Today’s world is a fiercely competitive business climate that is overcrowded with suppliers, each of which is bombarding consumers with marketing messages to get their attention.
This has created a phenomenon known as information overload wherein a lot of marketing attempts today simply turn into ‘noise’ that consumers try to block out, rather than engage with, and therefore it’s important you stand out and get noticed in order to create the engagement with your customer base you desire.
Whilst much of the context of getting noticed today pertains to the online landscape, even traditional businesses that focus on manufacturing such as the injection moulding process can benefit from these tips, as essentially it call comes down to relevancy.
Within the theme of relevance, it can be advisable to focus on a particular niche or subset of the market and become known as an expert within a narrower market (i.e. big fish in a small pond) rather than a generalist within a broader market (i.e. little fish in a big pond).
This article explores how you can help your business to stand out from the competition using this concept of niche marketing.
WHAT IS A NICHE?
A niche is a focused subset of a particular market. If you were to think about pet food, for example, we could chunk that down to cat food and dog food – but this is still a very broad market.
If, however, we were to look at a subsection of this market, as an example, gourmet pet food – this could be considered a niche market.
WHY HAVING A NICHE IS IMPORTANT
Often, the broad markets are very crowded and well established. If we were to think of this from a marketing spend perspective you want to get the greatest return on investment possible, and in spending money on digital marketing the cost per click for an advert relating to something broad like “dog food” is going to be much higher than something more niche such as “organic dog food” because the search term is less competitive.
Think of how much more relevant and efficient it would be to advertise your business at a niche trade show or business exhibition, where the focus is much narrower, meaning more people will be interested in what you have to offer.
It also means that the person clicking on your advert is a more relevant customer looking for your particular solution. Realistically, you don’t want thousands of people clicking on your adverts – you only want qualified prospects – and the more niche focused your marketing is, the better the conversion rate will be meaning the higher the return on your investment.
WHY YOU WON’T LOSE CUSTOMERS
It can feel counterintuitive to limit your market, by focusing on one specific group, particularly if you’re offering something that has broad market appeal (e.g. hairdressing).
However, think of specialists within the medical profession. You have general doctors then you have specialist consultants that focus on a particular niche and charge way much more for their time. In focusing on a particular niche (e.g. a certain type of cancer) they create massive pull toward their offering to the people that are specifically seeking out a solution to the problem they face.
In doing so, you position yourself as the go-to-expert and align so strongly with that particular audience they are magnetically attracted to your ‘specialist area’ of expertise. Remember, people have problems and they seek solutions – if you can position your service as offering a more relevant solution than a more broad spectrum competitor, they will choose you.
In marketing, relevancy is everything and one of the best ways to make yourself stand out as a relevant service provider is to use niche marketing to your advantage.
