Pick a lane. The benefits of niche marketing.

I'm an idea person, I always have something I want to explore and invariably this creeps into my business and I find myself off on tangents. When you are setting up a small business, you often try and be all things to all people. After all, it seems you would want to cast the widest net, right?

Not so fast. Today, competition is fierce, barriers to entry low, and consumers have a plethora of choices when it comes to products and services. The easiest way for a startup business to stand out is to dominate a niche within the wider market. When you target your business to a specific audience, fulfilling a specific unmet need with precise products and expertise, your business gains a solid foundation from which to grow.

So what is a niche? A niche is a subset within a larger market that caters to a specific profile. Instead of casting a wide net, you identify, define, and understand a narrower audience, focusing your efforts on their needs, wants, or desires. A niche can be defined by a number of things like demographics, culture, psychographics, values, or specific needs. Essentially, you're looking for a hole in the market to dominate. Big fish in a little pond, so to speak.

The benefits of niche marketing are;

• focuses your limited time and budget
• reduces competition
• strengthens your value proposition
• reduces the learning curve
• increases brand loyalty and social proof
• gives you a solid platform from which to grow

Of course, you want to choose a niche in which you have specific expertise allowing you to build on strengths you already have. For example as founders, Polly and I have decades of experience working with small business owners or start-ups. So, we focused our online branding course on small business startups. Our audience has little brand marketing experience, a very limited budget, and needs to get up and running quickly. So, our course walks them through step-by-step, culminating in a tailored and actionable branding plan.

So, how do you find the right niche? You need to ask the right questions and understand your target audience deeply. (Our course can help you uncover opportunities through strategic research and developing detailed customer personas.) Some questions to ask...

• Are there holes in the market you are considering entering?
• Who is (and who is not) your target audience?
• What needs are not being met within your target audience?
• Can you offer them solutions within your area of expertise?
• Are there already competitors within that space?
• Can your niche be expanded into other products or services?
• Are you passionate about this niche?

One of the most powerful brand development strategies when you are just starting a small business is to choose a lane and stick with it. And, when opportunities arise (or in my case, ideas pop into your head) ask yourself, "does this support growth within my niche?"

💙
Petra