Think of today’s most successful companies: Amazon, Google, Facebook, Apple, Netflix, etc. What would you say is common among them? For starters, they’re all thriving because they found a way to tap into a previously untapped niche market. For instance, Netflix has grown exponentially by focusing on streaming movies and TV shows instead of selling DVDs or CDs.
Starting a business is just the first and easier part. The real dealmaker is to find your business’s ideal niche market and optimise it for revenue. But don’t worry if you have no clue where to start looking. We have created this short yet comprehensive blog to discuss what a niche is and how it relates to your business, why you should target a niche market, and a 5-step procedure to find your niche. So let’s get down to business!
What is a Niche, and How Does It Relate to Your Business?
A niche is a specific group of people who share similar interests, needs, problems, desires, etc. A niche can also be defined as a small population segment with a particular set of characteristics. In other words, a niche is a unique and specific type of customer base.
For example, think about the different types of customers that visit your local grocery store. Some buy only organic food products, while others only buy non-organic food products, and then some buy both. These three groups represent three different niches within the same grocery store.
If you had a single business that sold all three types of products, you could potentially reach out to each of these three different customers without spending much time or money marketing to them separately. That’s precisely what a niche market does for you.
Why Should You Target a Niche?
There are several reasons targeting a niche makes sense for your business. Here’s a quick outline of a few:
- You save a lot of time, resources, and effort in marketing since you will be targeting a particular kind of customer. Hence, you focus on quality instead of quantity in your digital marketing strategy.
- It helps you build credibility and trust with your audience since you’re not trying to sell something that doesn’t interest them.
- Your product or service is highly relevant to their needs, which means you’ll likely see increased sales and conversions.
- You can quickly expand your business since you’re already catering to a specific type of customer.
How Do I Find My Niche?
Now that we know what a niche is and why it’s crucial, here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how to go about finding yours.
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Identify your interests and passion areas
Think about all the things you’ve always wanted to do but never got around to doing. A good starting point is asking yourself such questions as:
- What skills and talents am I effortlessly good at?
- What hobbies do I enjoy doing?
- What books, movies, music, TV shows, websites, apps… have I been meaning to check out?
- What activities do I like to participate in?
After making a list of at least ten questions, note their answers down and brainstorm unique ideas for your business-specific niche market.
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Determine the needs and problems of your customers
Once you’ve identified your passions and interests, list potential problems and issues your target customers might face. For example, if you love cooking, maybe you want to start an online recipe site where you provide easy-to-follow recipes for busy families. Or perhaps you’d rather help people lose weight by offering virtual or one-on-one training sessions at a cost.
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Research your competitors’ businesses
Once you’ve determined your niche, research your competition. What are they offering? How are they reaching their customers? Who are their biggest fans? The goal is to identify areas where there are still untapped growth opportunities and formulate a solid game plan to edge the competition.
N/B: Don’t view competition as bad; it only means that your idea is viable/profitable and worth pursuing.
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Create a plan for your niche
Now that you know more about your niche, create a detailed plan for your business. It may sound obvious, but this is probably the most critical part of marking your niche market. What’s your roadmap to profitability? You should take this time to think through every aspect of your idea from its inception to its execution. To realise that feat, you want to factor in five crucial elements:
- Product quality
- Pricing
- Customer values and interests
- Customer location (and outreach)
- Customer demographics
Conducting a thorough research of all these elements will give you a clear picture of what works best for your niche market. It will also enable you to price your products or services accordingly and reach out to your ideal audience hassle-free.
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Test your niche
Once you’ve formulated a solid plan, test it out! Start small and build your way up. If you don’t get any traction right away, try tweaking your product or service until you find something that resonates with your target audience. Remember, the key to success is not just having a great product but having a great product that solves a problem.
Over to You!
If you’ve done everything correctly, you should be ready to take on the world. But before you jump into mass production, consider how you can scale your niche. Are you willing to work long hours? Do you need to hire employees? Will you have to invest in expensive equipment? These are some of the many factors that come into play when scaling your business.
At Oracle Tree, we focus on helping businesses like yours succeed through strategic growth consulting, marketing growth strategy, and branding, among other services. Our mission is to leverage our vast expertise and experience to help elevate your business to greater heights. So we invite you to book a strategy call or contact us today, and let our highly experienced professionals guide you towards your next level of success.
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