Niche marketing

Niche marketing is a highly targeted form of advertisement.

With niche marketing, businesses promote their products and services to a small, specific and well-defined audience. Many organizations adopt this strategy to support an underserved population and reap the rewards of brand loyalty.

To engage in niche marketing, companies must first understand their niche. Markets with the “niche” definition are subsets of larger markets with their own unique preferences and needs. For instance, the “makeup” sector is broad, but within that market, there’s also makeup for problem skin, makeup for professional artists and so on.

Defining a niche market

Consumers in a niche market have specific preferences or needs that differ from the broader sector. Brands divide almost every market into subsections according to things like:

• Geographic location
• Psychographic data (interests, attitudes, and values)
• Demographic base (age, income level, gender, education level)
• Quality level (premium, moderate, high, low)
• Price (high, discount, wholesale)

Niche marketing is often easier than promoting to a wide audience. Niche audiences have very specific needs and wants. For instance, a company that simply sold handbags would need to appeal to a broad range of tastes and expectations. However, a business selling handbags for new moms that also work as diaper bags have far more focus. Niche marketing has also become easier with tools like Facebook ad targeting and social media monitoring.

The benefits of niche marketing

Niche marketing allows companies to understand the specific needs of their audience and speak to them directly. Since niche marketing is all about making the right connections, many social media channels have improved their targeting options specifically for niche markets. With niche marketing and a social strategy, companies:

• Develop greater brand loyalty: Fewer people in a niche audience mean more chances to develop intimate, valuable relationships with clients. Many niche customers will become repeat buyers.
• Compete against fewer brands: The more specialized your business is, the fewer competitors there will be doing the same thing as you. A niche is part of your USP and a way to differentiate yourself in the marketplace.
• Better marketing spend: With tools for social media management and refined targeting options, you’ll learn about your audience quickly. This means it’s easier to ensure you’re using your budget in the right places.

How to market to a niche

Niche marketing allows companies to carve an essential space for themselves in a broader market. Some businesses even create new niches by discovering and fulfilling customer needs that haven’t been addressed. To engage in niche marketing, organizations need:

• Thorough research: Marketing to a hyper-focused audience means conducting enough research to determine whether your business is feasible. Narrow markets must be broad enough to generate profit.
• Industry knowledge: Organizations marketing to niche consumers need to understand both the characteristics of their niche and the industry as a whole. Attending events helps with this, as does advanced social media management and marketing techniques.
• Versatility: Brands with a niche marketing strategy must find the best method of promotion to suit their customers. Some customers may respond better to email marketing, while others engage most with a combination of Instagram marketing and video.