When you want to figure out what your USP might be, I would suggest looking for two or three things that you do, you offer, you are, you cover or you touch on. Look for things that no one else offers your followers in quite the same combination or way. Remember that the feeling you leave your followers with is also relevant. Do you inspire people? Do they feel like they have gained a friend, a source of laughter or, perhaps, self-deprecating fun?
Perhaps you review the latest technical gadgets, but you put your own dry, humorous spin on it and you are always looking for gear that you can actually afford while shopping with South African rands – as opposed to American voices in this niche segment, who might be able to buy a broader range of products because of their location and their strong currency. Your aim might be to leave your followers feeling like they’re winning – that they enjoy a competitive advantage when they take your advice.
The 1990s hit movie Speed was famously pitched as “Die Hard, on a bus”. Similarly, I developed and pitched a cooking show, Buite Die Lyne, to a TV channel in 2016 as “Roer, but with rugby players”. Roer was a well-known kykNET cooking show where you got to know a different musician or actor in every episode by seeing them cook a meal for a loved one, in their own kitchen. Of course, the true value for the average viewer is seeing someone they admire interacting with their loved one – a mom or a sibling, a best friend, a partner or a mentor. I simply added a rugby spin to this format, offered it to a competing channel (Via) and voila! We made 26 episodes of Buite Die Lyne, fully commissioned.
It is important to note that the point of that show was never to create the impression that the rugby players who were featured were able to cook like Jamie Oliver. They were obviously very successful in a specific field, but they often made very simple (and, therefore, quite useful) recipes, while sharing very endearing and vulnerable moments with the viewer about their lives outside of rugby. We covered the loss of loved ones, the disappointments they had faced, the odds they had to overcome and how they all have people at home who worry about them (despite how invincible they may seem). Essentially, it was about how even very successful young superstars also battle to balance the demands of their personal lives and the professional pursuit of glory. The aim was always to leave the (predominantly female) viewer feeling as though she could somehow relate to a burly rugby player who takes massive hits every day. The USP was actually: “Roer, but with rugby players” PLUS empathy.
Another useful example of USP is Chrissy Teigen, a gorgeous model and the wife of John Legend. While these two aspects alone would probably have garnered her a large number of followers, what sets her apart from other models who are married to successful, famous men (and remember, there are many of these) is her feisty sense of humour, her love of cooking and the fact that she is the kind of mom who claps back at her haters. Many followers really relate and respond to the latter aspects: we actually root for her in spite of her exceptional, aspirational lifestyle.
Yes, my dear husband clearly won in the wife lottery!
My own USP could perhaps be outlined along the lines of “cat lady who pays for cat (and other) food by being a sports presenter”. If a girl from a small town like myself, who didn’t grow up speaking English or being considered a relevant voice in sport, could make it to the sidelines of two World Cup events in one year, then anyone can. That’s what I want to leave my followers with, after every single post. I want my audience to feel included, particularly if they don’t fit into widely accepted stereotypes, because I also don’t.
Based on my social media presence, you’ll quickly be able to tell that I am (a) a woman, (b) often pitch-side at amazing sporting events, and (c) also a total nerd (who loves cats, gardening and sewing). Now there are plenty of other women who also work in sport, who lead lives that involve plenty of travel and speaking to household names – but are they also obsessed with their (four) rescue cats? And do they also take you along, behind the scenes, when they have a beer on the couch, to poke fun and marvel at the highs and lows of sport?
My deep love of having a beer, gardening and watching sport on the sofa is, traditionally speaking, seemingly incompatible with also regularly getting dressed up to host live broadcasts, award shows and events for big companies. Yet, I’m both the blonde woman in heels and the sports fan in sweatpants. I purposefully share the more real side of my life because I want my followers to feel as though they are always invited to hang out with me. I’m not on social media for your envy; I am there to open the door for you to also take a peek inside. Inside where? Wherever I am let in!
These are true interests that give me touch points with people who share my passions or who simply find the unusual combination entertaining enough to keep following – even if they are not actually a cat person or a sports fan. Perhaps some stick around because they relate to working in a male-dominated environment or find my access to big sporting events fascinating and insightful.
I recently stumbled upon a great example of how different feeds, all functioning within the same niche area, in the same geographic location, can present very different and beautifully unique characters
