confusion in the future. Since on the Internet everyone gives examples of USP and does not understand that this is more of a positioning or promotion than our “hero of the occasion”.

Next, the action is, of course, also your difference, only it is temporary and not permanent. Therefore, it cannot be said that your unique difference is that you give a second item upon purchase. Any other company can do this in seconds. And even more so, when the promotion ends, you will be left with nothing.

In other words, the USP (as well as positioning) can always be used in advertising, on employee clothing, on billboards and other media, and in any type of advertising message and it does not lose relevance. A promotion (offer) cannot always be used, since it has the principle of burning out and being replaced by another.

Positioning is a more global topic. This is not necessarily your difference, it is rather your place in the market, which should not always distinguish you, but at the same time should characterize you. My favorite and clearest example is the Volvo car, their positioning is “Safety”. Is this a difference? Of course not. This is their accent. But a unique difference for them could be a car, for example, with 8 wheels.

How to Create a Unique Selling Proposition

Now you probably have chaos in your head from thoughts like “How to create a unique selling proposition? How to figure it out, how to make it, how to design it?!”

I will reassure you a little by the fact that the creation of USP has certain principles. Therefore, I want to warn you about several important nuances, which will help formulate an armor-piercing proposal:

You need to know your company and your product REALLY well to truly do it. good offer. Therefore, drawing up a USP with new employees is not very good good idea. At least some of the new ones should have, so to speak, a fresh look.
You need to know yours VERY well, since ideally the formation of a USP should, first of all, be based on the client’s selection criteria, those that are truly important to them.

So you've done it general theory. Now you won’t have to worry about developing a unique selling proposition. To help you, below are instructions for compiling and formulas for UTP.

1. Creative

The solution is partly the simplest and yet, in my opinion, not the most the best option. In order for your creative to settle in the minds of consumers and be perceived as “truth”, you need to invest more than one hundred thousand rubles in advertising. Rather, you need to calculate the total in millions. Do you need it?

Formula: [Creativity Feature] + [Product]

Example:
Chocolate that melts in your mouth, not in your hands.

2. The most

You choose what is the best in your company and trumpet it to the whole world. In any case, there will always be someone who will do better, but by the time they do it, time will pass and perhaps more than one year.

Also, be careful, the word “MOST” cannot be used in direct writing according to the law of the Russian Federation on advertising. But to get around this nuance, you can use tricks as in the examples.

Formula: [Most ____] + [Product]

Example:
The largest mug of coffee to go in a coffee shop is ___ – 1 liter!
The largest guarantee for timing belts in the Moscow region* (according to 1000 respondents on the website ____.ru).

3. Without

You need to know your customers well. Blah blah blah...I know everyone is talking about it. But if you don’t know the client, then you won’t know what he is afraid of or afraid of. This means that you will not be able to make the following formula, which is based on the client’s fear.

Formula: [Product] + without + [customer fear]

Example:
Chemical-free dishwashing detergent.
Losing weight without going to the gym.
Construction of roofs without prepayment.

4. C

Same idea as point three, except we're saying there's amazing value in our product that they want. Again, we focus on what is important for the client.

Formula: [Product] + with + [added value]

Example:
Cream with vitamin E complex.
Air conditioning with the ability to work in winter.

5. How/For

Personally, I don’t really like this option, it’s kind of rustic or something, but still in some areas it’s quite appropriate (canteens, district stores). And I would rather this formula attributed it to positioning than to a unique offer, it is too vague. But I’ll tell you anyway.

Formula: [Product/company] + how/for + [positive emotions]

Example:
The food is like home.
A store for little ones.

6. Property

Relevant for those who have a technical feature that sets you apart from others, that shows your scale or level. By the way, the first example influenced my decision to go to that particular clinic. After all, as a layman, I believed that the more powerful the X-ray machine, the clearer the picture would be. But I didn’t pay attention to the fact that the specialist who does this x-ray is much more important.

Formula: [Product/company] + from/from/by/to/at + [property]

Example:
Clinic with a 3 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging scanner.
All shovels are made of pure titanium.

