Rising Above the Noise: 5 Tips for Finding Your Unique Selling Proposition

Every business needs a unique selling proposition (USP). A USP is what sets you apart from your competitors and helps you gain market share. It’s also what enables you to appeal to your target market and continually grow and evolve while staying true to your business roots. 

While you might know you need a USP, that doesn’t mean you have one. Fortunately, you might be able to find yours using these tips below: 

Involve Your Employees

Many business owners lock themselves away in their offices to come up with grand ideas to make their businesses stand out. However, you’re likely not the only person working in your business. Hold workplace collaboration sessions with your employees and see if you can find your USP together. 

When your employees work on the frontline of your business, they have an in-depth understanding of your customers. This knowledge can be invaluable for appealing to your target market in new ways. 

Know Your Target Audience

When you first created your business plan to get into business, you likely had your target audience all figured out. Those same people might still be at the core of your business. However, that doesn’t mean they remain your only target audience. 

Products, services, and attitudes change over time. As a result, it can be essential to reintroduce yourself to your target audience when trying to find your USP. Understanding their wants, needs, and problems might make it easier for you to sell to them.

Review Your Competition

Reviewing or analyzing your competition isn’t about stealing their ideas and copying their business models. It’s about learning what they aren’t doing so you can fill a gap in the market. The whole concept of a unique selling proposition is doing something your competition isn’t doing well or at all. You can then give your customers a reason to choose your business over your competition’s. 

Performing a competitive analysis can be as easy as: 

• Identifying who your direct competitors are
• Checking their online reviews
• Talking to their customers
• Using research tools
• Identifying their strengths and weaknesses 

Forget Features, Emphasize Benefits

Customers care about product features, but they care even more about how a product or service could benefit their lives. Make that the focus of all marketing materials. 

Tell your customers how their lives could change by buying something you sell. Focus on convenience and value, and you might enjoy more sales as a result. 

Use Your Strengths

Sometimes, you don’t even need to reinvent the wheel to find your USP. Instead, you just need to identify what you already do very well – and do it better. Use your strengths, like excellent customer service or innovation, to set yourself apart from your competition. With time and the right marketing methods, you can become renowned for something you already prided yourself on. 

Tell Your Story

Some businesses have incredible stories of success. If you have a particularly heart-warming story about humble beginnings, use it to your advantage. Customers connect with stories and can even trust businesses more when they share them. 

Whether you incorporate your story into your marketing materials or branding, you might be surprised by its effectiveness as a unique selling proposition. 

Finding your unique selling proposition can seem challenging when you’re so closely aligned with your competition. However, by sharing your story, brainstorming with your employees, focusing on customer needs, and using your strengths, it might prove more straightforward than you think.