Companies may seek for external marketing agencies for several reasons. Generally, their primary goal is to grow their business by getting more sales leads; in other words, lead generation. Yes, strategies and tactics may differ. But the main question remains, as my boss likes to put it “Why should people choose you?”.
In today’s market, you are probably not the only company offering your service and product. Even in a niche market, there are still competitors vying for the same target audience as you are.
So let’s take a step back and ask “What is your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?”
Developing a USP makes it easier for your business to:
· Focus on your marketing message
· Attract the right target audience to your website
· Reduce customer churn and boost retention
· Achieve high levels of customer happiness
So how do we start?
The crucial first step of an effective USP requires close attention to a few key elements, such as being:
· Memorable (don’t be generic)
· Tangible (ensure it is something you can do, walk the talk)
· Centred around the value your customers seek (remember why you exist, to help your target audience)
Start with Buyer Persona Research
First of all, you need to know who you’re targeting. Who do you want to sell your products or services to? You can’t sell to your customers without knowing who they are. Do some research into the key demographics of your target audience, and put together a few buyer personas based on the data you collect. Developing your buyer personas allows you to develop a better understanding of who you’re trying to market and sell to.
For eg. What are their goals and challenges? Once you have all these, you are ready to move on to develop your selling proposition.
Focus on specific pain points
Address the real-life challenges of your target audience by identifying their specific pain points. By understanding their challenges, you will be able to communicate the value you can provide to resolve their problems in pursuit of their goals and desires – whether in the B2B or B2C field.
If you can focus on finding the right solutions for your target audience, you’re well on the right path to defining your unique selling proposition.
Extend your brand identity
Your USP should be intricately built within the greater identity of your brand should that it becomes a defining element of it. Your brand is your selling point, and the selling point is your brand.
Your USP is going to define how your brand stands out, and ultimately shape the larger identity of your company within the industry.
Customer Feedback
Sometimes, getting a little customer feedback can help you to understand the buying habits and priorities of your audience. You can put together a survey to ask your customers why they chose your product and what love about it. Bring up some questions about specific features of your products or services, to better understand the most valuable aspects of what your brand offers.
The feedbacks could reveal things you didn’t know, such as the weak selling point to which isn’t the reason why someone chooses to purchase from you. This could prompt you to adjust your USP to reflect the reason why people are turning to you. On the other hand, it could also prove that your USP actually works.
Competitor Analysis
Make a list of all your top competitors and see how they are doing. What are their USPs and is there a gap between the propositions? Is there a way for you to market your products or services to differentiate yourself from the rest? In other words, “Can you offer something better?”
Even in a saturated market, there are still many new and innovative ways to use your USP to grab your audience’s attention; and entice them to choose you.
Finally, list it down...
After completing the steps above, make a list. Find the commonalities between you and your competitors and what is unique only to you. List down what you can offer to your audience on a much larger scale. Remember to keep your buyer persona pain points in mind. You’re trying to solve a specific problem, meet a specific need of your customers. How do you differentiate?
Answer all these questions to help you define what is really “unique” in your USP. Ultimately, your USP should act as a spotlight that picks your business out of the crowd and highlights it for all its valuable offerings.
With that spotlight, you can then stand out within your industry and grow your business.
You may also learn more on how to rank well on search engines to drive traffic and ultimately, leads to your website below.
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