Tweet

Niche Branding

Guest post by: John Williams

Article Overview: It is a common misconception that if you’re not casting a wide net with your marketing, you’re leaving money on the table. Actually, the opposite is true. It’s more expensive and usually less profitable to sell a range of products to a wide audience. Furthermore, if your product or service is too similar to a competitor’s, price will always be an issue. When price is your only point of comparison, it’s tough to build a successful brand – especially if you are a small business. Targeting a niche market is a great way to avoid these issues. But how do you find the right niche?

Niche Branding

First, a broad category like "small business owners" does not constitute a niche. Instead, a niche is much more narrowly defined group of prospects that conforms to the following: 1) Its members have similar, unique needs within the market segment. You should be able to pinpoint common-denominator needs that differ from the rest of the market. Of course, these needs must also relate to your offering and industry. For example, attorneys may have unique needs when it comes to document copying, but probably not when it comes to the real estate industry. So if you provide copying services, it makes sense to target attorneys specifically, whereas it may not make as much sense if you're a real estate agent.

Geography also plays a role. Local market segments can vary dramatically from national and global markets, even within the same industry.

2) Your product or service meets (or can meet) these needs better than competing products. Your offering must be attractive to your niche customers, above and beyond other products in your industry. Offer compelling reasons to buy your brand that speak directly to special needs. These reasons do not need to be intrinsic to your product's features. They can also extend to the special features of your customer service.

3) You can market to these prospects economically. To attain a decent ROI on a modest budget, it must be relatively easy to identify and reach your niche audience. Direct mail is a common method of advertising, but your mailing list can make or break you. If it's too broad, watch out. Find ways to first narrow your list to qualified prospects, then write your message directly to them.

4) The group is large enough to generate the amount of revenue you need to remain profitable. Remember, your niche must be feasible from an economic perspective. If it doesn't make sense fiscally, it doesn't make sense period.

5) Members are not currently being targeted, or not being targeted as well as you can target them. The best niche is one where the competition is ineffectual or nonexistent. Find the "overlooked" niche, not the obvious one.

Determining your niche means asking yourself questions like, Who will most likely use my product or service? What makes my brand special or unique? Why are customers choosing my brand?

As markets mature and competition increases, the demand for specialized goods grows. The more you differentiate your brand, the less competition you will have, and the faster you'll build brand equity. Find the right niche, and conquer the competition!

Related Articles
  How to Dominate Your Niche Market
  Branding Goal – Internet Marketing Strategy
  Branding Lessons from the \"Jersey Fresh\" Tomato
  3 Popular Niche Marketing Misconceptions
  Common Personal Branding Mistakes to Avoid
  The definition of branding
  Personal Branding: Have You Identified Your Niche?
  Building A Better Brand in the New Year
  Personal Branding Tip
  Branding & Marketing Defined, and how to fuse them together for maximum results
  Home Based Business Branding To Identify Your Opportunity
  Strategic Branding Questions
  How To Brand Your Home Business Online
  Four Key Advantages To Guest Blogging
  How to Use Personal Branding for a Competitive Edge
  Branding: 7 Important Questions and the Straight Answers
  Tips On How To Create An Email Newsletter
  Smaller is Better ... Finding Your Niche
  Mud Season. Not.
  Twitter - What is twitter, and how can I use Twitter as a business tool?

Article Tags: brand equity, brand image, brandin, brochures, business card, business card printing, business cards, collateralcohesive family, corporate attributes, Do it Yourself Logo, logo design, look and feel, loyalty, marketing, niche market, personal brand, printing companies, professional business card, promotional materials, small business, start business, stationery, website design, workworld



Related Forum Posts
Re: What is your Business? - We are running a Online Marketing Firm and we have some good clients to which we are offering a complete Digital Marketing strategy like Search, Mobile Marketing, Branding and Design. I think in Online Marketing company online presence can be a wining factor for the success of the company.
New Small Business Topic - Hello everyone, I'm on the lookout for new topics to add to my site. We just launched a Franchising section and are planning Human Resources section. Do you have any thoughts for a new section? Here's a list of what we currently have: Angel Investors Branding Bank Loans Business Coaching Business Plan Franchises (New) Insurance Legal Marketing Public Relations Sales Small Biz Loans Venture Capital
Re: How many mambers of this forum are also member of WF? - [quote="Alan Mater":brpmwrn2] Agreed, Tanny. I've lurked around in the main forum before to learn some things. I did have one good experience, though, when I asked how others find a profitable niche. I got some very good responses, and I used those answers to create a post for my blog. Another internet marketing forum that I find to be a lot friendlier is the Conquer Your Niche forum. GT is also a member there, and I think he'll agree with me on that. Members seem to be a lot more friendly and helpful there. Overall, I'd say the friendliest I've found is definitely this forum.[/quote:brpmwrn2] Hi Alan, I am also a member of CYN and I used to visit this forum on a daily basis until few months ago. There were changes, and the only posts were spam, so I stopped visiting. Maybe I should go over there and see what's going on...
Re: Direct Mail Postcards - [quote="jvprosperity":2r71nzqq]Kevin, your situation is very common. Get's me wondering if advertisers are just being lazy and "blanket" areas with advertising hoping that some will stick and get people to respond. mathew1 used the word "targeted" alot but I think that's what most advertisers are either not doing or not going deep enough in their targeting. I disagree that direct mail is more important to small business. Yes, it get's done more often within small businesses but that's 'cos of a small budget and them being forced to utilize it to it's fullest. Big Business focus so much more on Branding and Image Management since they have larger budgets but they also do a fair bit of direct mail and other methods.[/quote:2r71nzqq] Hi Andy, I'd say "naive" is a better word. In fact, "blanketing" areas with unwanted solicitation/ads is costly and will only hurt small businesses in the eyes of consumers (who will resent it).
Re: Direct Mail Postcards - [quote="Kevin":k7jhujz8]But how do you prevent people from just throwing out your direct mail as unwanted solicitation? Anytime I get direct mail, I toss it out. I've noticed solicitors using cheap tricks like printing the message in "hand writing" to make the letter seem more personal. Who are they trying to fool?[/quote:k7jhujz8] Kevin, your situation is very common. Get's me wondering if advertisers are just being lazy and "blanket" areas with advertising hoping that some will stick and get people to respond. mathew1 used the word "targeted" alot but I think that's what most advertisers are either not doing or not going deep enough in their targeting. I disagree that direct mail is more important to small business. Yes, it get's done more often within small businesses but that's 'cos of a small budget and them being forced to utilize it to it's fullest. Big Business focus so much more on Branding and Image Management since they have larger budgets but they also do a fair bit of direct mail and other methods.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Listen to Your Inner Melody

Link Pyramids

Ten Ways to Make Blogging Work for Your Business

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.