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- Unique Selling Proposition (USP) vs Value Proposition (VP)
- Why Do You Need a USP & Value Proposition?
- How to Create Your Brand’s Unique Selling Proposition & Value Proposition
- Unique Selling Point Examples
- The Classic USP Examples
- Best Practices for Writing Your USP
- Final Thoughts on Creating Your USP & VP
- FAQs about Unique Selling Proposition
How to Create a Unique Selling Proposition & Value Proposition
Imagine — you’re at a conference and talking in front of your thousand customers.
You were asked two questions:
1. What value does your brand bring to their lives?2. Why should they buy from you and not your competitors?
How would you answer those questions?
To address these questions, you must have a solid foundation of value proposition and unique selling proposition. This foundation will help you persuade your customers and grow your business with more sales and revenue.
In this blog post, we’ll explain how to create a unique selling proposition and value proposition — along with some great examples.
Unique Selling Proposition (USP) vs Value Proposition (VP)
Unique selling proposition (also known as unique selling point) and value proposition are great tools for any brand’s sales and marketing strategies. However, they’re often used interchangeably — even though there’s a subtle difference between them.
So first, let’s understand the difference between a “Value Proposition” (also known as a value prop) and “Unique Selling Proposition”.
What is a Value Proposition (VP)?
Value proposition(s) is a brand’s messaging that briefly explains the overall value offered to customers by its product or service.
Here, the “value” includes the key benefits of the product or service which could be functional as well as emotional benefits.
Although it covers the overall value briefly, the value proposition is relatively a broader and more detailed message than USP.
It can include multiple strengths of the brand and its offerings. But here’s the interesting part: the points covered in the brand’s value propositions also cover one “unique selling point” — the one that’s strongest among all the value propositions and different than competitors.
Meaning — a USP is a part of the brand’s value proposition.
So now, let’s precisely understand:
What is a Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?
A unique selling proposition is a brand’s messaging — typically written in a sentence or two — that showcases the strongest point about why customers should buy from them instead of their competitors.
In other words, USP highlights that one unique angle in your brand’s value propositions that differentiates your brand from the competitors.
What’s not a USP:
Keep in mind — it’s possible that a brand’s tagline might be covering its USP, in some cases, but not all the brand taglines represent the USP. The point is — do not confuse every tagline or slogan as the brand’s USP.
For example, one of the most popular taglines of all time — “Just do it.” — is not Nike’s USP — it’s just its tagline. Nike’s USP is that it manufactures the best quality footwear for professional and aspiring athletes.
Why Do You Need a USP & Value Proposition?
The short answer is — USP and VP help increase your sales and revenue.
Today, customers have plenty of different options to buy almost any product — and they have too little time. While some customers invest a lot of time in research, some just want to make the buying decision as quickly as possible.
A well-positioned and presented USP and value prop can help customers make that buying decision quicker, resulting in more sales.
And not just that — USP and VP can also play a crucial role in retaining those customers as well. Thus, building your brand loyalty.
How to Create Your Brand’s Unique Selling Proposition & Value Proposition
As we mentioned, a USP is typically part of the value proposition. Thus, the process of writing your value proposition and USP go hand-in-hand. And you may have some overlapping aspects in the process.
We’ll cover the entire process in a way that will help you write both — the value proposition and the USP by the end of this process.
1. Understand Your Ideal Customers’ Needs and Desires
The customer has to be at the center of your marketing — always. And that’s why this is the most crucial factor in crafting a compelling value proposition and USP.
You must research your customers and gather their feedback instead of assuming what’s in their mind. Here are some of the key aspects you must consider in the research and feedback processes:
Here, we’re talking about the absolutely necessary things for which they’re ready to pay to any brand. So, you should figure out answers to the following questions:
- What are your customers’ pain points?
- What does the ideal solution to their problem(s) look like?
- Which factor(s) have the biggest influence on their buying decisions?
Answers to all these questions will help you gather multiple strong points that you may present in your value proposition.
Here, you’re not thinking of the factors that just satisfy their needs or resolve their problem — but going even beyond that.
So, you need answers to the questions like —
- What could make their purchase delightful?
- What could make them buy your product even if the competitor offers the same solution at the same/lower price?
For example, Domino’s cracked the code of delighting its customers with its “30-minute delivery guarantee”. (We’re pretty sure almost everyone knows this one, especially if you’re a pizza lover.)
This USP and promotional campaigns turned out to be a huge success for the brand.
This case study by The Echo-nomist shared the details of how India’s leading food delivery brand — Zomato — also tried to create a similar USP where they introduced a 10-minute delivery offer.
Pro tip: Remember — this entire process is not just about “writing” your USP, you can even “create” your USP if it doesn’t exist already. When you find something that no brand is doing, and it’s within your capacity to achieve, you could make it your USP.
2. Think of Your Brand’s Mission & Values
Let’s be real! It’s likely for most businesses that what you’re selling is not unique. There could be a dozen other brands selling the same product.
However, your brand’s mission could also be a factor that differentiates you the most from your competitors.
These statistics from Sprout Social show how consumers have high expectations from brands. 72% of consumers expect brands to make positive contributions to society.
Bombas is a great example of USP presented with a great mission:
Its USP, "Socks for movement", is based on its mission to donate to needy people and serve society. The brand attached a noble cause to its USP as it’s at the core of the brand’s mission.
Every time a customer buys a product from Bombas, the brand donates essential clothing items to those who are in need.
3. Address the Problem Statement
Since customers are the center of your marketing, it’s obvious that their problems or pain points are also crucial in crafting your USP and VP.
