Member Article

Defining or refining your USP

Whether you are just starting out in business, or even a few years down the line, it’s important for all companies, large or small, to ensure that your marketing activity is reinforcing the correct message.

Getting your Unique Selling Proposition/Point right will help you differentiate yourself from the competition. Even if you are an established business, you need to check that it is still relevant.

A USP can be assigned to a service, a product, or indeed to the company as a whole. Some companies differentiate on price alone, but in a changing marketplace this can be risky and often easily copied.

For a more sustainable message therefore, identify a USP which is not purely price orientated and which communicates powerfully.

To establish an effective USP, try to:

• Understand why your customers use that particular product or service i.e. what benefits it offers them, not just the features, or what it does for them
• How you compare to competitors’ products or services i.e. how your product or service is positively different (or if negatively different, what you need to improve upon!)
• Establish how important each benefit is to your customers – look for gaps to see where you can really differentiate, you may even need to develop particular products or services to compete
• Decide which marketing messages you can then use to reinforce and communicate your USP – effectively and consistently

And always remember this is a cyclical, not a linear process – as market conditions change and businesses evolve, you need to keep checking that it is still relevant and important in your customers’ eyes.

See also First Rule of Business - Know Your Marketplace

uk.linkedin.com/in/lorrainedavidson

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Lorraine Davidson is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and has held roles in both marketing and market research for over 20 years, working with organisations in both the business to business and consumer goods sectors.

She set up Freelance Marketing Ltd in 1998, an independent marketing consultancy based in Richmond, North Yorkshire, which provides market research, strategic marketing planning and project management services. The company offers a very hands-on, creative approach to projects.

Freelance Marketing Limited, 2 Lawrence Crescent, Richmond, North Yorkshire, DL10 5QE Tel: 01748 822063

lorraine@freelance-marketing.com www.freelance-marketing.com http://uk.linkedin.com/in/lorrainedavidson

Since all businesses have specific requirements, this article should be used for background guidance only and should not be understood as one to one, personal business advice. For this reason, no liability can be accepted by Freelance Marketing Ltd.

© Copyright Freelance Marketing 2014

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Freelance Marketing Ltd .