The Unique Selling Proposition Explained
The three most famous letters in advertising, USP—unique selling proposition—what many have argued for decades forms the basis for creating effective ads was invested by and made Rosser Reeves famous. In his book, Reality in Advertising, he laments that understanding what the three letters means does not in fact reflect a wide-spread understanding of the term means.
From reading Reeves book and working in advertising for almost twenty years I’d say the USP includes three interrelated parts:
- Each ad must make a proposition, or a promise to the consumer. Not just empty marketing jargon, not just product features, not just “pretty” pictures. Each ad must say to consumer, “Buy this product and you will get this specific benefit.”
- The proposition must be one that your competition either cannot, or does not currently offer. The proposition therefore must be unique. Let me say that again, the proposition must be actually unique—either a uniqueness of the brand/product or a claim not currently being promoted by a competitor.
- The proposition must be so strong and compelling that it can move the majority of a target audience to buy your product.
When thinking of locating and promoting your product’s unique proposition, ponder this quote from Reeves, “The USP as something the consumer takes from the ad, rather than as something the copywriter puts into the ad.”
When Direct Marketing Goes Wrong
I went out to get my mail yesterday and noticed an over-sized postcard mailer for Dollar General. The offer was they’d give me $5 off my next purchase of $20 or more. I though great, cause about once a week I get all my cat related items at Dollar General which usually totals around $20 dollars. Then I took a closer look and I realize I can only use it at a store that is located in another town, about 15 miles away.
Problem is I shop at a Dollar General store that is less than a mile away, been open for years. It is also located in the same town and even zip code of my mailing address, which of course they know or I never would have gotten the mailer in the first place. As somebody that has done millions and millions of direct mailers stuff like this, and that it happens in our high-tech world, just blows my mind.
A wasted opportunity to make me a more happy and loyal customer.
What Do You Know? (About Marketing)
More than three years ago marketing guru Seth Godin put together a long list of “what every good marketer knows.” As it said it wasn’t a “carefully planned manifesto” but a “riff.” The whole list is here, but I pulled a few of his bullet points I felt were the most important.
- Low price is a great way to sell a commodity. That’s not marketing, though, that’s efficiency.
- Conversations among the members of your marketplace happen whether you like it or not. Good marketing encourages the right sort of conversations.
- Products that are remarkable get talked about.
- If you are marketing from a fairly static annual budget, you’re viewing marketing as an expense. Good marketers realize that it is an investment.
- People don’t buy what they need. They buy what they want.
- You’re not in charge. And your prospects don’t care about you.
- Business to business marketing is just marketing to consumers who happen to have a corporation to pay for what they buy.
- Good marketers tell a story.
- Marketing that works is marketing that people choose to notice.
- Most marketers create good enough and then quit. Greatest beats good enough every time.
- You can game the social media in the short run, but not for long.
[Found via Buhler Works]
