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DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR SINGLE MOST COMPELLING ARGUMENT SHOULD BE TO YOUR PROSPECTS?

Guest post by: Billy Sharma

Article Overview: It should be your USP.

Free Download - WHEN ARE YOUR CUSTOMERS OR DONORS MOST RECEPTIVE? By Billy Sharma

DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR SINGLE MOST COMPELLING ARGUMENT SHOULD BE TO YOUR PROSPECTS?

It should be your USP.

One of the most important things to remember is that every client or business generally has one USP (Unique Selling Proposition). This is what sets you apart from your competition. This is the most compelling reason why the target audience should consider you over your competition. Wall Mart's USP is price, while IKEA's is the showroom experience.

However, many companies don't even know what their Unique Selling Proposition is and if you don't give your customers solid facts about how you are special and why they should buy from you or donate to you — they won't.

The most successful ads, commercials or direct mail campaigns in the past and present have stayed true to this principle. Just think about Avis, VW, Absolute Vodka, 'The two men Wall Street Journal' mailing and most recently the campaign for iPod and iPhones.

They have all stuck to highlighting what makes them unique - different from the competition. And all of them have got this message across in a captivating and yet simple way - no fancy animation or tricks, just one single simple USP, presented clearly and concisely.

Why does this work better than presenting a slew of benefits?

A book called The Paradox of Choice by Professor Barry Schwartz gives an example of a food store that set up a line of exotic jams and invited customers to taste the samples. In one study, 6 varieties of the jam were available. In another 24 were available.

The result:
The larger display of jams attracted more people to the table - but when it came to buying, a big difference became evident. While, 30% of people exposed to the small selection purchased one, only 3% of those exposed to the larger sample bought one.

So there you have it.

He found that more choice creates confusion and even distraction. Perhaps Confucius said it best, "Man who chases two rabbits catches neither."

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Article Tags: absolute vodka, avis, barry schwartz, best man, chases, confucius, direct mail, fancy animation, food store, ikea, important things, jams, mail campaigns, professor barry, slew, target audience, unique selling proposition, usp, wall mart, wall street journal

About the Author: Billy Sharma
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BILLY SHARMA Billy holds a Bachelor of Science degree and is a Summa Cum Laude graduate of J.J. School of Art (Bombay) and the Hochshüle für Gestaltung (Bauhaus School of Design, Germany). After many years of working for other companies, Billy founded Designers Inc. In 1999 he became Managing Director and Creative Director of Brann Worldwide in Toronto. Under his stewardship the agency grew three-fold in two years when Brann Worldwide was elected the number one direct marketing agency in the world in 2000. Billy has extensive advertising and direct marketing experience gained in many national and international advertising agencies in Europe, U.S. and Canada. This has honed his creative skills to help provide breakthrough creative ideas for his clients.

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