What’s the biggest problem your customers are facing — and how your product is helping them solve it? Address that problem statement by stating how your product eliminates the problem.
It doesn’t just have to be about the solution to the problem. You can add HOW differently you’re helping solve that problem.
Even your competitors might have the solution to the problem but how are you different from them? Craft that into your USP.
4. Consider the Important Elements of Your Product
Put forward your strengths. Brainstorm on what aspects are your strongest points. While brainstorming on those things, consider the following elements that can help you write your USP:
- Pricing
- Quality
- Delivery
- Service
- Technology
- Durability
- Environmental impact
Now, we’re moving forward towards more about how to write your unique selling proposition. So, figure out the notable strength or benefit that other brands don’t offer.
5. Research Your Competitors
One of the most important factors we discussed in USP was the differentiator that makes your product different from competitors.
To do that, first, you need to thoroughly know your competitors, their products, and their positioning.
List down the features, benefits, and pricing details of all the competitors and put them in a comparison table.
6. Craft the Unique Selling Point
Writing your unique selling point is an art. You need to be able to convey the point concisely with the best words that you can use.
And that writing part is not as easy as it may seem. Hire a professional writer to help you craft the best unique selling point.
Sometimes, how things are conveyed is more important than what is conveyed.
7. Don’t be Afraid to Be Bold
Being bold can be a huge factor that can help you stand apart from the competitors. Use hyperbole, meaning describing your product or service with words like “best”, “first-ever”, “lightning fast”, “favorite”, etc.
That said, keep in mind that there’s a thin line between sounding bold and coming off as arrogant. Also, if you’re making any bold claim, make sure you’re able to deliver on it consistently.
Sometimes, an unconventional way of doing business can also become your USP — for example, a slow fashion brand instead of fast fashion.
Unique Selling Point Examples
Here are some of the modern-day examples of USP:
David Kind
"Receive 6 frames to try on at home for 6 days."
David Kind is an eyewear brand that offers premium eyewear, hand-selected by a professional optician. The brand focuses on delivering top-quality products and customer satisfaction.
That’s why it encourages customers to try the eyewear without any hesitation with a trial of 6 frames for 6 days — and that too with free shipping, both ways.
This is a great example of a USP that’s created with consideration of customers’ pain points. Also, the brand does a great job of presenting it with a nice copy, clean design, and a demo of the product package.
Thrive Market
“See a cheaper product elsewhere? We’ll match it—guaranteed through our Price Match Program.”
Thrive Market aims to deliver organic and healthy grocery items at affordable prices. Some people believe the pricing cannot be your USP. But Thrive Market’s USP is its pricing.
However, the interesting thing about this brand is that it displays multiple USPs.
“We’re the first online-only retailer to accept SNAP EBT” — this statement also shows how the brand is different from its competitors.
The brand has also displayed its mission statement in the footer section of the website — “We’re on a mission to make healthy living easy and affordable for everyone.”
Wild
"Refillable, natural, scent-sational."
Wild is a personal care brand that focuses on creating planet-friendly products.
The brand also uses this in its advertising campaigns.
The Classic USP Examples
Avis Car Rental
"We're Number Two. We Try Harder."
This historical story of Avis — a car rental company — shows how you can turn your weak point into an excellent USP.
Apparently, this slogan was smartly crafted by "Doyle Dane Bernbach" — an advertising agency — to showcase the company's dedication towards providing the best car rental experience even though it's not the number 1 company.
Today, We Try Harder® has become the company’s trademarked slogan.
FedEx
“When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.”
FedEx was way ahead of the game in making shipping faster with its “overnight” shipping service. No wonder that service became its USP.
FedEx’s USP is a great example of how you could articulate your benefit concisely yet elegantly.
Best Practices for Writing Your USP
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Convey it clearly and concisely
Keep it short but get the message across clearly. Ideally, a USP is covered in just one or two sentences. It might seem easy but the less number of words you have to convey a point the more difficult it is to write.
Hire a professional writer to write your USP statement. Help the writer with a core idea and then the writer could get the rest done.
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Place it properly
Display your USP at multiple places in a way that can immediately grab your customers' attention. Here are the places where you can place your USP:
- Homepage — above the fold section
- About page
- Product page
- Product packaging
- Ad creatives
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Be creative
Words have the power to convey even a short message in an impactful way. But you need to be creative with how those words are expressed. Apart from keeping it concise, make it catchy and memorable for the readers.
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Update when needed
Your USP may not necessarily remain the same over the years. You may come up with a new, even stronger point to present your USP. With time, you can update your USP or change the way it’s communicated.
Pro tip: If you’re running your eCommerce business on Shopify, you can use GemPages — the powerful page builder app — to create a stunning design for presenting your USP and VP. GemPages offers advanced yet easy-to-use features that will give your design flexibility.
Final Thoughts on Creating Your USP & VP
Writing your value proposition is relatively easier than USP.
Having unique elements in your product could be helpful in crafting your USP. However, your product doesn’t need to be totally unique — it’s about how you present the unique angle of your brand and/or product.
Once you’ve created your USP and VP, make sure to convey it to the entire team. Don’t keep it with just the marketing & sales team. Also, check the customer feedback at regular intervals to ensure your USP and VP are relevant to their current need and behavior.
For insights on marketing strategies, check out other resources from GemPages. Also, feel free to join the GemPages Facebook community to learn and grow with fellow entrepreneurs.
FAQs about Unique Selling Proposition
