Step-by-Step Guide to Creating an Effective USP at the Trade Show

Creating a unique selling proposition can greatly benefit your business’s success at your next trade show. These propositions focus mainly on what makes your products unique, such as their very low price, very high quality, or combinations of the two. In some cases, the intention may be on how your product is the first of its kind. Whichever situation fits your products, developing a USP is one sure fire way of selling your goods to a larger audience.

To begin, you and your sales team will have to perform some marketing research. In order for your USP to be effective, your business should get to know your customers, what drives them to buy your products, and what sales methods they are most keen to. In the following text, we will go over a step-by-step guide for creating a USP for your business.

Step One: Get to Know Your Potential Leads

The first step for your business to take is collecting as much information as you can about your audience. Trade shows make for an excellent opportunity for you and your sales team to engage and better understand your audience. As more people visit your tradeshow displays, your team has the opportunity to connect with them and see what drives their needs.

To really understand your potential leads, find out:

• What needs they require
• What inspires them to purchase products
• What kind of turnarounds they expect
• What level of reliability they anticipate

Step Two: Evaluate Your Business’s Benefits

The next step involves your business evaluating its own benefits. As in, what services or products do you offer that makes you stand apart from your competitors? Perhaps your products are of superior quality or the lowest price. Or, maybe your business is able to be consistently reliable when it comes to production and delivery.

While attending trade shows, have your team visit the various businesses also in attendance. Take notes on what makes those businesses stand apart. Observe why their customers choose them over anyone else. They can also see how those businesses incorporate their products into their trade show display design. Afterwards, you can use that information to discover what makes your business unique and beneficial.

• Compare your business’s benefits to your competitors
• Evaluate what makes your business beneficial in its own right
• Learn what draws customers to your competitors

Step Three: Improve the Weaker Parts of Your Business

While performing research about your competitors at the trade show, you and your team may have stumbled upon some parts of your business that could use improving. While developing your USP, you can assign resources to improve these parts of your business. You want your overall marketing plan to focus on why your business is beneficial to your customers, with as few weak spots as possible.

Not every facet of your business needs improving, and it is not feasible for your company to improve everything to the point that you have trumped the competition. However, you can develop a USP that focuses mainly on why you are the best choice.

• Put extra focus on improving the weaker parts of your business
• Try not to make everything better than the competition, only the parts that matter most
• Use your strongest points when developing your USP

The Final Step: Put Your USP Into Action

Once you are happy with your USP, it is time to put it into action. When it comes to your marketing strategy, your USP should be the primary focus. You want to incorporate it into your business’s plans, whether you are going to trade shows, creating social media campaigns, or designing a website for your products.

• Make your USP the lead of your marketing strategy
• Use your USP when going to trade shows, creating advertisements, and running social media campaigns
• Adapt your USP to any changes your business may make

When your business attends trade shows, you want your USP to be the driving force that your sales team uses to draw in potential leads. Your audience will have many choices when it comes to picking a company to do business with. If you can show them that your company is unique and more beneficial than your competitors, the greater the chances are that they will choose you.