Entering a Niche Market in 3 Easy Steps
Posted by: Derek Palizay
in Marketing, Online Marketing
Most companies practice niche marketing and gear most of their efforts to specific targeted audiences. Some of the biggest brands in the world segment their marketing efforts to a point where they are catering to all of the demographical and geographical characteristics of their customers; they do this because it is effective.
Niche marketing will save you a lot of money in the long run.
With niche marketing, you can stretch each dollar you spend on advertising because you know exactly where you need to spend and how much it costs to acquire a new customer. Let’s take at these 3 aspects and see if we can better understand niche marketing and it’s implementation.
Niche marketing is all about quenching the thirst of a target market with a specific product or service. Queching the thirst of an industry could be solving a problem, offering better perks and features, or simple having a better model than the other companies and firms with in the industry, if there are any.
Let’s take Head and Shoulders shampoo by Fortune 500 company, Procter and Gamble — until the 1960’s, nothing really changed about shampoo except for smells, colors and shapes. Then P&G formulated a shampoo specifically for those struggling with dandruff, and they started a new sector in the industry. They took a niche, solved a pain point, and have since developed over 10 different versions of that product while making millions!
It all comes back to solving those pain points.
What is the competition doing, and how can you solve a pain point that they currently don’t cater to? Once you find that pain point, before ’solving it’, you have to focus on communicating to the consumer in a way that makes sense to them. Any time you are trying to break past the barriers of entry, especially in niche marketing, you have to speak the language of your consumer. Don’t present yourself as an outsider.
In the end, the more value you bring to the table with your solution, and the better you can communicate to the consumers, the better off you will be.
You can start the testing process first by researching and analyzing your industry competitors. Similar to the points I’ve outlined in my article about creating a media and advertising plan, you need to know everything about your competitors.
So, what does all of this have to do with “testing?” Everything. When you are entering a new niche market, or simply using an existing business by expanding the brand into a niche market, everything you do is a test. The only difference between this test, and the ones you took in college, is that you are the one grading your tests, not the teacher.
How well you grade your test determines how effectively you move forward. Let the data and insight speak for itself and do not be blinded by excitement. If through your research and development, you find that the niche business is not worth pursuing, don’t be ignorant and continue moving forward, just because new things are exciting. Make effective and educated business decisions.
Ask yourself this question: “Have I tested enough?” If you have to hesitate even for a split second, you haven’t tested enough, so go back to the drawing boards.
Use strategies like:
The bottom line is that you are dealing with humans, and humans have patterns. It is your job to discover those patterns and capitalize on solving your customers pain points in a way that the competitors can’t.
Most companies practice niche marketing and gear most of their efforts to specific targeted audiences. Some of the biggest brands in the world segment their marketing efforts to a point where they are catering to all of the demographical and geographical characteristics of their customers; they do this because it is effective.
Niche marketing will save you a lot of money in the long run.
With niche marketing, you can stretch each dollar you spend on advertising because you know exactly where you need to spend and how much it costs to acquire a new customer. Let’s take at these 3 aspects and see if we can better understand niche marketing and it’s implementation.
1. Solve and Communicate
Become a waterhole in the desert.Niche marketing is all about quenching the thirst of a target market with a specific product or service. Queching the thirst of an industry could be solving a problem, offering better perks and features, or simple having a better model than the other companies and firms with in the industry, if there are any.
Let’s take Head and Shoulders shampoo by Fortune 500 company, Procter and Gamble — until the 1960’s, nothing really changed about shampoo except for smells, colors and shapes. Then P&G formulated a shampoo specifically for those struggling with dandruff, and they started a new sector in the industry. They took a niche, solved a pain point, and have since developed over 10 different versions of that product while making millions!
It all comes back to solving those pain points.
What is the competition doing, and how can you solve a pain point that they currently don’t cater to? Once you find that pain point, before ’solving it’, you have to focus on communicating to the consumer in a way that makes sense to them. Any time you are trying to break past the barriers of entry, especially in niche marketing, you have to speak the language of your consumer. Don’t present yourself as an outsider.
In the end, the more value you bring to the table with your solution, and the better you can communicate to the consumers, the better off you will be.
2. Ace the Test
Anytime you are entering a new niche market, even if you are just expanding within your own brand, you need to position yourself correctly and ace the test!You can start the testing process first by researching and analyzing your industry competitors. Similar to the points I’ve outlined in my article about creating a media and advertising plan, you need to know everything about your competitors.
- What products or services do they have?
- Are they launching new ones?
- What avenues do they use for advertising?
- How much are they spending on marketing and advertising?
- Where are they spending that money and in what quantities?
- What ads are they running?
- What is their unique value proposition?
- Companies have tried that niche before and it wasn’t effective or lucrative.
- No one else has figured out how to service this niche market.
So, what does all of this have to do with “testing?” Everything. When you are entering a new niche market, or simply using an existing business by expanding the brand into a niche market, everything you do is a test. The only difference between this test, and the ones you took in college, is that you are the one grading your tests, not the teacher.
How well you grade your test determines how effectively you move forward. Let the data and insight speak for itself and do not be blinded by excitement. If through your research and development, you find that the niche business is not worth pursuing, don’t be ignorant and continue moving forward, just because new things are exciting. Make effective and educated business decisions.
Ask yourself this question: “Have I tested enough?” If you have to hesitate even for a split second, you haven’t tested enough, so go back to the drawing boards.
3. Listen to Your Gut
Many times when marketers and advertisers are discovering or developing a new niche, they think that they have to come up with a ‘never-before-heard-of’ or ‘out-of-the-box’ marketing idea, in order to successful conquer the niche. While this may be the case sometimes, you need to stick to that gut feeling and use the tactics and strategies that you know are effective.Use strategies like:
- Pay-Per-Click (PPC) - This is an absolute given if you are even thinking about reaching new customers in any niche online. Why? Because you are going to pay much less for a product or service (per click) that fewer companies are competing for, than you would in a mainstream market. One beautiful thing about PPC is that you can fine tune the ads to target only the people that you are looking for, while excluding those who will never become a qualified lead. And even more beautiful, every click indicates someone what is an actual qualified lead, whether they are a MQL or SQL. Through strategic keywords and keyword phrases, PPC is a must for every niche market.
- Content Marketing - We have talked about content over and over again, because it works. Content marketing works on a few different levels. It allows you to acquire traffic, convert leads, and even nurture existing clients. Content provides information and insight to your customers and is a fantastic way to “educate” the market on your specific brand. Many people will not use this route because of the time it takes to create content — but in all honesty, you can not afford to skip content marketing.
- Social Marketing - Most marketers roll their eyes at the thought of social marketing being the future of digital marketing, but the truth is that they will have to jump on at one point or another. I was recently watching ABC’s Shark Tank, where an entrepreneur was pitching to the Sharks and communicated that the majority of her $500K+ in sales came from Instagram…c’mon people, Instagram. How many of you would sit on Instagram all day if you could make $500K in sales? There are so many platforms available, and you need to learn how to leverage those platforms to generate brand awareness, and ultimately leads for your niche.
Conclusion
When it comes down to it, mastering a niche market isn’t much different that meeting a new friend. You introduce yourself, learn their name, their likes, their dislikes, their behaviors, and then you develop a friendship from there.The bottom line is that you are dealing with humans, and humans have patterns. It is your job to discover those patterns and capitalize on solving your customers pain points in a way that the competitors can’t.
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