It’s simply not good enough to spend a lazy Saturday afternoon turning over marketing ideas in your head and doodling over your unique selling point on a scrap of paper. As entrepreneurs, if we are all honest we have certainly painted out our USP and may have narrowed its description down perfectly well. We might even have written it down and posted it in a prominent place on our noticeboard, but the truth is unless it is incorporated into the very philosophy of the business, is completely accurate, clear and relevant and flows through each aspect of the customer experience, then it is not working for you.

Having a truly unique selling point is fundamental. You may be able to sum up your company’s raison d’etre in your mind fairly readily and may have no problem convincing yourself of its merits, but this is not likely to result in additional sales and lifelong customers unless you are able to convert this philosophy into real-time value. When newcomers arrive at your site you only have a matter of seconds to catch their interest and convince them to stay. As such, you’d better be sure that you spend considerable time developing your theme around your USP and communicate it sharply and succinctly.

If you do not consider yourself to be the best copywriter, consider contracting and investing in the best resource you can find as this truly is critical to your success. What exactly sets you apart from your competitors? This needs to be something tangible, believable and workable. It needs to reveal an “a-ha” moment for your would-be client.

Your entire marketing strategy needs to flow from your USP. If you are setting yourself apart due to your superior levels of service, this needs to show and cannot be selective. Some entrepreneurs seem almost scared to reveal a USP, for fear of it being copied in some way by their competitors. They seem to have this almost inert feeling that so long as the entrepreneur is aware of and backs the USP, that the client will somehow “get it.”

Remember that you must always be addressing a key problem. Forget your features, what are the benefits? Dramatize the problem if need be within your marketing approach and this is where a very creative copywriter comes in. Take your value statements and cast them in stone. Everyone who is involved in creating your product or service or who helps you disseminate information or market the cause must always be in touch with the value statements and your USP.

If you live and breathe your value statements and make compliance with the statements a “yes or no” exercise surrounding everything that your business does, then you are likely to see increased revenues as your path to persuasion will be much shorter.

How does YOUR USP fit into your marketing approach?

Matthew Toren