What is a Unique Selling Point (USP) and How to Determine It

Unique Selling Point (USP) is an important value for a company and brand. By having this USP, a brand will have unique selling points that differentiate their brand from hundreds of other competitors.

Competition will continue to grow in the business world. The increasingly fierce competition may make us worry.

We may have equipped ourselves with many marketing strategies and provided the best quality products, but this will not change the level of competition. It is our success in identifying this USP that will make a significant difference.

In this article, Panda will specifically review what a Unique Selling Point (USP) is, and how to determine it. Happy reading!

What is a Unique Selling Point (USP)?

Exactly as the name suggests, Unique Selling Point (USP) or often called Unique Selling Proposition is the uniqueness that distinguishes a brand from its competitors. USP makes a brand stand out more and is an important factor that a brand must have in running a successful business.

When buying a product, consumers usually have certain considerations before making a choice. USP is one of the reasons why they are finally willing to spend their money to buy your brand products, not from competitors.

Because without a USP, all businesses will be seen as offering the same product. Prospective consumers will be confused about who they should choose. In the end, they will buy the brand that seems to give them more profit.

This advantage is what we call the USP alias Unique Selling Point earlier.

How to Determine Unique Selling Point (USP)

Ilustrasi Unique Selling Point (USP)/ via IdeaBuddy

After realizing the importance of USP for business continuity, the next step is to determine the USP for our business. There are many methods you can do, and it depends on the type of business you are running.

Here are some powerful ways you can use to determine Unique Selling Points:

1. Know What Customers Really Want

The first way you can use in determining a Unique Selling Point (USP) is to think about what customers really want from your brand. For example, when you have a coffee business.

Customers want more than just coffee with a delicious and distinctive taste. But at the same time it's a comfortable coffee place to hang out and has interesting photo spots.

If only coffee is just delicious and unique, it seems that all coffee brands also have this. But what makes them prefer your brand over the average coffee shop?

The answer might be in a coffee shop with a modern but calming ambience, good service quality, attractive presentation, cleanliness of the place, and the like. It is these various supporting aspects that you can make a USP.

To find it, of course, you have to study what customers really want.

The method that you can use to find out what a customer wants is to conduct a customer survey. You can do this survey through a media form that contains various questions why they prefer your business over other coffee places.

Also, invite customers to rate some important aspects of your business. For example, in the case of the coffee business, you can ask them to rate the taste of the coffee, the way it is served, the price, the excellent service , and the speed of ordering.

After getting sufficient feedback, you can evaluate these aspects. You can also execute what the customer wants to be USP. Focus marketing strategy and business development on these aspects.

2. Learn Consumer Behavior & Motivation When Buying Products

Apart from knowing what consumers want from your brand, the next way is to study consumer behavior and motivation when buying products. This is closely related to the buyer persona that Panda has reviewed before.

A buyer persona is a detailed description of who buys from your brand, what they want, and how they receive information about a product.

By recognizing buyer personas, we will gain a lot of insight about consumers. To start creating buyer personas, you can read Panda's previous article: Getting to Know Buyer Personas: Definition, Benefits & How to Make It .

3. Give Inner Satisfaction to Consumers

In business, it is very important to study consumer psychology. Because by understanding their psychology, we can understand what kind of inner satisfaction consumers want from the products we sell. This can help your brand come up with an effective USP.

Some examples of inner satisfaction that we can provide to consumers include:

3.1 Charity (Amal)

Charity will make consumers get their own inner satisfaction. They will feel that they are not just enjoying a product, but also contributing to help someone in need.

To implement this method, staff can offer donations indirectly at the time of purchase. Or even feature charity campaigns and donations on social media campaigns.

3.2 Healthy Lifestyle

If your product is related to nutrition or consumer good, a healthy lifestyle can be part of a campaign that increases consumer satisfaction. Those who buy your product because of strong motivation will usually pass it on to others.

3.3 Prestige (Prestige)

In the charge of prestige, there is a feeling of pride that consumers feel when they wear your product. This is usually related to the quality and prestige of a brand.

For example, the Apple brand. This brand is famous for its expensive price but has a strong prestige in the eyes of its users.

