What exactly do you sell? Broom, Broom, Broom.
Unique Selling Proposition (USP) & Emotional Selling Proposition (ESP).
Have you ever heard the expression “Sell the sizzle, not the steak”?
This phrase from Elmer Wheeler has become a very common piece of advice given to novice marketers, but if I told you, “Sell the sizzle AND the Dopamine released after eating the steak, but not the steak itself,” would that make sense?
Whether it makes sense or not, it’s no problem, let’s cram that steak down!
1. The Steak (Your Product)
“In marketing, a Product is an object or system made available for consumer use; it is anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy the desire or need of a customer”.
“To satisfy the desire or need of a customer”, you must be convinced that the only way to do this is through the product and that your success is the product of your product.
Don’t get me wrong, your product is essential and it is crucial to give a lot of importance and delicacy to the manufacturing process because your product is indeed the essence of your business, it is what you are going to offer to your customers but it is not quite what you are going to sell. Bear with me, we’ll get to that!
2. The Sizzle (The USP)
What is your unique selling proposition or point?
“In marketing, the unique selling proposition also called the unique selling point or the unique value proposition in the business model canvas is the marketing strategy of informing customers about how one’s own brand or product is superior to its competitors.”
In other words, your USP is what makes your product unique, what differentiates it from other similar products.
Your USP is what will motivate your potential customer to make the decision to buy your product, it’s your promise to offer them what others can’t.
Here’s an example: Let’s say you sell brooms and you’re targeting vegan, environmentalist, and nature-loving buyers. Do you want to sell them your product or their values?
Your Eco-friendly broom made of sorghum fibers and wood is definitely an environmentally friendly product, but will you use its features to promote it or will you highlight its positive impact on nature?
If you answered yes to the last question, let me congratulate you, you are taking the first step towards selling the sizzle and not the steak.
Speaking of selling, you know that purchasing something is a logical, brain-made decision, right? But what exactly is it that drives our brain to make this decision?
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s our friend Mr. Dopamine! Does that make sense now? Cool then, let’s have that ESP talk (my favorite)!
3. The Dopamine (The ESP)
“An emotional selling proposition (ESP) defines all the emotional triggers that prompt a person to buy. … Emotion is the one thing that influences consumer behavior the most. So, to be successful in your marketing efforts, sell the feelings your product provides, rather than selling the product explicitly.”
Mesdames et Messieurs; be an amateur psychologist.
Yes, be an amateur psychologist or better yet a professional and dig deep into the psyche of your potential buyers, their values, their lifestyle, their emotions, and even their insecurities.
Get to know them, try to imagine how they will feel when they buy your unique product, and hand it to them.
Figure out what feeling your customers are craving and shower them with THAT feeling.
I believe this is the simplest and most direct way to explain ESP as it is.
Getting back to your Eco-friendly broom, you’re already selling a unique product that matches the values of your target customers, why not spice it up a bit and try to sell them the feeling they’ll get from making that purchase.
Please picture that you have these possibilities, which one you will choose:
1-Dear customer, here is a fancy broom made of the best wood mother nature can produce, and the finest kind of sorghum fiber, will you give my broom the honor of being yours for better or for worse? (Nope! Your broom deserves better ?).
2-Hello Environmentalist, I see you and share with you the love of nature, that’s why I have dedicated years of my life to make for us, Bio fellows, an Eco-friendly broom made from cruelty-free and safe materials, and that has no negative impact on our earth, help a greenie and spread the word in the community. (That’s good, but you can do better?).
3-Hola Jane, what’s up Joe? how does it feel to get up every day and go to the trouble of finding a product that aligns with your values?
I know it’s hard, bizarrely hard, when taking care of our planet should be a basic thing to do and the most logical way to live our lives, some people still make it hard for us, nature lovers.
But hey, I feel you and I know the challenges you face in your daily life to keep this promise of being one of the guardians and saviors of the earth.
I’m so proud of you, and for that, I tried to do my part to be a warrior like your brave self, and I made us a broom that won’t hurt our one & only home and that will certainly help us save time in the search of products that have respect for our planet. (Here, Jane and Joe have already bought the broom and a few others for their beloved friends before you finish your speech, I guarantee it?).
I have made it clear, now it’s up to you!
Need help identifying your USP & ESP? Our team of experts at Nfinity8 got you covered!
Talk to us here!
