How to Make Your Unique Selling Point Unforgettable
Welcome to Brand Materials, a brand strategy series where we’ll explore how to create a brand that feels aligned, human, and rooted in what actually matters to you.
Expect thought-provoking prompts, purposeful frameworks, and guidance that values clarity over performative noise. This is a strategic companion for founders who want to build something that fits their industry, their life, and their energy.
You know your work matters. But does your audience?
Maybe you’re stuck competing on price, attracting the wrong clients, or feeling like just another open tab in someone’s browser.
Your USP isn’t just about standing out. It’s about becoming the only choice for the right people. It gives you the language to claim your worth, clarify your impact, and build a brand that’s magnetic.
In this post, you’ll learn how to define a USP that feels true to you, speaks directly to your people, and makes your brand unmistakable.
What is a Unique Selling Point?
Your Unique Selling Point (USP) is the defining reason your ideal client chooses you over anyone else. It’s what makes your brand feel like not just another option, but the obvious choice.
Picture yourself in the bread aisle. There are rows of near-identical loaves. Some shoppers reach for organic sourdough because it’s small-batch and natural. Others grab a soft white loaf out of comfort. A few need gluten-free for dietary reasons. The bread isn’t radically different. The positioning is.
Even if your offer isn’t wildly unique, how you frame it (the values behind it, the story it tells, the way it meets real needs) is what makes it unforgettable. Your USP creates an emotional connection that turns your brand into the one for the right people.
Your USP isn’t just what you say. It’s how you show someone, almost subconsciously, ‘this is where you belong.’
What It Feels Like to Be the Only Choice
Let’s be honest: people don’t want another “option.” They want to feel like they’ve found it — the brand, the offer, the experience that gets them. The one that speaks their language before they’ve even articulated what they need.
a USP isn’t just about differentiation. It’s about recognition. When someone finds ‘the one,’ they exhale. They stop researching. They stop comparing. They lean in.
So as a founder, your work isn’t to be louder. It means claiming the space that you own. Saying the thing you were scared would sound too specific. Or finally dropping one-size-fits-most language in favor of the wonderful specificity that your people have been looking for.
To become the only choice, you have to first believe there’s no one else you need to be.
Uniqueness VS Relevance
We’re trained to look for contrast. So naturally, brands try to zig when others zag. Loud colors. Quirky copy. A surprising niche.
But different doesn’t mean desirable. It might make someone pause, but will it make them stay?
You can be unexpected and still forgettable. If your difference doesn’t connect with what your audience wants, needs, or believes in… it’s noise, not strategy.
Being different and relevant builds connection.
Relevance is what makes your uniqueness matter. Your USP needs to speak to something, whether that’s solving a problem or meeting an emotional need that your audience already holds but hasn’t seen mirrored clearly before.
Being different without relevance gets skipped. Being relevant without difference gets blended in. But being both? That’s when your brand becomes the obvious choice.
How to Define Your Unique Selling Point
Let’s break down the steps to help you define one that speaks directly to your ideal customers. Follow these steps to uncover what makes your brand unforgettable:
Uncover your audience’s deeper needs
Go beneath the surface. What keeps your ideal customer stuck or second-guessing? What do they crave but struggle to find? A good USP speaks to those quiet frustrations and unmet desires, making your offer feel like a sigh of relief.
Ask yourself: What assumptions am I making about what my audience wants versus what they need? What would someone type into Google at 11pm the night before they’d hire me? What are my clients apologizing for or ashamed of when they show up? What do I actually want them to feel?
Spot gaps in your industry
Look around. What’s missing in your space? What do clients wish existed, but settle for less? Read reviews. Pay attention to complaints. When you can name what’s broken and offer a better way, your difference becomes the reason they choose you.
Ask yourself: What am I tired of seeing in my space? What feels overdone or underwhelming? What frustrates me about how others deliver similar services?
Define your signature approach
What’s the way you do things that no one else can replicate? Whether it’s your process, your lived experience, your philosophy, or the atmosphere you create. If it can’t be copied, it becomes irreplaceable.
Ask yourself: If a client described working with me to a friend, what would they say? What do I never do that others in my field often rely on? If I could only build one offer that encapsulates everything I believe, what would it look like?
Repositioning Through USP
Here’s an example of how you can reposition through your USP:
From Virtual Assistant to Thought Partner for Healers
Before: Ali offered virtual assistant services to online business owners: inbox support, scheduling, launch help. She felt invisible and constantly compared to lower-priced VAs.
After Identifying Her USP: Ali noticed that her best clients were intuitive practitioners (therapists, energy workers, coaches) who leaned on her for more than admin. She was their thought partner, helping them hold space for big decisions, not just their inbox.
She repositioned herself as a Strategic Support Partner for Soulful Practitioners.
Her packages became retainer-style, focused on emotional load-sharing, systems support, and long-view planning.
Messaging shifted from “Get help managing the back-end of your business” to “I hold the back end so you can lead from intuition.”
Outcome: She doubled her rates, niched without boxing herself in, and built a waitlist within three months.
