USP Not UPS

Your Unique Selling Position or USP, is your most important marketing feature.

If you have a product that is truly unique in the market place - your product is your USP. Take advantage of it while you can. I won't last.

Most of us, whether we provide a service or a physical product, have competitors. Our USP is what differentiates us from our competition. It is the reason a consumer will choose our product over other similar products.

For some, price is their USP. This is a dangerous position. It targets the segment of the population that by only on price. The problem with this position is it is hard to remain at the bottom. There will always be someone who is willing to go lower. Low margins and increasing costs make this a poor USP.

Adding features is another way of generating a USP. These are features that you can add directly to the product, or accessories that you can include in the sale. While this is a reasonable strategy because it increases your 'perceived value', it must be done carefully. Adding too many features will discourage this who are looking for a 'plain' version of the product.

Quality and service are, by far, the best USP's. There are a number of problems with this strategy.

• The buyer may not feel they can afford your product.
• It takes time to build a reputation for quality and service
  
• You MUST be able to deliver the quality and service you promise.

However, the benefits from this USP are huge. People buying on price or 'add ons' are not loyal. They will go to whoever offers them the 'best deal'. Customers buying on quality and service are the repeat customers we all want.

Branding With The Favicon

I get a wide variety of news letters. Many contain links to articles posted on other sites. It was one of these links that sent me to an article on CiO Zone.

The site defines itself as a social networking site for IT professionals. As the page finished loading - even before I read the article this -> <- caught my eye. It is the Joomla favicon. Instantly the site lost all credibility. A site that claims to be for IT professionals does not tell potential hackers what content management system it is using.

The favicon is displayed in the address bar on all browsers and in the tabs on browsers that support tabbed browsing. It identifies who you are and is associated with your brand.

Your favicon should be unique and, if possible, reflect your business name, product or service. It acts as a visual link between the page being displayed and your brand.

While small in size, only 16x16 pixels, the favicon is one of the many small things you can do to brand your site.

See my article on online branding for more information.

Target Display Advertising

There is a general trend to more targeted online marketing. This is something we have said all along. Particularly for display ads - which tend to be the most expensive form of online advertising.

As a small business owner with a limited marketing budget, you should use display ads sparingly. Display ads work best when they are shown to a highly targeted market. General interest websites and web portals are not the place for your display ads.

Focus on both the ad and the target market. Define your target market, create an ad that targets that market and then select a site that targets that market.

The chances of finding a niche site that caters to the product you are marketing are very good. Increasingly, there are sites and blogs on just about every topic you can imagine.

Check the site out before you put your ad on the site. And, initially do a short run to judge the effectiveness of the ad.

While getting good organic search results are still the best place to put you online marketing dollars, targeted display ads can be effective.