How do I find my selling niche? Or How to define your niche market? If these questions seem to hover over your head? Then, my friends, you're at the right place.
We understand that picking a niche market is paramount for anyone starting a new business. After all, it’s unimaginable to create a product or service that meets the needs of everyone.
People are different, and so are their interests and wants. By finding a niche market
for your business, you decide the audience you’ll be talking to and, therefore, the niche marketing strategies you’ll use to convince them to buy from you.
According to Charlene Walters, finding a niche differentiates your business from the competition and allows you to excel in your sector.
Niche often comes up in the business world. You’re told to find a niche to become an authority inside it. You start small, then you can expand outward over time and be a big-time player in a large industry. One of the successful niche marketing examples is Lefty's - The Left Hand's Store.
About 10 to 12% of people are left-handed in the entire world. On the other hand, if you see any special brand meant only for them, there is none. Hence, Lefty’s decided to sell products for this often forgotten niche. This is one of the best niche marketing examples. As they serve only a practice of people, their probability of success is relatively high.
One of Lefty’s core strategies is to target people online and in search engines. So when someone searches for ‘left-handed pens’, they’ll likely see an ad from Lefty’s.
Before diving into the top ways, you can choose a niche market, let's first understand what a niche market is.
What is a Niche Market?
A niche market is a segment of a larger market that you can define through its unique needs, preferences, or identity. For example, herbal face wash is a niche market in the face wash market.
No matter what market you look at, you can almost always refine this further and create a series of niche markets.
Some of the most common ways to define a niche market like this is through:
Price
Demographics
Level of quality
Psychographics
Geographic area
Lifestyle
Occasion
Profession
Style
Culture
Activity or habits
Behaviour
Feature reduction or addition
No matter what industry you’re in, there is a more specific, further refined niche market you can enter and master. Once you do, in time, you can expand out and enter different niches. Yet true success so often begins within a single niche.
Why Is It Important To Define A Niche Market?
If you have heard the expression “jack of all trades, master of none,” you can see the importance of determining your specialization and differentiating yourself from the competition.
Finding a niche is crucial for small business owners who want to create a steady revenue stream, establish a loyal audience and create a more focused business.
The benefits of defining a niche market include the following:
A niche helps you establish a loyal customer base. A solid market niche helps ensure that specific customers want to buy from your business instead of the competition. A niche lets them identify your product and brand and know that your offer suits their needs. Additionally, focusing on a smaller target audience lets you concentrate on the quality of your customer service and establish a long-lasting relationship.
It minimizes competition. By entering a niche, you automatically differentiate yourself from companies seeking the mass market. You don’t have to compete with big names and can instead focus on delivering an exceptional product and service.
It reduces marketing costs. If you know your particular customer group, you can cut down on small business marketing, advertising and promotional costs. Instead of spending your resources on broader promotional efforts, you’ll run targeted ads and campaigns specific to your audience’s needs. Niche marketing also creates a better rapport with your audience and builds more personal relationships.
It demonstrates expertise. By occupying a business niche, you can establish yourself as an expert and thought leader in the field rather than providing another generic service or product. Being an expert helps you stand out from the competition, attract relevant customers and establish trust.
Catering to a niche can increase profit. Creating a business in a niche market can lead to higher rates for products or services. The supply and demand ratio can be highly lucrative, especially for those pioneering a new industry sector.
How To Choose A Niche Market?
Coming up with innovative product or service ideas to serve niche markets isn’t very effortless. Frequently, defining a persona, analyzing the competition, and brainstorming might not be enough.
Fortunately, there are tools that can help you choose a niche market through accurate and segmented data. Below are some of the best:
Google Trends and Searches
When it comes to finding a niche market, there are a few core aspects to consider:
Price
Quality
Positioning/Branding
Marketing Strategy/Messaging
Features
How you position yourself in your niche will likely centre around one or more of these.
These aspects remain relevant even when finding a niche for your online course.
Keep these in mind as you think about your potential niche…
This process often begins inside Google, using its search engine and “trends” feature.
To begin with, it’s a case of trial and error. You come up with an idea, try it and see what happens. For instance, let’s say you have an idea to create an online course centred around vegan baking.
In Google, begin by searching “books on online business”.
Immediately you’re given various books and blog options. You can also scroll to the bottom of the first page and see what Google suggests as a related term.
You can also use Google Trends to further explore this…
Again, this gives you an insight into current demand, demand over time, and where most of the searches are coming from (as well as more relevant topics and queries). There’s no exact science to this step of the process. All you can do is keep an open mind and see where your research takes you.
Mind Map Ideas
After spending some time on Google, you’ll undoubtedly develop several ideas. Now is the time to record these; creating a Mind Map is the most efficient way to do so.
Using a tool like Miro, Mindtools or MindMup, create a visual map of all your ideas. With “ebooks on online business” in the middle, add terms, links, images, and anything related. Having a visual representation like this makes your life much easier later. It also allows you to dive down the rabbit hole and go where your research takes you without worrying about forgetting specific ideas.
A mind map like this will grow over time and could prove a handy resource for you.
Keyword Research
At this stage, a few terms and/or ideas should stand out ahead of the rest. Now is the time to gauge the demand for these ideas. Remember, this process isn’t just about finding a niche market that serves others but one that will serve your ambitions.
Using Google’s Keyword Planner, add each term and analyze it for:
Monthly Search Volume
Competition
Top of Page Bid
Your aim is to find a niche market with a decent search volume and low competition rate. You can dive deeper into this process using a tool. Yet Google’s Keyword Planner is often enough for you to hone in on one or two core niche market ideas.
You now know what a niche market is and its importance. You’ve also learned about the different types of niches and how to define one. In addition, we showed you three practical ways to help you choose your niche.
Now the question is, “How can I become a benchmark in a niche?” First, you must practice what we mentioned in the previous paragraphs. Other ways of positioning yourself as a benchmark are:
Produce quality content;
Have a solid, strong brand;
Invest in good customer service – after all, customers are responsible for building your reputation;
Offer a unique buying and after-sales experience – building customer loyalty should be one of your brand’s goals.
Want Help To Define your Niche Market Now?
If you’ve come this far, it’s a sign that you already understand the steps that need to be taken to define your niche.
These steps are: understanding the types of niches, using tools to find the ideal segmentation, familiarizing yourself with the market, identifying problems, searching for trends and competitors, and conducting tests.
All of this is important to give you a competitive edge, become a benchmark in the market, and, most importantly, deliver what your audience is looking for and needs. We provide you with a helpful 5+ template for FREE! These templates can help you take the next step in scaling your online business. (Download Here)
By defining a niche market, you’ll spotlight specific audiences that other brands previously overlooked, whether they’re large or small. Promoting solutions for such groups can make your business a benchmark in a segmented market.
You can learn about some beautiful nits-bits of online business from the one & only Mayank Mittal. Buy his e-book "Art of Building Great Products" at 50% OFF only here.