As a photographer and entrepreneur, do you spend time regularly studying marketing? If you do (and I recommend you do) you will certainly come across the term “USP” which stands for Unique Selling Proposition. Do your eyes glaze over when faced with such terms? Hopefully not because when it comes to your marketing and branding of your business your USP is probably the most important thing to have a handle on.
It’s important to clearly understand the importance of USP to your business and more importantly to potential clients. Your Unique Selling Proposition identifies what makes you stand apart from your competitors in your field. It’s what you stand for, and what you’ll be known for.
What is a Unique Selling Point?
A unique selling point, also know as a unique selling position, or proposition…commonly called a USP for brevity’s sake in marketing, is creating something that makes your different to your competitors. If they’re all offering a portrait shoot for $1,000 and you come along and offer a portrait shoot for $1,000 plus guarantee they’ll have the photos within 3 days then that’s your USP. It’s a little something extra to make you stand out.
There’s a story that’s commonly told in the marketing community to display the power of a great USP that goes something like this…
Quick Idea’s of a Few USP’s
You are the only one who can come up with a great USP because you know your business and your clients better than anyone. I recommend you spend quite a lot of time thinking about this before you settle on something. Brainstorm and write down a tonne of ideas over the period of a few weeks… then ask friends, family and most importantly CLIENTS which one they would prefer.
Here’s a few idea’s of mine to get your started…
- Guaranteed re-touching and editing times (there are lots of horror stories among clients about photographers taking over 6 months to deliver the final product)
- A free ‘pre-wedding’ or ‘pre-event’ photo shoot, including X number of edited photos
- An unheard of guarantee, like “Your friends jaws will drop when they see your photos, or your money back”
- A guarantee of the perfect photo “Using my unique methods, I’ll have you son or daughter looking like an angel in every photo, or you don’t pay a dime”
- Using ‘Social Proof’… “I’ve photographed 1,347 homes in the last 5 years, and real estate agents say my photo’s add an average of $5,000 to the sale price!”
- Personalized service… “I’m available from 8am til’ midnight, 7 days a week to answer all your questions!” (Only use if you work with high paying larger jobs)
These are just a few that I came up with quickly, and can be tailored to your businesses.
Wrapping It Up
Having a really great USP is supposed to make you so different from your competition that you prospects can’t even compare you with them. It’s a bit like comparing apples to oranges. For example, if there a prospect has called 10 different photographers and each has simply given an estimated price, while you’ve explained that your photos have been responsible for increasing house selling prices by over $5,000, it makes it impossible to compare doesn’t it? 9 of them say a quote between $1,000 and $2,000, while you explain that you boost prices by $5,000! Who would you choose if you were the prospect?
Create your USP in the coming weeks, but don’t rush it too much. Make sure it’s about 1 sentence long, and start using it in all your advertising materials!
BEWARE: If your USP works really well, others are going to copy it eventually. The whole idea of a USP is that it’s UNIQUE, so once it become common, it’s ruined. Move on to something new and different while everyone else is copying each other, and you’ll always have the lions share of business!
In the comments below, let me know if you’re already using a USP, and how well it’s worked out for you.