Unique Selling Proposition

(USP), also known as a unique selling point refers to a marketing concept that was put forth in the early 1940s to understand the patterns associated with successful advertising campaigns. The term itself was coined by Ted Bates & Company’s Rosser Reeves, who theorized that successful campaigns made such unique claims to the customer that the prospective buyers were convinced to switch brands. The elements of USPs are:

• Each advertisement must make a specific claim to their prospective consumers. This claim essentially indicates, “Buy our product and receive this specific benefit.”
• The specific proposition put forth by a brand must be one that is not offered by a competitor. The claim also must be unique and not offered by other competitors or within the product’s field.
• The claim must be strong enough to convert or attract many customers and move mass amounts of products. Essentially, the claim and the advertising campaign must be successful.

While “unique selling proposition” was once meant to apply to only Reeve’s field — television advertising, today the term is spread over all media fields and has evolved to refer to any aspect of a consumable product or service that differentiates it from similar objects.

Email marketers can leverage USPs to build successful campaigns and convert site visitors to subscribers. Calls to action, or other actionable words or phrases, such as “Subscribe to our list and receive exclusive offers for our product” are credible USPs that speak to prospective users.