Unique selling proposition its characteristics and features. Utp in marketing. USP: three quality criteria

It's a paradox, but many marketers don't even know what it is. USP is a kind of unique offer that a company offers to the market and which is fundamentally different from the competition. On the one hand, everything is banal here, on the other hand, many simply turn a blind eye to this and do not work with this important category of marketing and business at the proper level.

Why do you need a USP at all?

USP is needed for one important goal - to make a profit in business. If this is a USP on the site, then getting a high conversion. If a user sees an offer on the site that correlates with the solution of his problems, he will 100% become a buyer, even if the competitor has a lower price. A good USP is effective method get away from price wars. With the current level of competition, the buyer can easily find similar products. But he will stop at where the offer will hook him. Here it is very important to offer the client something non-standard that will awaken feelings of excitement, cause certain emotions, something that will make his life easier.

Who first spoke about USP?

The term "unique trade offer"was first introduced by the American advertiser Rosser Reeves. It was he who put forward the hypothesis that the advertised product should be different from others. And the higher the competition, the more acute the need to stand out is brewing. The advertising guru formulated three main postulates of the USP:

What is USP in advertising?

The hottest example that begs for a good USP is Dodo Pizza, which created an offer that focuses on delivery speed: 60 minutes or pizza for free.

But here it is important to really fulfill the stated promise to customers, otherwise the reputation may suffer greatly.

USP - what is it in marketing?

A unique selling proposition must meet the following criteria in marketing:

Be specific. The USP should be clear and understandable. If the client read the offer and did not understand anything, then it's time to work on it more thoroughly.
The USP must be unique. Competitors cannot repeat it or simply do not do it.
The USP should provide real value to customers. For example, offer: the most quality repair in the apartment does not say anything. And here is the USP: Doing repairs in the apartment? We will remove the wallpaper for free" is a completely different matter. Everyone knows that the most unloved occupation during repairs is to tear off old wallpaper, so such a USP is the best way to show that the repair company will take care of all the routine work. And there you can already competently and agree about services for major repairs.

What are USPs?

A unique selling proposition is true when the company claims real benefits for the client, and false when the offer is based on a fictitious uniqueness or benefit.

An example of a false USP is the following - It's not just cigarettes - it's Davidoff! By and large, it's just a play on words, without much meaning.

It is very difficult to come up with a true USP, in rare cases it is possible to create a masterpiece message that will settle in the mind of the buyer for a long time.

There is a special formula by which USP is built: Properties + asset

Properties are certain promises to the market, they are built on decision-making factors. For some buyers, low price is important, for others - high quality, for third - a guarantee, for fourth - fast delivery, for fifth - geographical accessibility of the place of purchase, etc. There are a lot of such decision-making factors, each buyer has his own. Asset - evidence of how we will fulfill these promises. As a rule, there are 4 types of assets - people, material resources, methods and technologies, history. For example,

We have the most qualified experts from the best European companies
Our confectioners have been trained by Belgian chocolatiers
An innovative method allows the production of windows with hidden fittings

How to look for ideas for a USP?

First you need to create a field of ideas - an intellectual map, where information about the target audience, its needs, strengths and weaknesses competitors, business assets. You need to know the answers to such important questions as:

Who, why, when buys?

What do they buy, what do they ask before buying?

What is the product?

This is the case, there is a company already operating in the market and it has information. What to do when there is no such information?

You can take a walk through the forums, monitor discussions in VK - questions, reviews, track which topics are of most concern to the audience in in social networks, youtube, see the most high-frequency queries on your topic on Wordstat. As for Wordstat, it is best to install the yandex-wordstat-helper plugin. It is very convenient to work with it and arrange the categories of keys.

