Niche Marketing Secrets For Start-Up Business
The definition of a niche market
To put it simply, it is a smaller segment of a larger market. The strategy of niche market aims to get outstanding in competition and exactly target a group of potential customers. This could be done by focusing specific items on niche markets, which allow them to meet narrow demands about features, pricing, quality, and availability.
Finding your niche market is the key to start your business successfully and develop it sustainably. It is not merely understanding your strong points, but getting to know the habits and demand of customers and the methods to satisfy them. For this reason, making a personal connection with your audience allow you to turn them into a group of dedicated people. Thanks to that, your business could be boosted.
Furthermore, after figuring out your niche and your core audience, you will have a great opportunity to redirect efforts to reach wider audiences and grow your business.
The main advantages of niche marketing
There are also many other benefits of doing niche market besides the one that helps you stand out of the crowd and win in the competition.
1. Limit competition: the smaller target market lowers the competition, but you still have the same audience. The smaller it is, the more easily that you can connect with your audience.
2. Reduce costs: it can save your marketing campaigns a lot because when your volume of customers is smaller and easier to reach, you don’t have to spend much on testing out messaging and tactics.
3. Get more royal customers: when you focus on a certain group of people, then they will feel more interests at heart from you than the competition. They can become the backbone of your business.
4. Target your audience more easily: a niche business helps you to understand your customers inside-and-out, so it is easier for the audience to accept you.
The factors to get success with niche marketing
It is not true to define niche marketing is all about narrowing down an audience as much as possible, then making a strategy to only target them. Instead, the key thing here is to discover the underserved market, making them interested in and become a part of that niche. In other words, a good niche marketing campaign is the one that can get people fascinated and feel like they belong to something that you have larger than themselves. Therefore, not only ideal customers, your campaign have to activate other members of your audience to make them realize that they are your ideal customers.
1. A sense of identify and belonging
It is not true to define niche marketing is all about narrowing down an audience as much as possible, then making a strategy to only target them. Instead, the key thing here is to discover the underserved market, making them interested in and become a part of that niche. In other words, a good niche marketing campaign is the one that can get people fascinated and feel like they belong to something that you have larger than themselves. Therefore, not only ideal customers, your campaign have to activate other members of your audience to make them realize that they are your ideal customers.
This is what niche marketing campaigns aim to give to an audience, especially to those who feel ignored and undervalued. This factor is built based on the theory of “Us vs. Them” meaning in-group and out-group. For the in-group members, they are given a sense of purpose, while for the out-group ones, you try to make them worry about being left out. As a result, there is an increase in self-esteem and belonging in the in-group because of social identity. Moreover, they can be proud of becoming different.
2. Storytelling
More than selling a product, your niche marketing campaign needs to sell a lifestyle as well to get success. Show your customers that your product perfectly suits their lives by telling a meaningful story about your brand.
For example, this is how a single speed and fixed gear bicycle retailer has done to build a fantastic story around its products. They market their bikes as a part of a larger life, rather than just a means of transport. By doing that, this company is bringing its product closer to customers and encouraging them to own a bicycle to make their life larger! The way they tell the story is also absolutely full of fun and energetic. Then a cool and interesting adventure is created that engage customers to join in for casually getting around, not only for racing or mountain biking.
More than that, this way does not stop the company’s page. It draws customers with high-value pieces of content like curated mixtapes and videos. That means it is reaching more new customers.
Steps to start a business in a niche market
Step 1: Get to know your potential customers
How about finding your customers first prior to a product if you are in trouble choosing an ideal for your business? As you figure out who you want to sell, what and how you sell will naturally come to you.
Actually, the easiest way to find the ideal customers is by looking at your own life and interests, especially running with your passions. It doesn’t matter it is your hobby or a skill that you are good at, or even a fair game is also possible. Besides, this means dealing with your own problem that you think others are struggling with as well.
Step 2: Define your niche
Once the information about your customers is available, you now need to identify a niche for your business. There are three criteria for this step. Firstly, it should be unique to separate it from larger audiences and make it easier to describe. Secondly, make sure that there will no difficulties to use demographics, behaviors, and interests. Thirdly, remember to spare space to reach larger audiences and expand it in the future.
Step 3: Figure out a product
During step 2 of defining your niche, you might come up with some ideas for potential products. If not, keep in mind that there is still a product for you if there is a customer with a pain point or need. In other words, finding a new product means looking for an existing hole in a larger market. Then you will know what and where your customers are missing.
Step 4: Determine your unique selling proposition
Starting with a unique selling proposition, then you will have a guide for everything later, ranging from launching marketing campaigns to developing the product.
However, having a unique selling proposition does not mean doing one or two things, but a combination of many elements that come together to attract your customers to choose your products over your competition. Here are some questions to ask yourself to help you:
- Is there no one out there offer your products?
- Is it necessary for your customers to buy your products?
- Are there enough strong values in your products?
- How can you apply what you know about your customers to make an inevitable product?
There are some things that you need to remember: It’s better for your business to be the first choice of some rather than the second choice of all. That is you need to figure out what you are the best at. Then carry out effective marketing campaigns to draw your customers’ attention by your own amazing niche.
Take a look at other suggestions for ideal products for 2019 to start your business and an amazing tool like a leading e-commerce platform, Shopify with its excellent Shopify Apps to help you develop your business.