3 steps to marketing a niche business

When it comes to finding space in a crowded marketplace, sometimes a simple business model is the most elegant solution.

And finding your niche is easier if you either produce unique products and services — or you outperform competitors on price or quality.

Focusing on a highly specialised offering means that there’s little margin for error — but when it’s done right it allows you to compete with larger competitors on your own terms.

So here are three steps to marketing a niche business.

Define your market

Spending your marketing money wisely depends on clearly defining your niche market.

If you’re a new firm you’ll likely have decided that there’s a specific demand for your offering — it solves a particular pain point.

But even established firms can use this process to refresh their marketing efforts –especially in the digital sphere.

You’ll also know who needs what you do most, so you can use segmentation on criteria like gender, age, occupation and location to define your ideal customer.

This allows you to create a fairly detailed persona who you can communicate with in an effective manner — and it prevents you wasting cash marketing to consumers who’re unlikely to be interested.

Defining your niche is a vital first step towards success — without it your best efforts can reap few rewards.

Differentiate

If your offering is unique or you’re the only producer in a certain territory, you’re in a fairly strong position.

So you’ll stand out from the crowd if you sell a specialist product like high-quality catenary wire and you’re the only supplier in a wide radius.

And if you’ve been in the business for a while you can trade on your trusted reputation — adapting your time-served communications so that they work well on social media.

But if you sell car tyres you might struggle to convince customers about what makes you superior to the garage down the street.

In this case you can differentiate yourself on exceptional customer service with a personal touch — what’s important isn’t what you do but the way you do it.

The tone and style of your content can also convince customers that you’re unique — if you’re the only firm amongst the competition that employs a bit of humour in your marketing you may well become memorable.

Test the water

If it’s possible, providing free samples is a great way to gauge customers’ reactions before moving into larger scale production.

Once customers experience your products or services first-hand they can really appreciate what makes you so special.

And any negative feedback can be used to make vital improvements.

The goodwill generated from even a small gift goes a long way in sewing the first seeds of long-term customer loyalty and it’s a great way for your sales staff to mix and mingle with customers.

These three steps to marketing a niche business will help you set your corporate compass for success.

How do you market your niche business? Share your advice in the comments section.

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