Your Business Will Die Without a Niche Marketing Strategy
Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.
Your committing business suicide without a targeted niche marketing strategy. There is a lot of competition for people’s attention both offline and on the internet. Things start to look the same. And, because things appear alike, people typically start looking at price as their deciding factor.
Don’t sell on price! You’ll lose.
You need to provide value so you can stand out.
Position yourself as an authority in a niche market. Select a larger market, break it up into smaller pieces, then focus on one of those smaller markets.
To illustrate, let’s say you create dog blankets. I don’t know if this is a big market, but just humour me for a minute;).
I’ll suggest that most entrepreneurs making dog blankets are targeting the smaller dog market – chihuahua, Maltese, Pug, etc.
But what if you went after a really specific dog market, like racing dogs. You know, greyhounds and whippets. Dog owners spend a lot of time looking after these prized dogs because, they travel with them, they value them, and spend money on them.
You would establish yourself as the expert on looking after these special dogs’ special comforts.
Do you see where I’m going with this?
Niche Marketing Strategy – Find a Niche
When you are trying to create a niche marketing strategy, look first at yourself. What are your experiences, your skills? What do you like? What are you good at? Where do you think you could make an impact.
Then start investigating what markets are growing. Some profitable, yet highly competitive niche markets are:
– Golf
– Dating
– Pets
– Weight Loss
– Insurance
– Stock Market Trading
Consider how many kajillions of people are trying to compete in these areas. Select a particular growing niche in one of them, and you could be set.
Examples
– Dating Service for 20 to 30 year old deaf professionals
– Golf rain gear for ladies over six feet tall
– Insurance for seniors driving scooter wheelchairs in cities under 50,000 population
Can you see how very specific these niche markets are?
Niche Marketing Strategy – Discover the Pain
Now you’ve found your target, your niche marketing strategy needs to determine the customer’s pain, frustration and concerns.
Continuing with the dog blanket scenario, think of the owner’s worries and concerns for their precious dogs. You provide something that eliminates their fear.
Maybe they want their dog to look special in front of other dog owners. In the cages, where the dogs are kept before and after the race, they want a blanket that looks special, something that stands out. Their dog should look like a champion, so maybe the design looks like the pillow from a throne. Maybe it has to be a special fabric that helps their fur or muscles, before or after a race.
Research your niche market to find out what people talk about, what keeps them up at night. Find blogs, articles and forum. Learn about racing dogs and their care, how they travel, what happens before a race. What are their owners feeling.
Adapt or create your product for someone, or something specific, and make a difference in their lives.
Niche Marketing Strategy – Become the Niche Expert
When you really zero in on a target audience, someone you can actually envision (read my blog about creating your avatar), you can become more focused on what to offer, what to say, how to say it. You can appeal to people because you’ll be positioned as the expert.
When people know you are the niche expert, they’ll start spreading the news, your offers and content.
You will need to do some work, so start today to dig down into your niche marketing strategy.
Suggest Resource: Susan Friedmann’s book – Riches in Niches