Thought I'd make an account just for this thread.
Since I can only assume what has happened in here is that FredC has taken advantage of Beeks lack of knowledge, I thought I'd maybe elaborate on Beeks points.
First off, these overused phrases that are being used in advertising are still generating leads because there is no other choice for the consumer.
If you open the yellow pages, and every company is telling you they're "Honest. Reliable. Ethical." you've still got to make the choice to call ONE of them.
However, say if ONE of those companies makes a statement such as, "Will respond to all emergency floods in 12 hours or less or your service is free.", who will you choose? Are you still going to choose to go with the company that is making empty claims as to their honesty, reliability and ethics? Do you HAVE to be honest, reliable and ethical to make these claims in the first place?
This gets us into the subject of conversion rates.
As FredC says, these overused statements still work, but if you're focusing on direct-response marketing, you're really focused on your ROI. So, whenever your conversion rate can increase, it's always something to be interested in, especially when it's as simple as crafting a USP. Sometimes, by increasing your conversion rate, you can get into marketing channels that were previously not viable for you due to the fact your conversion rate wasn't allowing a ROI.
The great thing about a USP, is that you can speak directly to the target market you are in fact targeting. For simplicity sake, let's say as a carpet cleaner, you're targeting hotels, and you decide that direct mail is the best way to do this.
You decide to split-test to see which results would be
superior, using a USP vs. using an empty marketing slogan.
In variation A, the marketing slogan says, "The Carpet Cleaning Company You Can Trust."
In variation B, the USP says, "We help hotels get their rooms looking their best and back on the market in under 1 hour per room."
Who do you think the owner/manager is going to call back? The "me too" carpet cleaner, or the carpet cleaner that SPECIALIZES and GUARANTEES their work to the hotel.
Perhaps one of the most famous examples of a USP being used successfully is Domino's.
Instead of saying, "We deliver pizza", they said, ""You get fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less -- or it's free." According to Domino's that USP was worth $1 Billion dollars to them, as it positioned them in the pizza restaurant industry as the number 2 player in the game (apparently they've always been second to Pizza Hut).
With all this being said, here is a REALLY simple formula for you to use to create your own USP.
"I/We Help _________________________ Who struggle with/want to ______________________ Get __________________ in/with/without ___________"
Just fill in the blanks.
Since it's sometimes hard to see it from the consumers point of view when you're the service/product provider, let's use this formula to create a USP for a chiropractor for examples sake.
"We help car accident victims who struggle with back pain get over their pain in 90 days... 100% guaranteed!"
Once again, no car accident victim is going to keep shopping around reading the same old typical "Best in Town" garbage, when they've got a chiropractor telling them they specialize in helping people in their exact predicament.
Anyways, hope this helps.
Sincerely,
thebestmarketeralive
