Summary: In session 6 of A Marketing Podcast I discuss what a USP or Unique Selling Proposition is and why you need one. I walk you through creating your unique selling proposition and 3 simple questions you need to answer. As well, I demonstrate with A Marketing Podcasts’ USP, how I developed it and the final version that I use on the site and in all my marketing messaging.<br><br> <br> Session 6: Show Notes<br> Recap of Previous Sessions (related to strategy development):<br> <br> * <a href="http://www.amarketingpodcast.com/marketing-strategy-template/">[FREE DOWNLOAD] Small Business Marketing Strategy Template</a><br> * <a href="http://www.amarketingpodcast.com/session2/" target="_blank">Session 2: What is a marketing strategy and why do I need one?</a><br> * <a href="http://www.amarketingpodcast.com/session2/" target="_blank">Session 3: Establishing goals and objectives</a><br> * <a href="http://www.amarketingpodcast.com/session4/">Session 4: Understanding and developing your target audiences</a><br> * <a href="http://www.amarketingpodcast.com/session5/" target="_blank">Session 5: Performing a marketing SWOT analysis</a><br> <br> What is a USP<br> USP stands for “Unique Selling Proposition” among others such as:<br> <br> * unique sales pitch<br> * Unique Sales Proposition<br> * Unique Sales pitch<br> * Unique Selling pitch<br> * unique selling point<br> <br> The USP has been around since the 1940 – so it works!<br> A USP is how you separate your business/product/service from your competition<br> An example of a USP<br> A&W Fast Food Restaurant<br> <br> A really good USP is as much a sentence on your marketing strategy as it is a mindset for your business.<br> What a USP is not<br> <br> * It’s not your mission statement – that’s what you want to be when you grow up, not how you’re different<br> * It’s not a slogan – although you can create a slogan to encapsulate your USP, but there’s more to it as you’ll see<br> * A Sales pitch – it’s used in your sales pitch, or helps define your sales pitch, but once again there’s more to it.<br> * It’s not the BS line like “we provide the best customer service!” Honestly, every time I read that I want to punch something!<br> <br> Why do you need a USP?<br> To separate your business from your competition – there is always competition.<br> Another reason is your USP will help you create messaging in your tactical executions<br> Creating your unique selling proposition<br> Step 1 – List out the differences between you and your competition<br> Create a list of things that you have or do differently than your competition<br> Step 2 – Think as your customer<br> We’ve already done some work on our target audiences (<a href="http://www.amarketingpodcast.com/session4/" target="_blank">click to listen to session 4: Understanding and developing your target audiences</a>) so you should have some great insights already on who your target audience is and how they make their decision to buy from you vs your competitors<br> Dig deeper into the real reason customers buy your product, or why competitors customers buy their products over you!<br> Step 3 – Answer these three questions<br> Here’s a list of questions to help you think like your customer. Remember your audiences whilst answering…<br> <br> * Why should I do business with you and not your competitor?<br> * How do your products/services separate you from your competition?<br> * Once I’ve done business with you, what am I going to feel? (Guarantee)<br> <br> DON’T GET DEFENSIVE WHEN ANSWERING – because it’s easy to. Attack with confidence instead!<br> Another thing to remember as you’re answer these questions is that you should focus on the customer’s desires, not their needs.<br> Step 4 – Sum up your answers ad you’ve got your USP<br>
