By Kim Albee
What is your Unique Selling Proposition? Is it unique? Does it distinguish you from your competitors?
Next question: Does your messaging do the same? In your industry where your competitors offer essentially the same thing that you do, how do you distinguish yourself?
In the first episode of Mad Men, Season 1, the issue with coming up with differentiated messaging now that they couldn't use what they'd always relied on (basically health-based messaging) -- how would a tobacco company distinguish itself? There were 6 competitors -- all offering the same product, and essentially all were produced in the same manner.
If you've got a situation like that, then you could say anything. As long as it's distinct from what your competitors are saying, and it's something that will land with your audience. Even if your competitors do the same thing -- but they're not talking about it or highlighting that fact -- you could.
If people essentially are motivated based on perceived happiness from removing some pain or barrier, how can you capitalize on that, and build a distinction in your market that allows you to garner the regard and interest -- over that of your competitors?
Take a look at your home page. Then look at your competitors' home pages. Are they essentially all promising the same thing? Is it clear why you might pick one over the other? If not -- then there is a HUGE opportunity for you to carve out a distinct selling proposition that others aren't exploiting, and provide the clarity that your leads and prospects are looking for.
Using my company as an example: In our industry, we are realizing that while we offer the most comprehensive tools for the price, we also provide service that is essentially unparalleled in our industry -- and our customers have told us so. We believe that it's important to make it easy for customers to contact someone for help -- offering both phone and email options -- and then providing timely replies and follow-up if people don't get through immediately. We also listen to the needs of our customers -- and tie that directly into our product development process. Something that seemed obvious to us, is evidently sorely lacking within our market space, and a way for us to differentiate our offering from that of our competitors.
What differentiates your company? What can you say about yourselves that would make you unique and desireable in your industry? Does that answer a need or a pain that people are experiencing - which would make choosing you the "happy" alternative?
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