The majority of business owners, at some point in their careers, will have heard the virtues of niche marketing, but perhaps due to the fear of losing customers as a result of limiting the size of your market, you have stuck with more generalist marketing in order to keep your customer base as wide as possible.
In many ways, it can feel safer to fish from a large pond rather than a small pond, and it’s understandable why some business owners are reluctant to embrace niche marketing, yet it really is the way forward for most small businesses.
What is a niche?
If you’re unfamiliar with the term, a niche is a subset of a particular market group; as an example, you could be a specialist hairdresser that targets people with ginger hair, or Afro-Caribbean hair. It is about taking a particular slice of the pie that you claim as your domain, and become an expert within this field.
See, most hairdressers, for example, feel desperate for customers so cater to everyone – they do men’s hair, women’s hair, and claim to be able to do all things for all people… a niche provider, on the other hand, says we don’t cater for anyone other than “you” – meaning they are extremely relevant to their exact target audience.
Clearly, one needs to make sure that this specific slice is large enough to sustain their business, but having a niche and becoming an authority within this space is extremely effective.
See a lot of people use companies like https://www.thelocalmarketingteam.co.uk/ in order to get attention, which can be a great idea, but all too often people are promoting something that many others are promoting, and therefore the service or product they are promoting becomes more of a commodity where businesses start competing on price, which is a slippery slope leading to diminished profitability.
When you start operating as an expert within a particular field, that’s when people will be drawn to you – based on the perceived value of having someone that only deals with “X”.
If you type into www.google.com a phrase based around a specific problem, you’ll see the power of niche marketing, in that companies are naturally displayed due to their expertise rather than having to depend on a huge advertising budget.
A great way to think about this is to consider the trend of food trucks; these people don’t try to do a little bit of everything for everyone – they specialise in one thing, such as burgers, and do it extremely well. It’s as if they master their craft, and therefore, are able to generate significant profit on each burger they sell, plus, have a queue around the corner because they are known for producing the greatest burgers in town.
You need to find something you are good at, something you can become known for, and promote your business as the go-to expert when your looking for “X”.
Why you won’t lose customers
It can feel counterintuitive to limit your market, in this way, however, think of specialists within the medical profession. Who are the highest paid and most sought after; general practitioners or specialist consultants? In focusing on a particular niche (e.g. a certain type of disease) the specialist marks himself out as an expert and creates a massive pull toward his offering, rather than having to push and promote his services… as there are a number of people specifically seeking out a solution to the specific problem they face – and they are magnetically attracted to people with a specialist area of expertise.
In summary, niche marketing makes you more relevant to your target audience which means that people start being drawn toward you rather than you having to chase after people.