Let's say we open a window company and we need to find a USP that would radically distinguish our company from competitors. Windows - technically complex goods, and the market is falling and stagnating. The main positioning is built around the price, so it is almost impossible to meet any creative in the field of creating a USP on the window market. For buyers, plastic windows from different manufacturers are no different - everywhere there is a white profile and German quality. And over the past couple of - three years window companies in order to save money, they do not pay attention to the competence of their sellers at all, which ultimately results in the low quality of window sales and the inability to explain to the buyer the most elementary characteristics of the window. The market is forced to follow the path of price wars, even to the detriment of quality. But let's get back to the USP. There are several major players on the market with a competent approach to marketing.

window factory became known in the market due to the introduction of the philosophy of sincere service into its work, which was offered by its owner Artem Agabekov. A friendly attitude towards the client as a friend gives rise to positive emotions and encourages you to order windows again and recommend them to your family and friends. Another important USP is climate-controlled breathable windows, which save you from drafts and allow you to ventilate the room even with the window closed. These unique offers really exemplify a good USP.

Window plastic created a USP based on the decision-making factor - efficiency and speed of delivery.

St. Petersburg company Labrador was the first to offer its clients unique technology- windows without seams at the joints of the profile, which can significantly improve appearance windows and make it even more attractive. The company declares: the unique glazing of your cottage or dacha will favorably differ from the standard glazing of your neighbors' houses. It is noteworthy that when the company was just entering the window market, it gave each client a toy Labrador puppy when buying windows.

Seamless windows from the Labrador company - the first windows in Europe WITHOUT welding seam.

Moscow company Velis Plast Focused on cleanliness. There is a special hole in the technological hole of the frame, where dirt is constantly clogged, which makes cleaning windows even more dreary and takes a lot of time for the owners. You can close this technological groove with a conventional sealing plug, which will prevent dirt, moisture and dust from entering the frame. A trifle, but how much time and effort it takes!

These are perhaps the most interesting USPs that are based on specific customer benefits. Therefore, to form an interesting unique selling proposition, you can find a lot of interesting ideas.

For example, you can play with soundproofing. This issue is especially relevant for residents of a large metropolis near busy highways and highways, bus stations and airports. Why not remember Ogilvie's outstanding statement about the ticking of the clock in advertising campaign Rolls-Royce?

The windows are so quiet that the only noise you can hear is the ticking of the clock.
Add more silence to your window
Silence in the midst of a noisy city
Our windows can reduce motorway noise to a whisper

Now the interior theme in the windows is very relevant. Manufacturers of profiles and accessories constantly offer innovative solutions that can diversify the interior of an apartment or house, bring a zest of novelty and charm there. These are hidden hinges in the window, various shades of lamination and painting, interior handles. Moscow windows used to have double-glazed windows with Swarovski crystals. In today's modern metropolis, more and more people are thinking about technology smart home- so that the windows close and open themselves, the blinds are lowered with the help of the control panel, so that the weather is shown on the window glasses and you can watch TV. All these technologies are already slowly beginning to come from Europe to Russia. You can have time to bite off a piece of a delicious pie from the Smart technologies market and formulate an interesting USP for the category of buyers - innovators who are the first to test the new product and only then tell their friends and acquaintances about it. There are still a lot of free highly specialized niches on the plastic window market where you can find your buyer.

When analyzing competitors, ads in Yandex are a very good source of search. Direct and Google. Adwords - there you can also find interesting USPs:

Colored windows for the price of white ones

Windows from 70 profiles for the price of 58

Windows for three days, etc.

What are the most common mistakes encountered when creating a USP?

The misconception that a low price is a USP. It is not right! Practice shows that competing on the basis of price is a very bad strategy and sooner or later can even lead to bankruptcy. Although BM has a different opinion on this matter, it is still better to differentiate from competitors based on another factor in the purchase decision.

It makes no sense to copy the USP of a competitor. It will no longer be able to shoot in the same way and attract the same number of buyers. The fact is that many businesses have become successful simply because they occupied a free niche at the right time.

The offer contains a lot of water and common phrases. Statements like "we have the highest quality", "we have the fastest delivery", "we have the most talented employees" say absolutely nothing to customers. It is imperative to indicate in the offer a specific benefit and advantage for the buyer.

There is no UTP at all! Unfortunately, this also happens.

Mixing planes. For example, mineral water can be sold in different planes: this is production, distribution in Network shops, just retail, research on water quality, can be provided consulting services on water. And here for each direction you need a separate USP.

