What does USP mean?
USP stands for your Unique Selling Point. This is what sets your product apart from everything else on the market. This is the first and most crucial stepping stone in building your brand strategy.
Why is having a USP important?
Primarily, your brand or product needs a unique selling point to set it against your competitors and offer a new edge in your niche.
Perhaps you have developed a brilliant new gadget; what makes it different? Does it use sustainable materials? Or use new, patented technology? Maybe, your product has a really interesting brand story?
Consider what will make your potential customers say “I’ve not seen that before”.
Especially if you are considering crowdfunding – what about your product is special enough that your backers are willing to wait for it?
Why is it better than the readily available e-commerce options on the market?
What are your product’s key features?
We recommend boiling your brand down to a few key features—the ones that are the most important and sell your product the best.
For example, if we were to break down McDonald’s to 3 key selling points…
- Quick turnaround and delivery
- Constantly updated and tastier menu
- Open almost every hour of the day
In our opinion, MacDonald’s USP, now and back when they started out, is the speed of service.
Every advert we think of when we think of McDonald’s is around their prompt delivery – coining the name fast food!
What are your competitors doing?
Product validation is a really important step if you are trying to broaden your brand’s horizons, reviewing the wider market and what approaches your competitors are taking.
Then, based on your competitor analysis, align your copy and tone of voice around this.
Use your USP as your guidelines
Defining your USP is the first step, however the value of this is much stronger. Use your USP as guidance for how you share your product at every stage of your process.
If you have a product ready to launch, you can read our thoughts on which areas to consider here.
Start a conversation
We hope that this breaks down the basics when it comes to giving your product the unique edge it needs.
However, if you would like to discuss any part of your product launch or crowdfunding campaign, feel free to get in touch.
