A niche, by definition, refers to a place or position. In marketing, it refers to the position you hold within your market and the customer base you serve exclusively. Many people are scared that having a niche means missing out on business but it actually helps establish you as a specialist which ultimately attracts more business. And, though it may seem limiting at first it’s a great point of distinction in over-saturated markets like event planning, financial advising or attorneys, etc. Identifying your niche, however, can be tricky as the element of exclusivity is necessary to ensure that you are either satisfying an unmet need in the market or are overly specialized in a domain that renders you distinct. Below a two-prong approach on how to identify your niche market.
Looking for unmet needs. One of the most common methods of discovering a niche is to search for unmet needs in the market. In order to do this successfully, you need to speak to current clients (if you are concentrating in an industry where you are currently working) or your target market (if you are concentrating on a new industry). Ask them a series of questions on what frustrations or roadblocks they face everyday or what they wish had been invented to solve a day-to-day problem they deal with. If you are in wellness, for example, you might realize that divorcees deal with distinct health and stress issues that no one is addressing. If you are a branding specialist you might realize, after several interviews, that local pizza stores in your city are missing out on loads of business by not branding themselves.
NOTE: Once you have your niche it means that you market exclusively to this group. It, however, does not mean you say no if a Chinese restaurant wants to hire you instead of a pizza place.
Identifying your specialty. Sometimes interviewing clients or prospects isn’t enough to help identify a niche. Then, it’s a question of finding what you are specialized in that can be applied to a niche market. What are you good at naturally that seems harder for others to grasp? What frustrates you about your market? What skills do you possess that makes your job easier to fulfill? My friend Jessica for example, a former actress who by day is a fabulous copywriter, decided she wanted to start her own business and help entrepreneurs get the word out about their businesses. Given their limited budget, entrepreneurs would normally have to choose between hiring a copywriter, a speech coach or an online marketing strategist. The result? She offers all three services in affordable programs that help entrepreneurs formulate their pitch, film 5 videos for their website and marketing, learn how to address an audience and review the copywriting on their website.
How can you use your skills to best serve your clients? Packaged in the right way this can help you niche your services. Let us know below or email us at [email protected].