7. The only one

If your product is the only one per city, region, or even better, per Russia, then it’s also worth shouting about it. Again, the downside is that this is not permanent. Although, unless you are an official representative and you have exclusive rights to use your product.

Formula: [Single] + [product/company] + [difference] + in [geography]

Example:
The only company providing a 5-year warranty on timing belts in Russia.
The only transformable chairs in Moscow.

8. Hidden procedures

In any business there are topics that everyone does by default and doesn’t talk about it. You just need to show it off and serve it with the right sauce. What do you need for this? Remember? It's very good to know your product and your company. The people who work in it, equipment, processes, tools, raw materials, supplier of raw materials and everything like that.

Formula: [Product] + [hidden procedure]

Example:
Three degrees of glass tempering.
Non-combustible PVC tiles.

9. Warranty

Just tell the client that he will get the desired result, otherwise you will return the money, redo it for free or give it as a gift. This USP can be seen especially often among info-businessmen. Although it can be used in any other business, for example, in construction you can give a guarantee that deadlines will be met.

Formula: [If _____] + [then ____]

Example:
If there is an increase in the estimate, then additional costs will be at our expense.
If you don't like it, we'll return all your money.

10. Professional

The development of this type of USP is the most difficult, although it is done according to a very simple scheme. You need to fully know and, most importantly, understand the client. Moreover, I personally think that this is the best formula. It can be said to generalize everything previously studied and is based on the client’s benefit, on his selection criteria.

Formula: [Product] + [benefit]

Example:
Ferrari cars are assembled only by hand.
Pizza in 40 minutes or free.
Apartments with a custom-made layout.

How to check know-how

After its creation, it seems that nothing better could be imagined, that this is the 8th wonder of the world. I’m in no hurry to dash your hopes; perhaps you are really right and have come up with something that will bring the entire market to its knees. This may well be the case, because as practice shows, everything brilliant ideas come when you are busy with the wrong thing.

And to be sure of this, go through the list of questions below and check your hypothesis for compliance with reality.

Can the same be said about your competitors?

If you say that you produce products in 24 hours when your competitors do it in the same time, then this is not a cool proposition, it is just a statement of fact.
Is this important to the client/hurts the client?

You can put pressure on creativity, but for me this is only for large companies, quite large ones. IN best case scenario, you need to put pressure on the client’s criteria or on his emotions, and it doesn’t matter whether they are positive or negative. If your message does not affect the client, then you need to change the situation.
Do you want to believe your difference?

If you can actually show clients how to make a million in 5 minutes, then this is an insanely great offer. But it’s not at all plausible. Therefore, it would be better to replace it for a period of “7 days”, which will inspire more confidence.
How long will your USP be relevant?

UTP is the difference “eternal”, and the promotion is temporary. Therefore, it is very important that it does not happen that you notify everyone that you are now not like everyone else, and after 2 days your competitor repeats this and a paradox occurs.
Does your sentence fit into 3-8 words?

Conciseness and lightness are the key to success. The shorter your offer, the better, the easier it fits into the minds of clients and the easier it is for them to remember it, and therefore use it in relation to you.
Does your USP have a logical downside?

If you say: “We have the most big houses”, then this is good if only another company on the market can do reverse offer“We have the smallest houses.” Otherwise, for example, in the premium segment, where everyone by default should have large houses, your proposal will lose.

Briefly about the main thing

I would like to write that the time has passed when it was possible to do something simply “good” and people would come in droves. But this is not true, there will always be those who show impressive results in their work. But there’s one problem: if the company is not large and especially new, then at first you definitely need to be different in order to break out of the rat race.

Now you have received a detailed answer and know how to create a unique selling proposition. At the same time, if you think that you can come up with a UTP once and retire, then you are deeply mistaken. Competitors are not asleep. The most arrogant ones copy your know-how, the less arrogant ones improve it. And in this, too, there is a certain strategy for creating your own difference.

That’s all for me, the game has started, I’m waiting for an answer in the comments to the question “How are you different from others?”