How to Share Your Unique Selling Point
Once you’ve identified your brand’s uniqueness, it’s time to put it into words. A well-crafted USP statement should be clear, direct, and easy to understand. Here’s a simple formula to help you structure your USP:
We (what you do) in a way that (what makes you unique), so that (the transformation or benefit they achieve).
Here are some examples of unique selling points:
We create personalized skincare routines using wild-harvested Nordic botanicals, clinically proven to soothe sensitive and eczema-prone skin, so that eco-conscious women can enjoy high-end, sustainable skincare that heals and protects.
We design minimalist, sensory-rich spaces using tactile textures and soft lighting, so that wellness-conscious homeowners can create a sanctuary that calms the mind and restores energy.
We make gourmet, plant-based pastries using heirloom grains and natural fermentation, so that food lovers can enjoy rich, complex flavors without refined sugar or dairy.
Your statement should be clear, direct, and easy to understand. Avoid jargon that could confuse your message, and focus on benefit-driven language that aligns with your customer’s needs and pain points.
How To Put Your USP into Action
Here’s how to put your USP into action in your brand messaging:
Shape your offer strategy
A strong USP helps you narrow your focus. Instead of offering what everyone else is offering, you can double down on what only you can deliver, and build offers that reflect that specificity. If your USP is about deep collaboration, don’t build a plug-and-play course. Design a 1:1 mentorship experience that’s deeply personal.
Create intentional differentiation
Your USP should guide how you position your offers. That means naming, packaging, and pricing with purpose, so the value is clear before your audience even clicks. If your USP is about thoughtful design, maybe your product names and presentation reflect curation and care, not urgency or scale. If your strength is accessibility, pricing tiers or transparent frameworks could reinforce trust and openness.
Lead with contrast, not comparison
Rather than constantly comparing yourself to competitors, use your USP to define what makes your worldview different and you more aligned for a specific kind of client.
Use it to build brand memory
Repetition is recognition. When your USP is clearly integrated into your content pillars, case studies, onboarding experience, and even your client process, it becomes something your audience remembers you for. Don’t say it once. Build it into everything: subtly, strategically, consistently.
Show, Don’t Just Tell
Testimonials, case studies, and real-world examples validate your USP and prove why you’re the right choice. Share customer experiences that highlight the transformation you offer, making your USP feel tangible and credible.
When your USP is consistently communicated, it strengthens your positioning, builds trust, and naturally attracts the right clients—the ones who genuinely value what you bring to the table.
What You Might Be Wondering:
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Start with what your clients say feels different when they work with you. Look for patterns in testimonials, client language, or the parts of your process that feel most natural and energizing. Your USP is often hiding there.
Next, shift your perspective. Your uniqueness may not be what you do. It’s often how you do it.
Ask yourself:
Do I have a signature method, process, or philosophy?
Do I serve a niche audience in a way others don’t?
Do I prioritize something differently than others in my space (experience, care, sustainability)?
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Instead of listing five different strengths, find the thread that ties them together. What’s the single, resonant reason someone would choose you?
Your audience should walk away with a clear sense of why you’re the right choice.
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Not necessarily. Your USP doesn’t need to be revolutionary. It just needs to be specific, honest, and aligned with your people.
Even if your offer isn’t unique, your approach, perspective, or values can be. That's often what makes you irreplaceable.
Think of coffee shops: plenty of brands sell great coffee, but some focus on fair-trade sourcing, some on third-wave craftsmanship, and others on fast, convenient service. Even within the same industry, a strong USP makes a brand feel memorable and aligned with the right customers.
Your uniqueness isn’t just about what you do, but how you position it, communicate it, and deliver it.
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That’s a cue to zoom in. Most brands stop at surface-level benefits.
Go deeper:
What do you believe that others don’t?
What kind of experience do you create?
What kind of client are you not for?
Try this exercise:
Write your current USP.
Compare with 3 competitor sites.
Ask: What’s missing from their messaging that I can lean into?
Often, your edge is in the delivery, not the deliverables.
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Your USP is working when your audience recognizes and repeats it back to you. If people describe your brand in a way that aligns with your USP, you know it’s resonating. You can also test it by asking:
Are my ideal clients responding to my messaging?
Does my USP feel clear and instantly understandable?
Are people choosing me over competitors because of what I highlight?
If not, you may need to refine your wording, clarify your positioning, or share your USP more consistently.
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Yes. When your USP speaks to something your audience wants but isn’t finding, you become the one they’ve been waiting for.
This isn’t just about visibility. It’s about becoming the only choice for your customer.
Recap & Next Steps
In this post, we’ve broken down how to craft a Unique Selling Point (USP) that sets your brand apart and speaks directly to your audience’s needs. Let’s recap:
Understand what makes your brand irreplaceable.
Research what your competitors are doing and identify the gaps your brand can fill.
Write a USP that speaks to transformation.
A strong USP isn’t just about being different. It’s about being different in a way that’s relevant in a way that matters to your customers.
Read the Next Post: Brand Archetypes
In the next post in the Brand Materials series, we’ll explore brand archetypes and how to bring personality into your brand. You’ll learn how identifying your core archetype, and how it can help you create deeper connection, build brand consistency, and shape a rich brand story.
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