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A Compelling USP Boosts Sales For Your Business
USP stands for Unique Selling Proposition.
If you want to differentiate yourself from your
competition, then you must have a strong USP. Most
business owners never bother to create one. And
they're losing out on sales and inquiries.
Rosser Reeves created the term USP in his 1961 book
"Reality In Advertising."
He declared that "The proposition must be one that the
competition either cannot, or does not, offer."
I realize you may be saying to yourself "I offer the
exact same services or products as my competitors, so
how can I create an effective USP'"
You mean if a customer asked you why they should do
business with you instead of your competitor, you'd
really come up blank for an answer'
Take some time to look at your competitors' brochures,
web sites and other marketing material.
Is there anything you offer that they don't' Is there
a process that you do better than your competitors'
Maybe you and your competitors share a process, but
they have not mentioned it anywhere in their
advertising.
There's a famous story about noted copywriter Claude
Hopkins creating a USP for Schlitz Beer.
At the time, Schlitz Beer was number five in market
share.
Hopkins made an in-depth study of how the company made
its product and was impressed by how Schlitz purified
their beer. When Hopkins asked Schlitz executives why
they didn't mention this purification process to the
consumer, they countered that all beer companies used
the same process.
Hopkins replied, "Yes, but others have never told this
story."
He went onto to create Schlitz advertising that
highlighted the purification process. Schlitz sales
zoomed from number five to number one. No other
competitors dared make the same claim because they
didn't want to look like copycats.
Hopkins summed up his USP philosophy in his book "My
Life In Advertising."
"Perhaps countless people can make similar products.
But tell the pains you take to excel. Tell factors and
features which others deem too commonplace to claim.
Your product will come to typify those excellencies.
If others claim them afterward, it will only serve to
advertise you.
There are few advertised products which cannot be
imitated. Few who dominate a field have any exclusive
advantage. They were simply the first to tell certain
convincing facts."
About the Author David Coyne is a copywriter and marketing consultant. Get his free e-book "Multiple Ways To Make Your Advertising More Responsive" at
http://www.dc-infobiz.com
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