Niche marketing is the process of targeting a concise sub-section of a larger market. For businesses, this means determining which aspects of a service or product are unique and capable of meeting a well-defined range of needs. When promoting a product or group of products to a large market, companies find that they are small fish in a big sea. By targeting a specific niche, however, these same companies can become much bigger fish in smaller seas. This is a great way to outshine competition, claim stake to a determined segment of the market and establish continuity in profits among other things. Following are five ways to choose the best niche market for your business.
1. Determine Your Angle
There are a number of features that can help you define your niche. Your products or services might be desirable to a subset of your market based on cost, availability, service speeds and quality among other factors. You have to determine which groups of customers have special needs that you are capable of filling based upon the unique qualities of your services or goods. These are what set you apart from your competition. Often, the key to determining your angle lies in defining how you can meet the special needs of a specific market subset, without radically altering your current business structure.
2. Learn More About Your New Market
After you have loosely defined the niche that you will be targeting, you need to start learning more about the people who make this niche up. Not only does there have to be a real need and desire for your products, but these individuals must be additionally qualified to purchase them. Marketing effectively to a subset also requires you to have a clear understand of the language and online platforms that the targeted group using. You additionally want to define why the consumer habits of these individuals are discernibly different from those of the larger market.
3. Check Out Your Competition
Before starting a niche marketing program, you want to make sure that you are setting your sites on a profitable niche. While there might be a large subset of people who have very specific needs that you are capable of meeting, this niche could be dense with competition. A good niche will be well-defined but not riddled with aggressive competitors who may be capable of out-pricing you or implementing larger and more impressive advertising campaigns.
4. Determine Whether You Are Passionate About Your Niche
In addition to being profitable and filled with qualified prospects, a good niche must also be something that you are passionate about. While a new marketing plan should not result in massive business restructuring, a niche-specific marketing campaign will have an impact on the overall nature of your business. You have to make sure that you are just as passionate about catering to this demographic as you are about your business overall. Passion increases the likelihood of profitability, creativity and forward-thinking actions.
5. Research The Trends Within The Industry
Researching industry trends is vital for ensuring continued profitability. The needs of a market subset can be wholly seasonal and thus, while you can look forward to major profits at specific times of the year, you might experience significant slowdowns in business at others. Identifying trends ahead of your marketing campaign will help you to better balance your investments in this area. For a seasonal niche, you can invest more in your marketing campaigns just ahead of the busy season and then start funneling marketing dollars into other areas, just before a slowdown occurs.
