Finding Your Unique Selling Proposition Matters

Theodore Levitt, a German economist and professor at Harvard Business School who wrote “Creativity Is Not Enough” and a course textbook on marketing is famous for opining that “differentiation is one of the most important strategic and tactical activities in which companies must constantly engage” in his book Marketing Imagination (and yes, I’m aware that that’s a title many industry insiders would see as an oxymoron).

Whether directly or indirectly, it’s my opinion that he was referring to the need for business owners to have a Unique Selling Proposition.

Being Unique

Not only is differentiation that important, it’s also (not coincidentally) one of the most difficult activities companies can engage in as well.

Identifying a company’s Unique Selling Proposition or USP is discovering that point of differentiation.

The reason market differentiation is so challenging for companies to find, is primarily that it’s often difficult for larger corporate entities to change position, rebrand, update content across multiple platforms, alter content creation and distribution and advertising subsequently, as quickly or as often as they’d often need to stay relevant in an every-changing market.

On top of that, larger companies would need to also repackage whatever products being sold, so shifting focus or market stance could take more time than expect, possibly more revenue than expected, and unless that change in USP is sought out and then recommended and approved, it’s not likely to take place.

Can Service Providers Change Their Unique Selling Propostion?

The flip side of that are service providers.

Freelancers and independent consultants or service providers can also struggle with defining how they’re different because, let’s be frank, they may not know (or care) how to even begin to realize what could make them unique amongst an endless sea of competitors locally and nationally.

And yet differentiation is the crux of “niche marketing,” key to discerning one’s SEO, vital to discovering what you should be offering for marketing content, and to whom.

Just imagine that you’re a lawyer or accountant providing what you believe to be experienced and professional services to your clients.

Now, how do you in practice, manage, and run your business, prospect for new clients while serving those you currently work with, while also trying to figure out how to establish and build upon a unique way to set yourself apart from all the competitors so that you stand out and can get attention online?

If you’re honest with yourself, you realize that it’s not something you can do (at least not on a serious basis).

Now add to the mix figuring out what your SEO should be, what types of content you should ideally create, how you could use eCommerce to accept payments, and on down the pyramid.

Unless you’re already a marketing whiz, it’s going to be like unraveling a Gordian Knot. And yet, I see business owners of all kinds attempting this ridiculous task every day and then wondering why nobody can find them online.

Speaking from a Place of Authority & Uniqueness

Smaller businesses, that compose the bulk of the world’s businesses in general, may seem the least likely to find their USP positioning, but they’re also the ones who can benefit the most from finding their true voice and position.

Small businesses can change course and alter direction easier, faster, and for less investment than other, larger competitors….and help make them stand out online where everyone and anyone has some kind of online presence.

Knowing your Unique Selling Proposition helps bridge that divide.

It empowers you to speak to others from an authentic, heart-felt voice, while knowing fully well how you’re different from larger competitors unable to pivot or smaller competitors who may be more equal to your financial standing but who may have little interest or capability in marketing.

What Your Unique Sellng Proposition Is and Isn’t

Your Unique Selling Proposition is the clear perspective of who you are, what you do, why you do it, who you do it for, how you do it differently (and hopefully better) that align with what you’re great at, love doing, who’s not being served properly, and what your market needs.

It’s not selling ice to Eskimos or sunshine to Floridians – but rather it’s knowing who you are and what you stand for in a consumer culture.

In a world in which the loudest voice or crassest personality gets the most attention and seemingly-magical gurus hawk their courses more than there are trees in a forest, confidently knowing what your USP is can easily set you apart.

Know Unique Selling Proposition Key Points So You Can Know Where They Intersect

Most of the major points or component parts to knowing your USP are the following:

• Knowing that you excel at a particular trade, service, or capability
• Knowing that you can earn a viable living in doing it as a vocation and lifestyle.
• Knowing that you are great it (let’s be real here for a moment, if you aren’t experienced or at a professional level of whatever it is you do or want to do, further education makes more sense at this juncture than trying to promote and build what would essentially be a mediocre venture) beyond the hobbyist perspective.
• Truly loving the work as a passion.
• Knowing and being able to substantiate that your local market needs and understands what you provide (again, this is important, because if your local market needs your services or products but doesn’t’ perceive that need or see the value in that need you’ll have a steep hill to climb) matters. This is traditionally accomplished through company R&D (Research and Development departments), but for new small businesses researching competitors, how they advertise, where their financials are and why (for example is a similar company seemingly doing well financially but are family-owned and operated and carrying massive debt). If I’m a digital marketing expert but for the sake of example, live in a small isolated retirement town, opportunities locally are likely to be minimal to zilch, so it’d be incumbent to look online and cultivate less traditional approaches if I’m passionate about scaling for accelerated growth.
• Being able to discern these points will enable you to find where these points intersect into a Unique Selling Proposition.

Taking Your Unique Selling Proposition Further

Deeper and more insightful steps in identifying your USP lie in making sure what you offer serves a niche market or group that nobody else locally or nationally is serving.

Let’s say for example you want to sell coffee. Obviously, there’s quite a bit of stiff competition globally, nationally, and locally (no matter where you live) for coffee blends and shops even during a pandemic.

So one way to set yourself apart and build the basis for a USP would be to offer more flavors than others, to be located near a busy truck stop with no other access points, or to offer coffee flavors that match ice cream flavors at a strip mall that’s directly across from a major hospital or office park.

These factors might not set you apart sufficiently to be the next coffee chain CEO but they’re examples of factors that could help further the goal and build the basis.

By offering products or services (and in a way) few others are and to a group who aren’t being catered to, you create a niche market.

Then by addressing the other points mentioned above, such as being passionate about it, establishing local need and understanding, and that larger more profitable competitors either don’t want to touch (perhaps because the market share isn’t worth it for them or they’re unable to pivot) you begin the process of establishing a rock-solid USP.

Certainly, if you focus on local SEO growth first, you would be more likely to accelerate organic growth online as most small businesses either use incorrect SEO or none at all. The advantage in this approach is in competing for SEO terms with smaller, less established enterprises less likely to be working from a more funded perspective. It’s easier to outrank someone with no budget, no experience, and no interest or ability than it is a global corporation with deep pockets. So for those reasons SEO should always begin locally if at all possible. This is a key advantage strategically once you know your USP and can relay that to branded content and what your SEO terms should  be.

Summing Up Using Your Unique Selling Proposition

Once all the factors making up a potential Unique Selling Proposition are aligned, you can sit with a marketing expert or team to sort through it all and determine the best course for moving forward into a strong marketing plan for the future.