P.S. And to study this topic in other words and partly with other thoughts, watch this video:

Offers like “the most interesting courses” and “the most useful webinars” have not attracted customers for a long time. To attract your target audience on the Internet, you need to show why you are better than others and why a person should turn to you. Let's figure it out how to create a unique selling proposition, which will hit the client to the heart!

What is USP?

American advertiser Rosser Reeves, author of the M&Ms slogan - “Melt in your mouth, not in your hands” - was sure that advertising should do only one thing - sell. He formulated this idea in the book “Reality in Advertising,” which became a bestseller among marketers around the world. In it, he first outlined the concept of USP in order to forever rid buyers of meaningless words like “most,” “best,” “outstanding.”

A unique selling proposition or USP is what customers will love you for, choosing you over many other companies. According to Reeves, a USP is an advertising message that states your main difference from competitors and main reason to purchase goods from you. It is used on banners, contextual advertising, V mailing list or on product cards, as well as in the store description on the website.

A well-written USP makes it easy to sell, because the client immediately sees why the offer is right for him. A competent USP allows you to avoid price competition and increases the percentage of repeat purchases.

However, do not forget that if irons from your online store are constantly returned with breakdowns, then no USP will retain dissatisfied customers.

Algorithm for creating a USP?

So, you've decided to create a unique selling proposition to sell your products online. Where to begin?

Step 1. Analyze your strengths

For clarity, make a table and mark in it all the competitive characteristics that your company has: great experience work, price, qualified employees, etc. Write as many points as you can - indicate specific deadlines, numbers. Now cross out everything that your competitors can offer. As a result, you will receive a squeeze of unique benefits that only your company and your product can boast of. Put them into the basis of your USP.

Analyzing the competitive environment will allow you to find your unique advantages - these are exactly what you need to sell to potential clients.

You'll gain a better understanding of your business if you simply answer these questions:

What are we doing?
What are our strengths?
What are our weak points?
How are we different from other companies?
What do your competitors say about themselves?
Where are our growth areas, what else can be improved?

It is important to answer the questions as objectively as possible. Happened? Go ahead!

Step 2: Determine who you are working for

Imagine that you are going to a close friend's birthday party and you decide to give him a sweater. How will you choose? You will choose the right size, remember his favorite color, and don’t forget that he loves thin woolen fabrics and thigh-length length. Knowing a person well, you will probably give him a truly desired gift. Now imagine that you are congratulating a colleague with whom you work in different offices. It will be difficult to make a choice because you are not familiar with his preferences.

A sincere understanding of who your client is will allow you to offer him exactly what he needs. Therefore, personalize your potential client as much as possible. To get started, answer these questions:

Is it a man or a woman?
What age is your buyer?
What are your hobbies?
What makes him happy?
What's troubling?

Supplement your list of questions with topics that are relevant to your business to create a holistic persona.

Opening courses in English? Then it is important for you to know how long the potential client has been studying the language and what is his level of Byron language proficiency.

You should end up with a description something like this:

Our client is a housewife, mother of two children, who loves to cook and previously held a leadership position in large company. She vacations abroad twice a year, drives a luxury foreign car, enjoys yoga, and is allergic to cats.

The avatar will help to describe the client from three sides: based on the situation, focusing on the psychotype and by belonging to the generation. So instead of a soulless target audience there will be real man with peculiarities of perception, character and life circumstances.

Now you know exactly who you are offering your product to.

ACCEL residents, founders of the “Happiness Is” school of relationships, Ivan and Maria Lyashenko, collected detailed feedback from their listeners and were able to create an accurate portrait of a potential client. This is how they managed to attract new students and make educational materials more useful for a narrow audience.

Here is what the entrepreneurs themselves say about this: “We have significantly increased the share of educational content, reduced and made the selling part more understandable, and justified pricing policy. We explain in detail why we offer this product and how it will help the needs of webinar participants.”

Step 3: Tell us how you are willing to help

Switch places with your buyer. What will you pay attention to when choosing: price, guarantees, reliability, appearance? Personally, would you buy what you are trying to sell?

Surely some of your potential clients for some reason go to your competitors. Try to understand what they have that you don’t. Try to highlight the strengths in your USP, work on the “failing” places.

