Copywriting Tips – Your USP Doesn’t Have To Be Unique

You know, there are a lot of misconceptions about what a unique selling proposition (USP) is. Some people think that it has to be something that your product or service offers that no other product or service offers. Well, while that can certainly be true, it is not the only way to come up with a USP. As a matter of fact, you can come up with a USP that isn’t unique at all and still be the only one to have it. If you’re wondering how that is possible, this article is going to explain.
There are many products in the world that all have something in common, usually in the way they are made. What differentiates one product from another is its brand and the way it’s promoted. I mean let’s be honest, laundry detergent is pretty much all the same thing. Sure there are some that seem to clean better than others, but the general process for making the stuff is pretty common. Well, what clever manufacturers do is they point out things about their product that might not be so unique but is something that others have not pointed out.
A perfect example of this is the beer Schlitz. Back in the good old days when their ad campaign first came around, beer was pretty much all made the same way. Well, Schlitz tried to think of a way that they could make their beer stand out from all the other brands. What they did was they went over their whole process for making the beer and noticed that there was one part of the process, though common to all beers, that no other beer manufacturer had mentioned. So what do you think Schlitz did? You got it…they mentioned that part of the process in their ad campaign and thus it became their USP, even though it wasn’t unique one little bit. They just jumped on it before everybody else did.
Whatever product it is that you’re selling, go over it with a fine tooth comb. Make a list of all the things involved with the product, whether you think they are unique or not. Then go take a look at your competition and see if they mention any of these items. If there is something that everybody seems to have left out, even if it is common among all these products, by bringing it up in your copy, you have made this your USP.
Sneaky? Maybe. But trust me on this…it works.
To YOUR Success