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10 Ways to
Write More Effective Ads
The Unique
Selling Proposition (USP)
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Also known as the unique selling position,
the USP is often one of the most oft-misunderstood elements of a
good sales letter. It’s what separates your product or service
from your competitors. Let’s take a quick look at some unique
selling propositions for a product itself:
1)
Lowest Price
– If you’ve got the corner marketed on budget prices, flaunt it.
Wal-Mart has made this USP famous lately, but it’s not new to
them. In fact, selling for cheaper has been around as long as
capitalism itself. Personally, I’m not crazy about price wars,
because someone can always come along and sell for cheaper. Then
it’s time for a new strategy…
2)
Superior Quality
– If it outperforms your competitor’s product or is made with
higher quality materials, it’s a good bet that you could use
this fact to your advantage. For example, compare Breyers Ice
Cream to their competitor’s. From the packaging to the wholesome
superior ingredients, the quality is evident. It may cost a
little more than their competitor’s ice cream, but for their
market, it sells.
3)
Superior Service
– If you offer superior service over your competitor’s, people
will buy from you instead. This is especially true with certain
markets that are all about service: long-distance, Internet
service providers, cable television, etc.
4)
Exclusive Rights
– My favorite! If you can legitimately claim that your product
is protected by a patent or copyright, licensing agreement,
etc., then you have a winner for exclusive rights. If you have a
patent, even the President of the U.S. must buy
it from you.
Ok, what if your product or service is no
different than your competitor’s? I would disagree, because
there are always differences. The trick is to turn them into a
positive advantage for you. You want to put your “best foot
forward.” So what can we do in this scenario?
One way is to present something that your company
has devised internally that no other company does. Look, there’s
a reason why computer store “A” offers to beat their
competitor’s price for the same product by X%. If you look
closely, the two packages are never exactly the same. Company
“B” offers a free scanner, while company “A” offers a free
printer. Or some other difference. They are comparing apples to
oranges. So unless you find a company with the exact same
package (you won’t…they’ve seen to that), you won’t be able to
cash in.
But what if you truly have the same widget for
sale as the guy up the road?
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