The constant rise in the number of players in the marketplace means endless possibilities for businesses to position themselves. However, this constant growth has also led to a saturation of the marketplace resulting in stiffer competition.
This means that businesses have to constantly adopt innovative marketing techniques to stand out in the marketplace. One of such techniques is the adoption of niche marketing strategies. Carving a niche gives more clarity and paves the way for a more focused and unique business model.
Niche marketing strategies are designed to attract a specific subset of customers and help you stand out from the competition. As opposed to focusing on the broader market, a niche marketing strategy focuses on a small group of buyers. A business that will thrive in today's market is narrowed down and audience-driven.
This blog explores the basics of niche marketing strategies and how to build a strong niche for your business.
What are Niche Marketing Strategies?
Niche marketing strategies are best described as strategies to target a specific portion of the overall market. They are also used to communicate messages that resonate with the unique needs and characteristics of a specific audience.
Rather than appealing to the broader audience, niche marketing focuses on a smaller market segment usually underserved by larger businesses. By meeting the specific needs of a niche market, businesses build solid customer relationships and establish themselves as experts in their field.
Why Should You Adopt Niche Marketing Strategies?
Niche Marketing strategies involve targeting campaigns for a specific type of buyer. Adopting these strategies is a more focused and target-oriented way of doing business. The following are the benefits of niche marketing strategies:
Increased productivity: When your business is focused and consistent, you can achieve maximum output.
Increased profits: Some customers are better suited for your products and services than others. When your niche is clearly defined, you focus on selling the most profitable products and services for your ideal customers.
Reduced competition: Once you are seen as an expert in a field, it is easier to attract the same types of customers. Also, being an expert in a niche gives you a competitive advantage when going up against a generalist.
Greater trust and credibility: The more experienced you are in a niche the greater your credibility in that field.
Reduced marketing costs: Well-crafted sales and marketing campaigns that excellently engage the target audience can be repurposed and reused. This reduces marketing costs while maintaining campaigns driving leads for months or years.
Tips on Developing Effective Niche Marketing Strategies
Know Your competition
Developing a solid niche marketing strategy is impossible without knowing about your competition. It is important to understand your unique selling proposition i.e. what you do that makes customers choose you over others.
For instance, you may make designs that can’t be found anywhere else, or an app that solves a major problem. Whatever it is, discover your specialty and create a narrative around it.
Go Where Your Buyers are
You need to know where your audience is and go after them. If your ideal customer spends all their time on Instagram, it would be wrong to develop niche marketing strategies around email campaigns.
This is why you need to conduct extensive market research. After knowing who your buyers are, research helps to know where they shop and how they find their products It also helps you know the major influences on their purchase decisions.
Narrow Down Your Niche Market
Brian Chesky, a co-founder of Airbnb is famous for saying, “Build something 100 people love, not something 1 million people kind of like.” This means it’s better to have a small group who adore your business than a large group who think it’s just okay. You can achieve this by focusing on the right niche market for your business. It may take time and thought but it is worth the effort to find loyal customers who will choose you over others.
Pay Attention to the Word on the Street
Everyone has problems that need solutions, and if you listen well enough you can find opportunities to solve such problems.
Dave Barnett is a classic example of this scenario as he engineered a solution for constantly tangled headphones. What began as two buttons glued to the back of a phone case metamorphosized into Popsockets. The company raked in about $169 million in revenue just seven years post-founding.
Create a Unique Brand
Once you discover your unique selling point, create your buyer persona, find out where they are, and listen to their problems. After putting all these in place, the next thing is to build your brand identity.
A well-defined brand helps to develop a niche marketing strategy that is authentic to you and attracts ideal customers.
For example, Etsy is widely known as the marketplace for independent artists and has attracted more than 138 million buyers. In 2020, the company leveraged this influence and used emotional marketing tactics to encourage support for small businesses that sell through the platform. Of course, there was massive support for this course because of the loyal customers the company had gathered.
Examples of Niche Marketing Strategies
Octavia Elizabeth Jewelry: Ethically-minded consumers of jewellery are usually concerned about raw materials sourcing and product creation. This is because the jewellery industry has come under much scrutiny for using child labour and causing extensive environmental harm. Octavia Elizabeth came on board with an understanding of the need for responsible jewellery. The company is committed to fair working conditions, ethical production and legitimate living wages as stated on its website. The brand paid attention to the problems in the jewellery industry and came to solve them. It has also elevated its niche offering by associating itself with celebrities.
Malenki Shoes: This brand was born after its founder noticed that there was no thriving market for fashionable shoes for petite women. It stepped in to empower petite women with fun, stylish heels and sandals instead of being limited to children’s flats.
TomboyX: This brand noticed the difficulty that came with finding gender-neutral clothing and stepped in with a solution. The TomboyX brand came up with the solution of a gender-inclusive clothing brand. It caters to all products including compression tops, biker shorts, soft bras and swimming trunks.
Conclusion
The benefits of niche marketing strategies are unique and are powerful tools for businesses focusing on a niche market. These strategies may seem tricky, but once you identify the market you plan to serve, it becomes easier to tailor them toward potential customers.
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