How to make a USP - a cheat sheet from Denis Kaplunov

Copywriter Denis Kaplunov suggests using the following guidelines when compiling a USP:

Clearly following your niche. This method consists in finding some narrowly specialized niche and fixing in it. Next, you need to declare to your buyer in the USP that you work in this particular niche:
- High security windows
- Cafe 100 types of cupcakes
- Promotion of online stores
- Everything you need for 50 rubles
- Tasty and healthy food for 100 rubles
- Mink coat commission
A benchmark based on the uniqueness of the product that others do not have. This is truly a real innovation that is difficult or impossible to copy.
- Extreme driving lessons on mountain slopes
- Exciting quest: The room of fears in an abandoned hospital on the outskirts of the city
- Excursion in the footsteps of the heroes of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky
- Plastic windows like tablet and tv
USP can also be an additional service for the client. It is important that this service is provided to customers only by your company and no one else in the market.
- When buying windows in the first 5 years, the guarantee is free
- When creating a site, we give free step by step plan promotion of a resource on the Internet
- When buying a car OSAGO as a gift
- When repairing an apartment, we will install air conditioning for free
Targeting a specific customer segment.
- Hand-to-hand combat for girls
- Hairdresser for cocker spaniels
- Delicious lunches for truckers
- Cooking courses for bachelors
Focusing on some super unique feature that competitors do not have.
- A hotel made of ice and snow
- Only we have the most sober taxi drivers
- Photo session with a real crocodile Gena
USP based on leadership.
- The most visited store in the city
- Salon of cars of exclusive brands
- Sewing clothes of any size
USP based on a specific result
- 90% of our graduates immediately get a prestigious job
- Minus 10 kg of weight in 10 days
- We reduce advertising costs by 100%

In the modern market of goods and services, you will not surprise anyone with the fact that you are the best. To compete with other companies, you need to be not just the best, but unique. Only then will it be possible to talk about an increase in the number of customers. A unique selling proposition is what marketers of many firms and companies are racking their brains over. Today we will consider this concept and learn how to create a USP on our own.

Above all

In every business, the USP (or Unique Selling Proposition) is the most important thing. No USP, no sales, no profit, no business. It may be a little exaggerated, but in general it is so.

A unique selling proposition (also called an offer, USP and USP) is a distinctive characteristic of a business. At the same time, it doesn’t matter what exactly a person does, there should be a distinctive characteristic. This term refers to a difference that competitors do not have. A unique offer gives the client a certain benefit and solves the problem. If the USP does not solve the client's problem, then this is just an extravagant name - it is remembered, it sounds beautiful, but it does not greatly affect the conversion rate.

The unique selling proposition should be based on the two most important words - “benefit” and “different”. This proposal should be so radically different from the competitive ones that no matter what input the client takes, he will choose exactly the firm that has a worthy USP.

USP and Russia

Before proceeding to the main dish, I would like to focus on domestic marketing. In Russia, the problem is immediately visible - everyone wants to be the best, but no one wants to be unique in their own way. This is where the main problem comes from - companies refuse to create unique selling propositions. When they try to outdo the competitor who created the USP, they end up with something between a fancy phrase and a product or service feature.

Take, for example, the unique selling proposition found in the portfolio of some copywriters:

The best author.
Ideal texts.
Master of pen and word, etc.

This is not a USP at all, but rather an example of how you can’t advertise yourself. Everyone has their own concept of an ideal text, the word “best” can be used if it is confirmed by numerical data and actual characteristics, and it seems that there was only one “master of the pen and the word”, Bulgakov. Working USPs look quite different:

Fast copywriting - any text within 3 hours after payment.
For every client free consultation for improvement (please enter as needed).
Free images for the article from commercial photo stocks, etc.

Here, behind each proposal is the benefit that the client acquires together with the author. The customer is guided by what he needs in addition to the article: images, consultation or high-quality and fast execution. But from the "best author" it is not known what to expect. In business, everything works the same way.

Varieties

For the first time, the American advertiser Rosser Reeves spoke about creating a unique selling proposition. He introduced the concept of USP and noted this concept as more effective than advertising odes, where there were no specifics.

He said that a strong selling proposition helps:

Fence off your competitors.
Stand out among similar services and products.
Win the loyalty of the target audience.
Increase the effectiveness of advertising campaigns by creating effective messages.