3.4 Environmentally Friendly

Concern for nature and the environment also attracts consumers to do the same. This point can be a positive brand campaign in the eyes of consumers.

Consumers are also proud to be part of the customer because they feel they are contributing to helping the environment.

4. Take a Peek at Competitor USPs

Taking a peek at a competitor's USP doesn't mean completely copying their USP. Because cheating on a USP that is already firmly attached to a certain brand, actually makes our USP unattractive.

We peek at competitors' USPs for different purposes. Among other things, to find out what they are lacking, so that we can use competitors' weaknesses to create the best USP for the benefit of our business.

Methods that we can use in this competitor's USP peeking method:

4.1 Test the Shopping Experience at Competitors

Try to visit competitor stores, both online and offline. The goal is to find out about the system they run and how they handle orders. Pay attention to every aspect in detail, such as how to do transactions, website design, customer service, quality of service, product stock, etc.

4.2 Check Customer Reviews

Check customer reviews on the website or Google Business features or social media. See what customer complaints are and what gets appreciation from customers.

4.3 Make an Experience Analysis

Record aspects into two different categories, which are good and which are not. Both from experience when shopping, and also customer reviews.

4.4 Draw Conclusions and Define USP

Brainstorm with the team about what you've found and start creating a USP for your brand. For example, if the biggest complaint from competitors' customers is slow service, it means that the quality of your service must be super and impressive.

If customers complain about the lack of payment methods, you can provide a variety of payment gateways for your store.

Examples of Unique Selling Points (USP) from World Popular Brands

According to Shopify , the best way to understand and define a Unique Selling Point (USP) is to observe some hands-on examples.

Here are some examples of USP from world-famous brands that can be your reference:

1. Starbucks

Starbucks Coffee

You must be familiar with this brand name. Starting from a small coffee shop in Washington, Starbucks now has many outlets around the world.

What makes Starbucks so phenomenal in many countries? Of course because they have the right USP, namely as a premium coffee shop.

The price of Starbucks coffee is of course much more expensive than mini-market style coffee or regular coffee shops. However, why are they constantly in demand and increasingly successful?

One of the factors is their consistency in selling premium coffee. The price of their coffee is indeed expensive, but there is no doubt about the quality. They also provide a coffee shop with a room that feels comfortable for young people, to business people.

With consistency and a focus on improving the quality of their premium coffee, Starbucks has a USP that makes them unique and stands out from its competitors.

2. Tom Shoes

Contoh Unique Selling Point (USP) Tom Shoes

In terms of products, Tom Shoes basically sells the same products as other shoe manufacturers. But in 2006, launched an interesting campaign.

Manufacturers from Tom Shoes launched the 'One for One' program where they will donate a pair of shoes for every shoe sold. This campaign would become their unique selling point for the following years.

The aim of this program itself is to help those who are less fortunate. With this charity campaign, customers who have the same vision will support and choose to buy shoes from this brand.

USP style of Tom Shoes is to provide its own inner satisfaction for consumers. They can buy the good quality shoes they want, and do good at the same time.

3. Zappos

Zappos is an online store that focuses on providing shoes, clothing and accessories. Their products are related to fashion but they have an interesting USP.

The USP is free shipping and returns. Consumers are often faced with the situation of worrying about not having the right size for their feet when buying shoes online.

With the guarantee they provide, Zappos wants its customers to no longer hesitate to order shoes online. If the size doesn't fit, they can return it anyway.

Even though what they are doing can cut profits, Zappos has managed to create a USP that is a unique attraction for consumers. Zappos has also succeeded in building customer loyalty with this USP they have.

Conclusion

Unique Selling Point (USP) is a vital factor in a business. Because by finding and determining the right USP, our business will be more eyed by potential customers.

USP can be a powerful weapon for long-term business continuity, as well as being part of an attractive loyalty program . From this entire article, the resume of how to determine Unique Selling Points is as follows:

• Position yourself as a consumer and know what they want.
• Study consumer behavior and motivation when buying a product.
• The inner satisfaction strategy is very powerful to attract customers and make them loyal.
• Take a peek and learn about the competitor's USP.

Are you ready to implement USP for your own business?