What makes you unique? What’s your unique selling proposition?

In our last issue, we continued our discussion on branding. We got to the point of talking about things like your “hero shot” image on your homepage and your headline. Both of those things need to jive with your unique selling proposition (or USP).

When people see that phrase, they often get hung up on that word “unique”. 🙂 Do you? Do you wonder what the hell is so unique about you?

Yeah, you’re not alone, my friend. But, rest assured, this isn’t nearly as complicated as you may think… and there’s nothing about it that says you have to find some secret angle that nobody else on this planet of 7 billion people has ever thought of. 🙂

Let’s think of this more accurately as unique VALUE proposition (or UVP) first. And to understand what this really is, let’s step back and look at a brand new arrival coming to your site for the first time.

You have your reality… and they have their’s. You know all the stuff you do and you know how awesome you are – they don’t. They are thinking about certain things they want to do something about, but they have no knowledge of you and they, quite frankly, don’t care. Not yet.

So, picture YOUR reality on one side of a bridge… and they’re reality on the other side of the bridge. The unique value proposition is the bridge.

In other words, a UVP is like the meeting point between you and your customer. It is the bond which will attract your customers to you and the problem you promise to solve.

So, what the UVP captures is your main promise to your market, your marketing “hook”, and elements of your branding. It is what your prospects will see from the outside looking in.

A good UVP will:

• Capture the main promise of your solution by spelling out the END of your transformation. The “high level concept”.
• Be written in “plain English”, not corporate speak.
• Contain your marketing “hook”, with a “Hook” being defined as a short phrase designed to create curiosity or desire in your offer.

Ya with me so far?

Here’s some examples…

• “Lose 10 pounds in 30 Days” (for any generic weight loss product)
• “Pass Your Checkride or We’ll Pay For It” (for an online flight school)
• “Launch a proven marketing campaign in 10 minutes.” (for a landing page solution called 10 Minute Pages)
• “Helpdesk for teams that insist on a delightful customer experience” (for Helpscout)

In each of these unique value propositions, they are quickly and in short order communicating what they do, the value they provide. They’re stating their brand promise. And, in each one, they’re introducing some element that makes a nice “hook” to make it stand out in the noise.

Now, here’s a quick little exercise you can do to help come up with your own UVP…

What To Do To Create Your UVP:

1. Headline. One short sentence that tells the end benefit you’re offering, taking into account what’s unique about it. The high level concept.
2. Sub-headline or short paragraph. More detail on what you offer, who it is for, and why it is useful. Make as brief as possible.
3. 3-4 bullet points. Key benefits.
4. Visual. Optional image which goes alongside the UVP to visually communicate the value. Often used on your homepage in your branding.

If you can put this together, you will have made great inroads into solid branding for your site.

FYI…. all of this (and more) is also covered in our course inside THE LAB called One Page Online Business Plan.

– David