It is customary to distinguish between 2 types of trade offers: true and false. The first is based on the actual characteristics of the product, which competitors cannot boast of. A false selling proposition is an invented uniqueness. For example, a customer is told unusual information about a product or is presented from a different angle. obvious benefits. It's kind of a play on words.

Today, it is difficult to endow a product with some unique characteristics, so a false USP is being used more and more often.

Quality business proposition. Main criteria

According to the concept of R. Reeves, the criteria for a quality trade offer are:

A message about the specific benefit that a person will receive by purchasing the company's product.
The offer is different from all available in this market segment.
The message is compelling and the target audience can easily remember it.

In advertising, the unique selling proposition is the basis, so it must fully meet the needs of customers. Each message should sound benefit, value and benefit, but, in addition, understandable arguments are needed so that the client clearly understands why he should buy the product of interest to him here, and not somewhere else.

Stages

So how do you create a unique selling proposition? If you don’t think too hard, this task seems creative and exciting, and also quite easy. But as the practice of USP has shown, this is an example of an exceptionally rational and analytical work. Thinking up something fancy and passing it off as a unique offering is like looking for a black cat in a dark room. It is impossible to guess which concept will work.

To get a worthy example of a unique selling proposition, you need to do a lot of research: in addition to the market, niche and competitors, study the product itself - from production technology to the watermark on the package. Development consists of several stages:

smash target audience into subgroups according to certain parameters.
Determine the needs of each of these groups.
Highlight positioning attributes, that is, determine what exactly in the promoted product will help solve the problems of the target audience.
Describe the benefits of the product. What will the consumer get if he buys it?
Based on the received input data, create a USP.

Scenarios

As you can see, this is a rather painstaking process, where it is necessary to use all analytical skills. Only after a complete analysis is completed, you can start looking for a key idea and only after that start creating a sales proposal.

This task can be simplified if you use scenarios that have already been tested by time and experience:

Emphasis on uniqueness.
New solution, innovation.
Additional services.
Turn weaknesses into strengths.
Solve the problem of

Uniqueness + innovation

Now a little more about scripts. As for the first scenario “Uniqueness”, it will only suit those products or services that are truly one of a kind and they have no competitors. In extreme cases, this feature can be created artificially. The option of a unique selling proposition (USP) can be completely unexpected. For example, a stockings and socks company entered the market with interesting offer- they were selling a set of three socks, and the USP promised to solve the age-old problem of the missing sock.

With regard to innovation, here it is worth declaring a solution to a problem in a new way. For example, "Innovative freshener formula will kill 99% of germs and fill the room with a fresh scent."

"Goodies" and disadvantages

The third scenario focuses on additional privileges. If all products on the market are the same and have almost identical characteristics, then you need to pay attention to additional bonuses that will attract visitors. For example, a pet store may suggest that customers take kittens or puppies for 2 days to make sure they settle in with the family.

In your favor, you can turn the shortcomings of the product. If milk is stored for only 3 days, then from a practical point of view it is not profitable, and the buyer is unlikely to pay attention to it. Given this, it can be reported that it is stored so little due to 100% naturalness. The influx of customers is guaranteed.

Solution

But the easiest option is to solve the problems of potential consumers. This can be done by the formula (yes, like in mathematics):

The need of the target audience + Result + Guarantee. In an ad, an example of a unique selling proposition might sound like this: “3000 subscribers in 1 month or we will refund the money.”
TA + Problem + Solution. “We help novice copywriters find customers with the help of proven marketing strategies».
Unique characteristic + Need. "Exclusive Jewelry emphasize the exclusivity of the style.
Product + Target Audience + Problem + Benefit. “With Polyglot audio lessons, you can learn any language at a conversational level in a month and go to the country of your dreams without a doubt.”

Points not mentioned

In order for the USP to work, you need to pay attention to a few more nuances during its creation. First, the problem that the product solves must be understood by the client and he must want to solve it. Of course, you can offer a spray from "mindsniffs" (isn't it a problem ?!), but the buyer will spend much more actively on a regular cream against mosquitoes and ticks.

