Niche marketing is a form of marketing that is geared forward a very specific population, or niche. Niche marketing is possible when a business specializes in a particular service, or serves a particular demographic within its target audience. If the business forms its marketing endeavors around this subgroup, this business would be in the practice of niche marketing.
Niche Marketing Strategy
With a niche strategy, you leverage your expertise in one area to stand out from your competition. You may provide other products or services, and you may serve a broader audience, but specializing in one area helps you to distinguish your business.
The size of a business’s niche relative to its target audience can vary. Some niches make up the entire target audience, while others make up a small percentage. Depending on the size of the niche, a niche strategy may consist of any of the following:
Marketing only to your niche
Marketing to both your niche and your larger target audience, refining your content slightly more for the niche
Marketing to your target audience from the standpoint of your niche
Related: 6 Sample Marketing Plans
A Niche Strategy Example
Let’s say a landscaper’s target audience is comprised of owners of residential property, as opposed to owners of athletic fields, office courtyards, or college campuses. Within this target audience are various types of homeowners, based on region, neighborhood type, income level, and lawn size.
An example of a niche here would be wealthy estate owners, or wealthy estate owners who have organic plants or prefer eco-conscious landscaping. The landscaper provides basic lawn care services for average income homeowners as well, but his niche is wealthy estate owners. If there are enough wealthy estate owners in his area, the landscaper might only market to this demographic. If not, he might use this niche to market to all homeowners, by showcasing a beautiful estate lawn in a Facebook ad image, or catering his content around being the only eco-conscious landscaper in his area.
Benefits of Niche Marketing
Niche marketing isn’t for every business, but if you have the opportunity to cater your business toward a niche, there are many benefits to be had.
1. Enhanced Customer Relationships
Niche marketing targets a very specific kind of customer, so depending on what you’re promoting, your niche market may be very small. For example, if you are a physical therapist, there are only so many expectant mothers who are looking for physical therapy for hip issues.
A small customer base has its benefits. When you are engaging with fewer people, you can focus on the quality of those engagements and on nurturing your relationships. Your emails can be more personalized, your follow ups more diligent, and your thank yous more frequent. You can also accommodate special requests, offer custom services, and get to know your customers on a more individual level. Each of these practices will enable you to better serve your customers, further enhancing your relationship with them and solidifying their loyalty to you.
However, if you have a small niche, be careful not to pigeonhole your marketing. If your niche is just a part of your target audience, make sure your efforts on your niche are boosting, and not detracting from your efforts on your target audience. This is one of many important considerations to make when forming a niche market strategy.
2. Reduced Competition
When you have a highly specific product or service, there will be less companies out there with the exact same offering. For example, there are millions of companies out there that sell knives. There are fewer companies that sell knives with handmade wooden handles, and yet fewer that offer customized knives with your initials on them. The more specific your product or service, the less companies there will be to compete with you for consumers, and the harder it is for them to duplicate your strategies.
While it’s important for companies to have competitors, reduced competition is not necessarily a bad thing.
The less competitors you have, the less you have to worry about monitoring prices and keeping tabs on what they’re up to.
At the same time, the more specific the product is, the less people there will be that are looking for it. Reduced competition is only a benefit of niche marketing when there is a significant audience to compete for. If your competitors aren’t targeting a niche because they can’t meet their needs, then that’s great news for you. If they aren’t targeting that market because it’s not lucrative, then you may not be at an advantage.
3. Increased Visibility
Increased visibility is a benefit of niche marketing that not only leads to more customers but can also improve your online presence.
Businesses that serve a niche marketing tend to be unique, such as a cleaning company that uses all natural cleaning products, a gluten-free bakery, or landscaper that creates interesting mowing patterns. Businesses with a unique product or service tend to stand out, and often get featured in media outlets such as talk shows, radio stations, or newspapers.
With niche marketing specially, getting in front of the right people is more important than getting in front of a lot of people. However, getting in front of a lot of people such as through these media outlets also has its benefits. The more people who know about your business, the more people there are to recommend your business to a friend who fits your niche market.
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