Unique Selling Proposition – The term USP belongs to marketing and refers to a unique value proposition that leads to a competitive advantage or differentiates the company from the competition and represents a demonstrable customer benefit. The USP can be equated with a unique selling proposition.
A USP is important for the customer to choose you between all the products and services (your competitors). The identification of USPs does not only have to take place on the product level, but can also occur on the service level. So if you want to score with a new product on the market, you have to show the customer why your product is the best. Therefore, USPs are defined which have to be communicated to the customer.
Difference: additional benefit, basic benefit and USP
When it comes to defining a product or service, three terms with different meanings are used in professional marketing: Base Benefit, Added Benefit and USP.
Basic benefits: Every product has that!
This is about the fundamental benefit that the customer derives from products or services. This benefit is the same for all products of the same type. For example, the refrigerator cools.
Additional benefits: Not every product has that!
The additional benefit is a further benefit that not every product offers, but which cannot yet be demonstrated to the competition as a unique feature. For example: The refrigerator has an integrated freezer section.
USP: ONLY your product has that!
The USP is a unique promise that is not offered by any competitor. For example: The refrigerator has a humidity regulator and a bottle grid to provide more storage space.
5 steps: How do you find out the USPs?
Here we have explained for you in five steps how to find out the USP of your product or service:
Step 1: Competitive analysis
First, you should analyze your competition in terms of value propositions and unique selling points.
Step 2: Own strengths
What are your strengths? This involves entrepreneurial strengths as well as personal skills, not to mention the competencies of employees.
Step 3: Customer needs
In this step, you should find out what your customer expects from the product or service. A USP is useless if it has no meaning for the customer. Therefore, USPs are oriented towards the concrete needs, expectations and wishes of the customer.
Step 4: Containment
Once you know your strengths and which needs of your customers match your strengths, you have your first approach to an individual USP. Now you can collect all the reasons and arguments that set you apart from the competition, i.e. that make you distinctive. To do this, it is advisable to give your imagination simple free rein. After that, you should sort out all arguments or value propositions that are far from reality. The remaining arguments form the basis and can now be discussed further.
Step 5: Formulation
It is of high importance that you clearly express your USP to the outside world as well. Use clear, profit-oriented advertising messages to show customers that your product or service is unique. In a sense, you define your “claim”, your position in the market. Your entire market presence conveys the image of your company that you want to create in the minds of your customers.
Conclusion: Create a competitive advantage with USP
USPs are the basis for creating a competitive advantage, so that the customer perceives and also chooses your product or service alongside those of the competition. Accordingly, the USP is of high importance when it comes to selling products and marketing them. With competitor analysis, brainstorming and a little imagination, you can define USPs and use them in communication.
4.9 / 5.0