Secondly, the proposed solution must be better than that that CA used before. And, thirdly, each client must measure, feel and evaluate the result.

When creating a USP, it is most rational to use the advice of Ogilvy. He has worked in advertising for many years and knows exactly how to find a USP. In his book On Advertising, he mentioned the following: great ideas come from the subconscious, so it must be filled with information. To fill the brain to the limit with everything that can relate to the product and turn off for a while. A brilliant idea will come at the most unexpected moment.

Of course, the article has already mentioned analytics, but this advice does not contradict what has already been suggested. It often happens that after conducting hundreds of analytical processes, a marketer cannot find a single and unique link that will promote a product on the market. It is at such moments when the brain processes information that you need to move away from reality. As practice shows, very soon a person will see that elusive USP that was on the very surface.

It is also very important to pay attention to those small nuances that competitors miss. At one time, Claude Hopkins pointed out that toothpaste not only cleans teeth, but also removes plaque. So the first slogan appeared in the advertising community, that toothpaste removes plaque.

And don't be afraid to take non-standard approaches to solving the problem. Marketers of TM "Twix" simply divided chocolate bar on two sticks and, as they say, away we go.

Idea Defense

A unique selling proposition does not appear out of nowhere in the minds of marketers. This is the result of a long, focused and hard work, which, by the way, can be used by competitors.

Several decades ago, intellectual property was inextricably linked with its bearer. That is, if one company introduced a successful USP, the other did not even look in the direction of this advertisement. Today, things have changed somewhat: managers can simply use the idea of competitors for their own purposes.

Therefore, there was a need to create patents. These are documents that confirm the right of the owner to the exclusive use of the results of their activities. Inventions are understood here as products or methods for solving a specific problem. In turn, the "unique selling proposition" itself is a powerful incentive for innovation. The subject of advertising here is an advantage unnoticed by competitors, but perceived by buyers. Patent protection of unique selling propositions in our country is practically not developed, but in more developed societies each advertising campaign protected from plagiarism.

Thus, in order to achieve success, you need to be unique, one of a kind supplier of in-demand products that are in every store, but the best in this particular company.

Marketer Andrey Zinkevich - on how to effectively stand out from competitors

If you open any good book in marketing or attend a related training, you are 99% likely to 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 customer the differences of the product and the benefits of using it, and he will make a purchase. But here is the main pitfall: how to identify those very unique differences and how to present them in the form of benefits? What if your product or service is no different from the competition? Andrey Zinkevich, a well-known marketer, spoke about how to formulate a USP.

Andrei Zinkevich, Entrepreneur, Marketing Consultant. Project Founder . The geography of clients includes 9 countries of the world. Over eight years of sales and marketing experience with Kimberly Clark and Biosphere Corporation. Author of the booksCustomer pipeline », « Secrets of customer focus" and " Profitable Internet projects ».

Background

Reeves was one of the brightest students of the famous Claude Hopkins and was an adherent of the "selling" style. He believed that advertising can have only 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 one but very strong offer that competitors cannot make; an offer that will encourage the recipient of the advertisement to perform the targeted action.

This idea formed the basis of the concept that Reeves called the "unique selling proposition." True, today the concept of Reeves has acquired 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 trademarks or companies, they all have a unique selling proposition and stand out due to it.

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

Step-by-step instructions for creating a unique selling proposition

The first step 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 decision of the client.

This step is the most important (although it is often skipped) because the characteristics chosen determine the fate of the USP: whether it really shows the benefits of your product or compares 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 customers for each of them. The best way to do this is to ask existing customers what features of the product 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 take a sample of the most loyal or most profitable customers and interview them.

If you are launching a new product and there are no customers yet, then you can brainstorm and independently determine the most important characteristics for the client. Or interview those who are most likely to become a buyer of your product.

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

All responses received from respondents you need to enter in a separate file.

The second step is to filter and rank the received data.

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

It is not difficult to do this. Among all the answers received, we need to choose those that are repeated more often than others. The characteristic with the most repetitions will head your list, the rest will be located below it in the same way. As a result, we should get something like this table (for example, we will mean a hypothetical online store):

Why do I recommend limiting yourself to 10 characteristics? A larger number can simply confuse you and make analysis difficult. In most cases, you will notice that the most important characteristics for the client will be no more than 5-7.

