The Invincibility of a Powerful USP

The USP, or Unique Selling Proposition, is literally what makes or breaks you. The most differentiated product in a commodity-type market will win hands down.

There are different degrees of power in being unique. You and I may differ in how we position our product, our guarantee, our pricing, our respective offers --- or simply how we paint the benefits. These are very normal ways in which to differentiate yourself from your competitors.

However, there are far more powerful USPs. For example, you may be the first to market a particular type of product, perhaps a new invention where there are no competitors. Being first in a category is an extremely powerful USP.

Another example of a powerful USP would be a “breakthrough” product. This is actually the most powerful of all USPs, as it not only captivates the consumers in an existing market, but it also positions you as “first." And unless you really bungle the job, nearly all products with strong USPs such as this almost without fail totally dominate a market.

One great example of a breakthrough USP is a company that decided that the U.S. Postal Service just wasn't good enough for business. So instead of paying 15 cents for a stamp to mail something, why not instead spend $15 with FedEx to mail something overnight!

Leaving all of that aside, I hope that you were able to see how a powerful USP can rock an industry. At a micro-level (where we are), we want to cast our products in a completely different light than our competitors. And rock our little niches on the Internet.

It's not unusual for the owner to be “too close to the forest to see the trees,” i.e., to isolate your USPs as they impact your target market.

If there's any one reason for teaming up with Smarketing™, it's this -- developing a killer USP. All else flows therefrom.

Please at least learn to identify the USPs for your products if you have some. It is far too important a marketing issue to ignore. You must nail down your USPs. Period.