According to Vladimir Thurman, an expert on commercialization of innovations, the USP should talk about why you, as the owner, decided to start a business. He writes about this in his article “How to increase demand for your products without going to war with competitors.” It is likely that the problem you solved by starting a business is also relevant to other people. The solution found should be emphasized in the USP.

Step 4: Formulate your USP

Now that you have studied your audience, their needs and your competitors, it’s time to formulate your USP.

To compose a not very creative, but working text, you can use the formula of copywriter John Carlton. Substitute your company's data instead of spaces - and your USP is ready:

With the help of _______ (service, product) we help ______ (target audience) solve ____ (problem) with __ (benefit).

For example: With online volleyball training for adults, we will help all women over 18 years of age learn to play for the beach season.

You can approach the USP text more creatively. The main rule is to write to the point. General phrases, literary flourishes, approximate and generalized figures leave potential clients indifferent. Do you offer a 26% discount? Talk about exact numbers, and not about “huge discounts” and “great deals”.

Here are a few more important points, which are worth paying attention to:

Write simply, as if for a friend. Your proposal should be clear the first time. Leave abstruse phrases and specific terms for scientific works. The client must understand what he is buying and why.
Focus on your strengths. Mention in your USP something for which customers should want to come to you and not to your competitors. If your educational center employs doctors of sciences, you should not tell them how easy your website navigation is - this will divert attention from the important to the unimportant.
Keep it short. Your goal is to interest a potential client in a minute. USP - short message, from one to three sentences.

Use our cheat sheet so you don’t forget anything:

Who might benefit from this product/service?
What will a person get by becoming your client?
Why are you better than your competitors and why can’t you buy an analogue of your product?

Mistakes when drawing up USP

You can't lie in your unique selling proposition. If you promised a 50% discount and only gave 25%, the client will feel deceived. You will lose your reputation, and with it your customers.

In addition, you should not include in the USP those benefits that the client receives by default, for example, the ability to return funds within 14 days (this is guaranteed by the law “On the Protection of Consumer Rights”). Needless to say, you have “professional masters of their craft.” If this were not the case, would you be able to provide services?

Arguments must be confirmed real facts. It’s not enough to say that your service has no analogues on the market - tell us what exactly is unique about your business, give more specifics.

Conclusion: How to check the effectiveness of your USP

So, you have studied your advantages, your competitors, introduced your target audience and prepared the basis for your sales - the USP text. Now check its viability - make sure that:

Your unique selling proposition will not be able to be used by competitors. They don't provide the same services, use the same materials, or can't compete on price. Only from you will the client be able to obtain these benefits.
Your USP can be formulated in reverse. For example, an entrepreneur who sells “women's shoes in large sizes” may well imagine that there is a company that sells small shoes. Only such a USP is competitive. And here is an example of a bad USP: “In our club there is only good music.” It's hard to imagine that someone could offer bad music to customers.
Your USP doesn't look absurd. Clients are unlikely to believe that you can learn English in online school X in 1 hour.
You have tested your USP on clients. Send by mail different variants suggestions and choose the one that gets the most responses.
Make sure that your USP is the answer to the question: “Why do I choose this one among all similar offers?”

Drawing up a USP is a painstaking analytical work that will take time. But once you invest time in it, you will end up with long-term access to the hearts of your target audience.

Do you want to create your own online school, produce yourself or your expert? Register now for the free webinar and receive a PDF plan step-by-step creation your online school according to this

Hello, dear readers. Today we’ll talk about a very important component of any business, which 90% always forget about. This is your USP (unique selling proposition). This is the foundation, this is what any business project should begin with, this is what sets you apart from your competitors, what pushes your business up or, on the contrary, drags you down. We will talk about what a USP is and how to create it for your business in this article.

This article will help you understand how to accurately resolve a client’s problem, make his desire come true and persuade him to make a purchase from you.

What is a unique selling proposition (USP)

USP is the definition of the properties of your business that are unique in their kind to your product or service. Moreover, these properties are distinctive features exactly your product, and, of course, are absent from competitors. This is what fundamentally sets you apart from your competitors, shows your strengths and solves a problem for potential customers.

