Uniqueness, USP, or Unique Selling Proposition. No matter how you refer to it, if you don’t use it in the right place, it really doesn’t matter. I’ve been writing a lot about selling online on this blog. And we’ve referred to the uniqueness and positioning many times on the blog and podcast. But today, I want to get straight to the point – how to use your USP to sell more?
No matter where you are online, you are always in someone’s funnel.
Think about it. If you’re passively browsing, someone’s targeting you. And if you are actively looking for solutions, you are likely knee-deep into someone’s funnel. You don’t need to be on a sales page to get sold necessarily. With every blog post you read, you either walk in or out of someone’s sales funnel.
And it’s happening right now.
As you read this post, you are in my funnel. Yes, even if I don’t have your email address. If you fall into my definition of the right target buyer and like reading my blog posts, you will likely part with your email address at some point. But wait, why are we talking about funnels when we started talking about USP?
That’s because we are talking about “selling” and USP. At its core, USP is nothing but a reason you give your target buyers to buy from you. And that doesn’t need to happen just on a sales letter. It could happen anywhere – inside an email, a social media post, on your website, and right here inside a blog post.
You are always scattering the breadcrumbs that help you sell. The question is where.
Five Places To Use Your USP To Sell More
Let’s start with five specific places to scatter your “uniqueness” breadcrumbs.
- Website Pages
- Offers
- Objection handling
- Guarantees
- Content
1. Website Pages
Every good online business has a website. I’m sure you have one for your course business too. And that’s the place where you have all your content, lead magnets, and of course, your courses. That’s why there isn’t a better place to use your USP than your website.
“But where exactly on my website?”
Two places on your website come to mind. First, it’s the obvious place – your homepage. It’s the place where most people get to on your website. It’s, after all, like the living room of your online home. Using your USP wisely on your homepage can lead to stickiness and retention with the right people – the people who like your USP.
The second place on your website is your About page. And this is because of one of the biggest reasons your About page exists – to build trust. When you use your USP on your About page, readers are now not just trusting you more but have a reason to spend more time on your website. And that reason is your USP.
2. Offers
The second place you want to consider using your USP is in your offers. Even when your offers are too good to resist, they don’t sell if you don’t have a USP. And this is simply because people don’t always buy because of an offer element like price or benefit. But when you combine your offer elements with a USP, you unknowingly slip a psychological message to buy from you. Here’s how this works.
When your offer has all the right offer elements like the core offer, bonuses, value justification, pricing, etc., your target buyers are tuned into the offer. But their lizard brain always waits to keep them safe by pulling them away from your offer. In reality, though, all it’s doing is asking your target buyer, “This is a great offer. But there are many similar offers out there for you to look at too.”
And that’s when a USP comes in handy – it gives the target buyer’s lizard brain a reason to buy from you.
3. Handling Objections
When you’re selling, you are always handling objections. And this is not necessarily in your sales letter. It’s the case everywhere – from your website copy to the content you create. And a tool like your USP can help you handle objections dramatically better. Want an example? How about Domino’s Pizza?
Their USP is “Fresh, hot pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed.”
If a buyer has an objection that goes like, “I’d rather get pizzas from the new store in the next block…,” Domino’s has a counter that can instantly shift the buyer from thinking of alternatives to considering ONLY Dominos. How does it do that? By using the qualifier “if we don’t, the pizza is free.”
4. Guarantees
Guarantees are everywhere. On your website, sales pages, social media profiles, and everywhere else. But there’s a problem. Everyone uses the same guarantees. And you can use your USP in these places and make your guarantees stand out.
Turn boring “30-Day Moneyback Guarantees” into “If you’re unhappy, we’ll give you your money back. Even your grandchildren can get a refund.” This is from an example I heard John Carlton use once.
5. Content
Using your USP in your content is one of the smartest things you can do. Here’s why – your content is being consumed by everyone who just found you, to the people inside your email list. A USP can give them a reason to read more of your content or trust you with their money by investing in one of your courses or coaching.
A good way to talk about your USP is by shining a light on how you discovered your USP. You can do this with simple storytelling in any blog post or video.
It’s Your Turn
How do you plan to use your USP to sell? Did any of these tips inspire you? Let me know in the comments. And if you’re still confused about why you need a USP in the first place, here’s something I wrote recently.
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To your prosperity,
Kartvee