The word “niche” means a specialized area of a market for a specific product. Since it is a special segment, it has a smaller following. However, this small group of people are the most interested and therefore has the potential to be very loyal.
If you think your business is operating in a saturated market, the most logical thing to do is NOT to quit. Instead, you can focus on a niche and support it with a marketing strategy experts call niche marketing.
Big businesses often use niche marketing. Volvo, for instance, produces high-end vehicles for affluent customers. At the same time, they also advertise large trucks to construction companies; both of which are separate niches.
One of the most attractive features of niche marketing is that advertising budgets can go further. It costs less to market to a specialized market than it does target a larger mass-market. You also do not need as much prodding to get these focused customers to buy because they pretty much know what they are looking for. All you need to do is let them know your business exists.
What is niche marketing?
Niche marketing takes place when you concentrate your marketing efforts on a specific targeted segment of the market. These targeted segments, known as niche markets, present a product or service to a specified group of consumers who have specific wants. Niche marketers focus on a specific need, and they set their marketing efforts appropriately.
Niche marketing has to be devised to satisfy the unique demands of the targeted audience. Marketers must adapt their products to serve those unique needs. For example, if you have written a book about building and operating an e-commerce site, people who want to start an online business will be your niche market. People who are not interested in having an e-commerce site, or those who already have one, will not buy your book.
Finding your niche
Most people believe that being able to do more than just one or two specializations is a better business model because they can get more people into their marketing funnel. They also think that focusing on a niche market is too risky.
However, niche marketing can help your business stand out in an industry with hundreds of competitors.
Here are some tips on how to find your niche.
1. Know your strengths
Begin by identifying what you are good at and what you can offer. Successful niche marketing strategies use a brand’s unique strengths, which is why you have to know what the special qualities of your products are.
Marketing to a unique group of people is an opportunity for you to work with people you most want to be in touch with. If you love motorcycles, then a business related to motorcycles will allow you to serve like-minded people. But true niche marketing narrows a broad group to something much more specific like new motorcycle buyers or classic retro cycles.
2. Research your industry
Perform a competitive analysis after you have identified the niche market you want to serve. Find out if you have competitors in your chosen field, how many there are, and what are they already doing. Check if there are particular under-served segments with legitimate demand that you can penetrate.
3. Know your ideal customer
You should look closely at your target customer. It will help you know what they want so you can provide better products. You also need to create a buyer’s persona.
Creating a buyer’s persona should be one of the first things you do when creating a marketing campaign. A buyer’s persona is a fictitious person created by marketers. It specifies the demographics, behavior, desires, income, educational background, and other qualities of the people you want to target. Marketers do this to ensure that they have a clear understanding of their targets are getting relevant messages across to the right people.
4. Listen to your customers
Your customers know your business, even better than you do. That is why it is important to listen to them. That does not mean you have to eavesdrop on every conversation, though. Marketers make use of tools like social media to learn what consumers are saying about a particular industry, company, or person. Surveys and focus groups can also be very helpful.
There are also free and paid tools you can use to monitor how people are talking about your business, like Talkwater and Keyhole.
5. Test your campaign
Always test your idea, then review the results. See if it is effective and adjust it until it works. You might just need to do a few simple tweaks to your campaign.
Niche marketing misconceptions
1. You must be an expert
While it helps to be an expert in the field you choose, being knowledgeable will suffice. There are plenty of sites on the internet that can make you look like a genius. If you love what you are doing, then there will be plenty of possibilities.
2. Choose one niche and stick with it
It is not necessarily true. If you want to branch out to another niche, no one should stop you. The key here is to establish your first niche before jumping to another.
Conclusion
You can substantially increase the chances of your business’ success with niche markets. Instead of competing in a large existing market space with plenty of competition, you will be able to create an almost uncontested market space while making the competition irrelevant.
You can also reduce your marketing expenses through niche marketing because you will be concentrating on a specific consumer group and not on a broad audience. Niche markets are aplenty and profitable, all you need to do is find your niche.