Why you need to start a business by developing a USP

Let's take online stores as an example (if this is closest to me). The vast majority of modern online stores, even at the beginning of their work, try to master everything at once. Generally, their operating principle is to become famous for superior quality, affordable prices, instant delivery of goods, polite couriers, high level of quality service, as well as a long warranty period. But that’s not all.

But it often turns out that while trying to cover a lot of things, you can’t cover anything.

I already brought him here once. For example, you have an Audi car. Something has broken down and your car needs repairs. You find 2 car services: a car service that repairs many brands of cars and a car service that specializes specifically in the Audi brand. Which of the above options will you still choose?

Of course, the right decision would be the service station that specializes in the Audi brand.

But not everything is so simple; there are exceptions. The first company may also have extensive experience in servicing your car and will cope with the task quickly and efficiently. But, if you conduct a survey, the majority will clearly be in favor of a service station that specializes in a particular brand.

What conclusion can be drawn from this? When developing your USP, you need to cover only a piece of the market, but cover it 100%. For example, sell not children's clothes, but clothes for newborns. Many examples can be given. The main thing is to get the point across. Start with a narrower niche, become a leader in it, and only then expand.

How to create your own USP

An algorithm consisting of only five steps will help you create your own USP, which will become yours. business card for every potential buyer.

Describe and rate your audience

Before you launch your business, decide who your potential audience is. Try to think more narrowly and then you will hit the target. For example, if you want to open a pet food store, consider targeting only cat owners or dog owners. There is no need to cover ALL animals initially. Believe me, if you have excellent service and a wide range of dog food, then you will already have enough clients in the form of dog breeders. Due to the diversity in choice and focus specifically on them, all dog breeders will be yours.

Find customer problems

Try to put yourself in your client's shoes. What problems might he have? When we opened a bag store, we immediately realized that the majority of female customers would be women with small children. And we were not mistaken. When delivering the goods, we were often thanked for the delivery, because it is impossible to go out shopping and leave a small child alone. We also understood that we would need to frequently deliver goods to our place of work, because not everyone has time to go shopping after work. We also brought up to 10 items to choose from, because we knew that choice in this case is very important and this is one of the problems of a client ordering from an online store without seeing or touching the item with his own hands.

Highlight your most basic qualities

This step involves searching and describing 3-5 characteristic qualities that will help the client choose you rather than a competitor. It is important to convey to the audience that all these bonuses can only be obtained by working with you! What advantages do you have over your competitors?

Think like your consumer. What benefits do highest value for your clients? How do they solve their problem? Also compare your offer with your competitors' offers. Whose benefits are more tempting?

What guarantees can you give?

This is very important element USP. You must give people a guarantee on your services and products. But not just a guarantee, but a guarantee like “I answer with my head.” Examples:

– “Our courier will deliver your order in no more than 25 minutes. Otherwise, you will get it completely free!”

– “If our method of losing weight does not help you, we will refund you 2 times more money what you paid for it."

If you are not confident in your products and services yourself, then your customers will not be confident either.

We create a USP

Now collect everything you got from the first 4 points and try to fit it all into 1-2 small sentences. Yes, it may take a lot of thought and thought for a long time, but it's worth it! After all, this particular offer, as a rule, is the first thing that catches the eye of a client who visits your website or sees your advertisement.

What is the key to a successful USP?

The USP should be clear and concise;
Don't make it complicated, it will make it harder for customers to understand;
Promise only what you can deliver;
Put yourself in the client's shoes and evaluate everything from his point of view.

Just don't rush into it. Spend a few days on your USP. Believe me, it's worth it. Then it will be easier for you to do advertising, you will move on more confidently.

If your goal is to create a successful and profitable business, don't try to chase every product and service in your niche. Narrow it down as much as possible. In addition, try to do everything efficiently. This will allow you to earn a good reputation, earn positive reviews satisfied customers and stand out among competitors.

