Why Niche Marketing Works
A niche is a small segment of the marketplace. Coaches that know what their niche is will spend less time, money, and effort on marketing with greater return. Not only that, their customers will be a better fit, they’ll be far happier, and they will be more likely to refer their friends to the coach.
Fledgling business owners who want to be successful quickly will try to avoid becoming stuck in a niche and will often claim that "everyone" is their customer. But this is inefficient and can become costly. After all, serving "everyone" is impossible.
Let’s look at an example of a (fictional) productivity coach who thinks that everyone is her customer: By only speaking English, she effectively eliminates billions of potential customers. By charging for her services, she effectively eliminates millions more who do not have the money to hire her. By being a productivity coach, she automatically excludes babies, children, and perhaps even retired people who have less of a need for enhanced productivity. By being located in New York, and by working face-to-face with clients, she eliminates potential clients who live outside of the area. So, in this short paragraph, her client base of "everyone" was narrowed down from billions to a few hundred thousand. And if we went on, you’d see that it gets narrowed down even more.
By identifying a niche and focusing on it, you are admitting that you cannot possibly serve everybody so you might as well serve a few people well. This helps you to become an expert in the specific needs and challenges of that niche. For example, perhaps our productivity consultant from above might consider focusing on C-level executives of Fortune 500 companies, whose problems and opportunities for productivity look very different than those of the middle manager or of C-level executives in small and mid-size companies. The amount that she could charge would be different, too.
And, by identifying a niche and focusing on it, your marketing can become more effective. Rather than marketing to "everybody", which requires an expensive broad reaching advertising plan, targeted advertising to the niche will help convert more prospects for less marketing investment. Our productivity coach, hoping to reach C-level executives, might skip certain marketing methods: scratch billboards, television, and radio from the list. She might consider advertising in Forbes and Inc. as two examples of targeted marketing.
By working with a niche, you’ll be able to address the specific needs and challenges of that niche which makes for a better coach/client fit. You’ll address your client’s needs and challenges more effectively. And, because people spend time with people just like themselves, your customers will be more likely to refer your services to their friends… who likely fit your niche. Our productivity coach from above can address the productivity challenges of C-level executives of Fortune 500 companies and can have the confidence that they are rubbing shoulders with other C-level executives of other Fortune 500 companies.
So, how do you determine your niche? Start by looking at your client list.
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Who do you serve most frequently right now?
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Who do you prefer to work with?
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How quickly can you get up to speed on the niche-specific needs, opportunities, and challenges inherent in that niche?
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Are there marketing opportunities that are apparent?
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How do your rates compare with the niche’s payment expectations? (Hint: you’ll often be able to charge more by specializing).
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Does your personality mesh well with your niche market?
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How would you feel about working with that niche market for a decade or more?
Niche markets are the key to successful coaching practices. Find your niche and start reaping the rewards.
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