By: Jake Mory
Whether you are running a lemonade stand or a multi-billion dollar company, a unique selling proposition affects the choices that consumers make regarding your product.
Having a complete unique selling proposition is a vital part of creating a successful marketing campaign that can stand out past its competitors.
A unique selling proposition is a statement of what makes your product different from your competitors, and why that difference appeals to your target audience.
An example of a company with a distinguished unique selling proposition is Domino’s Pizza.
Domino’s released the slogan “You get fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less or it’s free.” Although too long to be catchy, it is an excellent description of what makes Domino’s better than its competition. It is something unique that you only get when you choose Domino’s.
(They later canceled the slogan and the deal due to the number of car crashes that delivery drivers were getting in by trying to beat the thirty-minute limit, but that’s beside the point.)
Creating a feasible and lasting unique selling proposition can be difficult, but here are five steps to creating a successful one.
Step 1: Know Your Target Audience
Before you can start marketing your product, you need to do some research to find out who you are marketing it to, and what that particular group finds valuable. This can be very simple.
Say you are running a bar in downtown Chapel Hill. Your target market is most likely college students. After some quick qualitative research, you will find that this group likes events, specifically events with bargains. There you go – now you have a target audience and an idea of what appeals to them.
Step 2: Describe Your Solution to a Problem
This can be a great way to find out if there is demand for your product. And if there isn’t, go back to step one and figure out what your target audience wants.
Maybe there are no bars that currently have drink specials on Wednesday nights. So you create a trivia night with half-off drinks. Boom, you just solved your target audience’s problem of not having a place to go for cheap drinks on Wednesday nights.
Step 3: List the Benefits of Your Product
Being able to list out what sets you ahead of the competition is the first step in making a consumer choose your product. If you can come up with three solid reasons why your services are superior to those of your competitors, you’re in pretty good shape.
Step 4: Pledge Your Promise
This step combines the information you obtained from the previous steps and puts it into one comprehensible statement that you can express to your target audience. This can usually be implied by consumers, but having a concrete promise to them makes your brand all the more trustworthy.
Step 5: Put it Together and Revise
In this step, take your target audience, your solution, your benefits and your promise, and combine it all into one paragraph.
In this step, you want to edit everything that you have come up with by merging similar ideas and rewriting the steps so they flow and are clear to the reader. The final draft should be simple yet specific and only take about one sentence to convey your unique selling proposition.
Once you think you have it, take a break and come back to it with a fresh mind, then edit some more. A unique selling proposition can be everchanging, and should always reflect the values of your company while benefiting your target audience.
Simplicity Matters
People have more choices than ever, and they are constantly being bombarded with new advertising telling them what to buy and where to go. The key to this complicated world of advertising is keeping your brand meaningful yet simple. A successful unique selling proposition does just that.
At 1893 Brand Studio, our team specializes in creating personalized marketing strategies that utilize proven tactics to help local businesses thrive. Contact us today for more information.
