In today’s digital world, it’s hard to stand out above the oversaturated market of businesses providing products and services to consumers. Make your voice heard above the noise by defining your niche market. A niche market is a specialized, yet profitable segment of a much larger market, where businesses tailor their products and services to meet the needs of a specific audience. For example, a ghostwriter creating books, blog articles and web content for a variety of clients serves a broad market. On the other hand, a freelance writer creating landing page content for specific business websites works in a niche market. The following four marketing tips will help you identify your niche market for your business.
Evaluate the skills and activities you enjoy
Make a list of activities you’re interested in or enjoy doing on a daily basis. On a separate page, make a list of the skills you’ve learned throughout your life and your area of expertise. Look back on the jobs you’ve had over the years and match your skills with your interests. While matching your entrepreneurial passions with your skills, ask yourself these three questions.
- Are you excited about your line of work?
- Will your products or services sustain you over the next several years?
- Do you have the knowledge and expertise to continue working in your chosen field?
If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, you are well on your way to identifying your niche market.
Conduct some research to determine the marketability of your business idea
Choose the business categories proven to be successful in your chosen industry. Listen to the market to determine what customers want and hang onto your current customer base. You can find the most successful categories by using Google Trends to search for the most popular search terms in your industry. The free Google Keyword Planner tool gives you a breakdown of the most effective keywords for your business during a specific timeframe. For example, one of our best marketing tips is that you can break down keyword effectiveness on as little as a weekly basis if needed.
Narrow your market research even further
Instead of trying to be everything to everyone, find your target market and create products and/or services tailored to meet your customers’ needs. Refine your business and marketing plans with your product or service centered around your ideal customer. Encourage your customers to tell their friends and colleagues about your product or service.
Test the market
Start by introducing your business idea to your family, friends and colleagues. You can start a casual conversation over the dinner table with your family, or schedule a brainstorming session with friends either online or over coffee. If they show interest in your idea, then you can slowly move forward. If they don’t think the idea is profitable, you might need to go back to the drawing board to either tweak the idea or create a new idea from scratch.
After deciding to move forward with your business model, integrate your testing on a slightly larger scale. For example, create a niche-specific landing page and drive traffic to it by using some of your chosen keywords in your blog articles and social media posts. When testing the feasibility of your business, don’t shy away from competition. Use the competition as inspiration to tweak your idea and make it stand out above the crowd.
Outlook Business Solutions can help you find the niche market for your business with more marketing tips. Contact us for more details.