Examples of a unique selling proposition

Below we will analyze USPs that occur frequently and make adjustments. The end result will be more targeted and enticing.

"We have the lowest prices!"

Is this a USP? Yes, prices are important, but anyone can write like that. By including a guarantee, you can get a much cooler USP. As the M-Video store did: “If you find a price lower than ours, we will sell at this price and give a discount on next purchase" This is what I understand as USP. I myself used this 1 time, sending a link to a product in another online store and receiving a product in M-Video for that amount, as well as a coupon for a discount of 1000 rubles. for your next purchase.

"We have highest level quality!”

Also blah blah blah. “If our simulator did not help you, then we will refund you 2 of its costs.” How can you not buy when reading lines like this?

“Exclusive only with us!”

This is more complicated, but since you write something like this, back it up with a guarantee. “If you find this product anywhere else, show us and receive a gift with your purchase.”

"We have best service and support"

Well, what is it? Another thing: “If we don’t deliver in 40 minutes, you will receive the order for free.” Or an example from Virgin airline: “If our operator does not answer within 10 seconds, you will receive a free flight.” This is what I mean by SERVICE!

Conclusion

I think that this article turned out to be as detailed as possible and you will be able to create a USP for your business based on it. If you have any questions, ask in the comments. But just don’t ask me to create a USP for you or give an example specifically for your business. This is not a quick process and I won’t just sit and brainstorm. You are the founder of your business and it is YOU who should come up with the USP.

Marketer Andrey Zinkevich - on how to effectively differentiate yourself from competitors

If you open any good book in marketing or attend the relevant training, then with a 99% probability you will come across the term “unique selling proposition”. Why do all marketers talk about the importance of USP? It would seem that the answer is obvious: show the potential client the differences between the product and the benefits of using it, and he will make a purchase. But here lies the main pitfall: how to identify those unique differences and how to present them in the form of benefits? What if your product or service is no different from your competitors? Well-known marketer Andrei Zinkevich spoke about how to formulate a USP.

Andrey Zinkevich, entrepreneur, marketing consultant. Founder of the project . The geography of clients includes 9 countries. More than eight years of experience in sales and marketing at Kimberly Clark and Biosphere Corporation. Author of the booksCustomer pipeline », « Secrets of customer focus" And " Profitable Internet projects ».

Background

Reeves was one of the most prominent students of the famous Claude Hopkins and was an adherent of the “selling” style. He believed that advertising could only have one purpose - sales. Not loyalty, not recognition, not popularization and other terms so beloved by advertisers, but sales!

In his book, Reeves emphasized that the effectiveness of advertising (read: sales) depends on one factor: advertising must instantly capture the attention of a potential client with the help of one, but very strong offer that competitors cannot make; offers that will encourage the recipient of the advertisement to perform a targeted action.

This idea formed the concept that Reeves called the “unique selling proposition.” True, today Reeves’ concept is overgrown with implausible myths; one of them is that now the competition is much stronger and it is almost impossible to find differences between competitive products.

Is it really? Of course not. Look at the most famous ones brands or companies, they all have a unique selling proposition and stand out because of it.

Let's try to figure out how to highlight distinctive qualities your products and services and turn them into a USP.

Step-by-step instructions to create a unique selling proposition

Step one is to determine the most important characteristics for our customers in our products.

The first step in preparing a unique selling proposition is the selection of product characteristics or criteria that influence the client's decision making.

This step is the most important (although it is often simply skipped), since the fate of the USP depends on the selected characteristics: will it really show the benefits of your product or will it compare you “with the rest”.

Therefore, our task at the first stage is to analyze our products or services and determine the ten most important characteristics for clients in each of them. The best way to do this is to survey existing customers which product features are most important to them and what criteria/factors influence their purchasing decision.

If the customer base is too large, then it is advisable to select a sample of the most loyal or most profitable customers and survey them.

If you withdraw New Product and there are no clients yet, then you can carry out brainstorm and independently determine the most important characteristics for the client. Or survey those who are most likely to become buyers of your product.

After real clients appear, you can repeat the analysis and select characteristics based on real data.