Step three - compare yourself with the 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 should be as objective as possible: if you are inferior in something to a competitor, be sure to mark it.

I recommend scoring on a scale of 1 to 10 each selected feature or criterion for your product, and for each of your competitors. 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 the order, we can give a score of 10, if not, we lower the score. Next, we analyze competitors and note how quickly they are able to arrange delivery. How longer term delivery, the worse will be the score for this criterion.

Step 4 - choose the criteria for the USP: where we are stronger.

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 competitors, and in what 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 see how you can 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 to the potential client that we can satisfy his need better than others. Here USP example based on this formula for our hypothetical online store: "We will deliver your order within a day or refund your money!"

This formula is used by my partner Ilya Rabchenok, CEO SMOpro studios, to create a USP at their service. This is how the unique selling proposition for the service “Attracting subscribers to a group on Vkontakte” and “Odnoklassniki” looks like: “Guaranteed to attract 1000 targeted subscribers within the first month according to the parameters you set, or we will return the 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 for such a USP, some banks use:

“We will issue a loan in 5 minutes without a certificate of income.” Making a loan is the need of the target audience. The absence of the need to provide a certificate of income and the speed of issuing a loan are important criteria for a potential client that influence his decision.

Formula three: target audience + need + solution. This formula is used renowned business coach Alex Levitas. 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 Alexa's USP, the target audience is the owners of small and medium-sized businesses. Their need is to increase net profit. Alex's solution is to use low-budget and free marketing tools (read, use guerrilla marketing tools).

False unique selling propositions

Separately, I want to mention false USPs. Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs and marketers sin with this.

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

For example, a dental clinic cannot use the characteristic "professionalism of doctors" as a USP. Why? Because, by default, a potential client expects you to have professional doctors. Otherwise, why would he contact you at all?

The second example is using a 14-day money-back guarantee as a USP. According to the law "On the Protection of Consumer Rights", the buyer already has the full right to return the product within 14 days from the date of purchase. Therefore, there is a distortion of facts here.

Control questions for checking USP

Once you have worked through the comparative characteristics template and created a unique selling proposition, one question remains: how does it “work”? 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 there were good answers, then you really created a unique selling proposition.

Do you want to create a killer USP and speed up your business?

As of 2013, there are about 10 billion brands registered in the world. And each of them wants you to be their client. Everyone is trying to sell something. How to remember them, how to distinguish between them?

Every one of you faces this problem. potential clients. In every niche, whatever it is: selling car parts; production of building materials; beauty salons and hairdressers; private hospitals and so on and so forth, many different companies operate. And each offers identical or nearly identical goods or services. How to choose? How to distinguish? Who to contact? How to remember if you have almost decided?

Every company, no matter how big or small (especially!) needs to stand out from the competition. The logo and is only half the battle. You need to come up with some unique, special offer that will set you apart from the general background and help you shout to the client in the general noise.

Here's how to come up with and compose your unique selling proposition, or USP, and will be discussed in this article.

What is USP and how it is used in marketing and sales

A USP is a unique selling proposition. It implies some special characteristic of a brand or product, which is presented as an advantage or additional benefit for the client. USP is used by marketers when developing an advertising campaign - it is often built on this particular feature in order to distinguish a company from its own kind in the market.

This concept was introduced as such by the American advertising specialist Rosser Reeves. He developed this concept as an alternative to the eulogies in advertising, which ordinary consumers simply stopped believing. According to his concept, USP should:

translate real benefits for the client;
increase the loyalty of the target audience to;
be unique, special, one of a kind on the market.

If you peep a feature from a competitor and present it with your own sauce, it will not be a strong USP. It will be just a stolen idea, an imitation.

It seems to have a unique selling proposition, but 9 out of 10 competitors have the same

The USP is the reason consumers should choose you. And every company needs it. Only those who launch a new, innovative, revolutionary product, which simply has no analogues, can do without a USP. In this case, this very product is a unique offer.

In all other cases, tune in or die, to paraphrase a classic.

Why business USP?

to stand out from competitors;
to win the appreciation of the target audience;
to create strong promotional materials() and work out a marketing strategy;
to make your product stand out from the crowd.

