Your Catholic Product's Unique Value Proposition
What makes your product stand out?
Who else gets annoyed when you browse Etsy and see the same quotes and designs used over and over again on the same mugs, t-shirts, etc.? I know it’s nice to give people options, but at a certain point, it just seems redundant. In this article, I’m going to provide suggestions for determining your product’s unique value proposition. What makes it stand out from the rest?
Your Unique Contribution
“Those who perceive in themselves this kind of divine spark which is the artistic vocation—as poet, writer, sculptor, architect, musician, actor and so on—feel at the same time the obligation not to waste this talent but to develop it, in order to put it at the service of their neighbour and of humanity as a whole.”
—Letter to Artists, Pope St. John Paul II, 1999
As writers and creators, we have been given such a gift—the ability to use our artistic talents for the service and benefit of others. Each of us provides a unique contribution, and I encourage you to really tap into your creativity and develop the unique mark your product will leave.
In the marketing world, this is called your “unique value proposition,” or what makes your product different. This can be decided before you even start writing or creating.
Some questions to ponder:
How will my product stand out on a shelf?
Why should someone buy my product instead of the others on the market?
How can I make my product more unique or interesting?
Are there enough people out there who will understand this value?
How does this position me within the market?
We pay more for one-of-a-kind things!
When I am presented with several options, it's easy to start price comparisons. I start with what's cheapest and see if it will meet my needs. But, if there is only ONE of something, the price is less flexible. Obviously, we want to be reasonable. But, if what you are offering is truly different from the rest, you can be confident in your pricing or charge a premium for it.
As self-publishers and artisans, we often must charge more for our books and products to begin with due to higher printing and production costs. Give yourself a leg up by adding an additional level of creativity to what you are offering.
Perform Market Research
It is helpful to know what already exists, so you know how your product can fill a gap. A few Internet searches can help you determine which books on similar topics or which products already exist. I typically suggest looking on Amazon, Etsy, and Google to begin. These three places will give you a good snapshot of what is already out there. Consider other places where people search online and buy products like yours and do some searches there, too.
TIP 1: When you type a phrase in quotations, you are telling the search engine to only give you results that match exactly that phrase. For example: "Catholic Planners" or "Catholic Daily Devotionals." This can help you weed through search results a bit faster if what you are looking for is very specific.
Once you have a list of similar products, think about what these products do well, what you would change, what reviewers say about them, how the covers or designs look, etc. Analyzing these products will help you identify your Unique Value Proposition.
Tip 2: Finding someone else who is successfully creating a product like the one you want to create is actually a good thing! It shows there is demand for it. If no one is doing it, it might be because there isn’t a market for it. What I always encourage, though, is putting your own spin on it and making it unique to you.
Who Do You Hope to Serve?
This is often considered your "target audience." From a Catholic standpoint, I like to think about not who I am targeting, so much as who I am SERVING.
What is your product providing to your customer?
What emotions do they feel after reading the book or using the product?
How can your product solve a problem for your customer?
Will this product help your customer grow closer to Christ?
You will also need to identify who this person is, including things like:
Age range
Gender
Vocation
Life Circumstances
Determining Your Niche
Marketing toward a smaller number of people with specific interests can be SO much more lucrative than marketing toward a larger number of people with general interests. I know this might seem backwards at first. Wouldn't you want to tell everyone about your product? The answer is actually no.
When you market to everyone, you reach no one. When you market to a select group of people, you reach people who feel heard. You have just solved their unique problem. Your product is the exact thing they've been looking for! You want to "niche down" so you are marketing toward the exact person who would love your product. Really take a minute to think about who you are serving with your product.
Use My Catholic Keepsake (the Catholic baby memory book I created) as an example. This is what niching down can look like:
Catholic (Very general)
Catholic Women (Still general)
Catholic Moms (Getting better)
Catholic Moms who just had a baby (Good)
Catholic Moms who just had a first baby (Best) -- A Catholic mom who just had her 4th baby might still buy my book. But if they haven't purchased one for the first 3 kids, will they start with the 4th? My best bet is to reach brand new Catholic moms who are building baby registries!
Tip: Using my above example, you can see I’ve realllly niched down for this particular product. I don’t necessarily advise niching down this far for your entire business though. Having other products that could serve Catholic moms in general would help me broaden my reach.
Once you identify your niche, you can think of the right places to find those people. For example, I don't go to college campuses to sell my baby memory books. But, I do find Catholic moms with blogs who would be interested in reviewing my book. And I make sure words like “baby shower” are in my descriptions as baby showers are typically for first time moms!
Let’s Cover This In More Detail…
Paid subscribers have access to an 18-minute video where I discuss all the above tips in further detail, and provide a fill-in-the-blank template to help you create your own Unique Value Proposition. You’ll also have the opportunity to post your Unique Value Proposition in the comments! The video was created for books, but the tips apply well to all products.