What Is a USP — and How to Create Yours

Your USP is one of the most important marketing tools you have at your disposal. It can attract customers, excite investors and dictate much of your company culture. But what is your USP? Our guide helps you understand USPs and how you can create your own.

What Does USP Stand For?

USP is an acronym that stands for Unique Selling Proposition, although some people refer to it as Unique Selling Point. Both are acceptable terms as they describe the same element of a business’s marketing strategy.

What Does USP Mean?

A USP is a distinct and unique sales point or proposition that sets your business apart from others in your industry. You may not be unique as a type of business type or in the products or services you sell. For instance, many accountants in the finance industry provide bookkeeping services and many gardeners offer grounds maintenance services. What differentiates you from your competitors does not simply lie in your product or service range but also in delivery.

Examples of Successful USPs

There are plenty of examples of great USPs out there that can help you create your own Unique Selling Proposition.

Famously, Apple offers unique Apple branded technology. However, the USP Apple focuses on is not the technology itself. Instead, Apple focuses their USP on the lifestyle aspect of the product; that it makes life easier for users and that when you buy Apple, you buy into the Apple lifestyle. Some argue that Steve Jobs himself was the brand’s USP.

Coca-Cola is another major brand with a simple USP. They sell a delicious product that is unavailable anywhere else thanks to their secret recipe. Their USP is in scarcity and the fact there is nothing else like what they offer.

USPs don’t need to be complex. In your industry, your USP could be as simple as a streamlined service, or a cheaper option over expensive competitors.

Look at the likes of Tesla. They didn’t invent the electric car, but they became the most valuable car manufacturer in the world because of their USP, which was accessible electric cars for the masses.

How to Start Thinking about Your USP

Every business does something different and has something unique to give — often more than one element. It’s not a case of creating a USP but instead identifying it.

The first thing to do is think about your business. Answer some basic questions:

• Who is your business for?
• What do you offer these people?
• How do you offer this to them?
• What is your customer service like?
• Why are you different from other people in your industry?

Think about these carefully and write out some answers on a notepad or your phone.

Once you’ve thought about these, you can look at the second stage to creating your USP.

• What does the customer want?
• What problems do the customers have?
• How does your business solve those problems?
• What would motivate your customers to buy from you?
• Why do your customers choose you over competitors?

With all these details, you’ll have a pretty good idea of what you offer and how it relates to your customer base. But we’re not quite finished in the process of creating your USP just yet.

Considering USP and the Elevator Pitch Method

You currently have a lot of information on everything relating to the uniqueness and the potential of your business. This is great but overwhelming to a customer. Too much information is off-putting.

Instead, you want to refine your USP, so it becomes sharp and easy to digest. Consider the traditional concept of the elevator pitch. The elevator pitch is built around the idea that you’re in an elevator with somebody, and you have until they step out to convince them to use your business.

That’s around 20 seconds.

You need a beginning, a middle and an end to your USP, all tied up neatly within a finite amount of time. You don’t have time to get into all the details of how you started and why you started, why you built the business and who it’s really made for. You want to take the key details that will attract customers and get them interested in your company.

Let’s Write Your USP

Having thought about all the elements of your USP, it’s time to put it together. We have a couple of templates you can use to craft your USP. Have a good look at all of them and pick the one that’s right for you.

Once you’ve nailed your USP using one of these templates, we recommend you start to get creative and use your own writing and language to turn it from a template format to something as unique as your actual USP.

Are you ready to be thinking about your USP or do you still have some way to go before it should be on your radar? Find out with our FREE roadmap to success!

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