Distinguish between true and false USP. The real thing is the real unique characteristics of the product that no one else has on the market in this niche. It's what's in the product itself. False benefits are made-up benefits, in the absence of a true difference. This is what and how it is said about this product. And in most cases, entrepreneurs resort to such USPs. But what if you offer the same product and service as the rest? If you have not invented something unique, some kind of exclusive product, you have to turn your head on and think carefully about how you can hook customers.

Standing out from competitors is the key to success advertising company. A unique offer should clearly indicate the benefits for customers, on which the message will be built, which will later be broadcast in advertising, on social networks and other promotional materials.

How to create a unique selling proposition

Many business owners think that writing a USP is easy. The two obvious paths they take are:

"We have the lowest prices!"

Price races are a dubious advantage for two reasons. First, there will always be someone who is cheaper. The second is that by low prices you attract the appropriate contingent of customers - insolvent and overly economical, to say the least.

"We have a quality service!"

In fact, the concept of quality is completely different for everyone. And you can not always guarantee this very service - the human factor plays a lot. But even if so, you really work conscientiously, it is this phrase " quality services», « best service” have set the teeth on edge so that they just fly past the ears.

If you are just starting out, yes, for quick sales you can still somehow beat these two trump cards as part of some kind of promotion. For example, the most low price. But if you want to build a strong brand for a long time, you need to take the development of the USP seriously.

In general, any unique selling proposition is built on three fundamental principles.

1. Advertising message must convey a specific benefit to the consumer. That's right, you need to submit a USP not in the light of your advantages, but in terms of benefits for the client. He is not so interested in Italian wallpaper in itself, as in the sight of his room, pasted over with this wallpaper. So sell him a beautiful repair, easy maintenance of wallpaper that is washable and does not fade, and not the wallpaper itself. But this is all of the above, he can get only by buying these very wallpapers from you.

Only if it is profitable to cooperate with you, customers will choose your company.

2. Customer benefit must be unique compared to other products similar to yours. Everything is clear here - this principle is embedded in the definition itself. Want to be different? Come up with something that your competitors don't have. Only by being different, only by offering something that no one else offers, can you be different from everyone else. As a result, your product will be chosen (if the benefit is well described) and remembered.

3. The benefit must be significant, that is, attractive enough so that the client can make a choice in favor of your product without much thought. Benefits must be reasoned, and not invented or sucked from the finger. That is why you should perfectly study your target audience, know your customers, their pains and based on this.

When you know what problems your customers have, you can offer them a solution in the form of this unique benefit.

Examples of compiling USP

You can often find USPs that absolutely do not play into the hands of the business: they are too general and do not attract attention.

How to create such an offer that will become the heart and engine of your business success?

1. Tell something that your competitors are silent about.

If there are hundreds of businesses like yours, it is very difficult to find something truly unique. But maybe there is something that your customers are simply silent about?

Such a case was in my practice. The company is engaged in the production of granite monuments. For clients, a service is offered “by default” - the development of a 3D model of a future product, and free of charge. Other companies also provide this service, but they are modestly silent about it. We did not become silent. The benefit of seeing a full-fledged three-dimensional image of the future monument works well for many of the company's clients.

BUT chewing gum, "Orbit", which is without sugar? Read the composition of other similar rubber bands - it is identical. And no sugar too. But Orbit presents it as a USP.

2. Point out novelty or innovation

If you've invented a new way to solve a customer's problem, or updated your product, or added some new ingredient to it, don't be silent. You need to do your USP, and quickly, before someone else does it before you.

Think of an advertisement for any new shampoo or cream. Either they came up with a new formula, then they added keratin, then some kind of l-lipids, which no one had heard anything about, but if you believe the advertisement, shampoo makes hair stronger. And the cream just smooths out wrinkles for one or two. All thanks to the INNOVATIVE formula. Get armed.

3. Formula John Carlton

Using this formula, it is very easy to make a USP, especially if you provide services. The formula is built like this:

The product ___ helps ___ to solve a problem ___ indicate the benefit.

For example:

The new cream will help women overcome the first wrinkles and look younger.

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