You need to record all responses received from respondents in a separate file.

Step two - filter and rank the received data.

After Feedback received from clients or brainstormed, our task is to select the 10 most important characteristics for the client and rank them in order of importance.

It's not difficult to do this. Among all the answers received, we need to select those that are repeated more often than others. Characteristics from the nai big amount repetitions will head your list, the rest will be located below it according to the same principle. As a result, we should have a table approximately like this (for example, we will have in mind a hypothetical online store):

Why do I recommend limiting yourself to 10 characteristics? Large quantity might just confuse you and make it difficult to analyze. In most cases, you will notice that the most important characteristics for the client will be no more than 5-7.

Step three - compare ourselves with three main competitors.

The next step is to compare the obtained characteristics of your product with three competitive ones. When conducting such an analysis, you must be as objective as possible: if you are inferior to a competitor in something, be sure to note this.

I recommend rating each selected characteristic or criterion for your product and for each of your competitors on a 10-point scale. For example, in the previous table we determined that the most important factor for the client - delivery within a day. If we can deliver the product within a few hours after ordering, we can give a rating of 10, if not, we lower the rating. Next, we analyze competitors and note how quickly they are able to organize delivery. The longer the delivery time, the worse the rating for this criterion will be.

Step 4 - choose criteria for USP: what are we stronger at.

Having carried out such an analysis, we get a clear picture: in what characteristics or criteria that are important for the client we are superior to our competitors, and in what areas we are objectively inferior. The criteria by which we dominate and should form the basis of our USP.

Key rule: for each service, product or company as a whole, a separate unique selling proposition is created!

Auxiliary formulas for creating USP

Now let's figure out how to formulate a unique selling proposition based on the selected characteristics. I suggest using one of three formulas.

Formula one: need + result + guarantees. Using this formula, we guarantee the potential client that we can satisfy his need better than others. Here is an example of a USP based on this formula for our hypothetical online store: “We will deliver your order within a day or return your money!”

This formula is used by my partner Ilya Rabchenko, CEO SMOpro studio to create a USP for your services. This is what the unique selling proposition for the service “Attracting subscribers to a group on VKontakte and Odnoklassniki” looks like: “We are guaranteed to attract 1000 targeted subscribers within the first month according to the parameters you set, or we will return your money!”

Formula two: important criterion/characteristic + need. The second formula is based on a combination of characteristics that are important for a potential client and his needs. Good example Some banks use this USP:

“We’ll apply for a loan in 5 minutes without proof of income.” Applying for a loan is a need of the target audience. The absence of the need to provide a certificate of income and the speed of loan issuance are important criteria for a potential client that influence his decision.

Formula three: target audience + need + solution. Famous business coach Alex Levitas likes to use this formula. For himself as a consultant, he uses the following unique selling proposition: “I - Alexander Levitas - help owners of small and medium-sized businesses increase their net profit with the help of low-budget and free marketing moves» . In Alex's USP, the target audience is small and medium-sized business owners. Their need is to increase net profit. The solution Alex proposes is the use of low-budget and free marketing tools (read: the use of guerrilla marketing tools).

False unique selling propositions

I would also like to mention false USPs. Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs and marketers are guilty of this.

What is a false USP? This is a proposal based on misinterpretation of facts or the use of criteria in the USP that a potential client expects by default.

For example, dental clinic The characteristic “professionalism of doctors” cannot be used as a USP. Why? Because, by default, a potential client expects you to professional doctors. Otherwise, why would he even contact you?

Second example: using a 14-day money back guarantee as a USP. According to the Law “On the Protection of Consumer Rights”, the buyer already has every right to return the product within 14 days from the date of purchase. Therefore, there is a distortion of facts here.

Test questions to check the USP

After you have worked with the template comparative characteristics and have compiled a unique selling proposition, one question remains: how “workable” is it? Isn't it false?

You can test yourself with the question (your USP should answer it): “Why should I choose your product or service among all the offers available to me?”

The second option is to formulate your USP in the form of a phrase: “Unlike others, we…”.

If for both security questions If you found good answers, then you really have created a unique selling proposition.