One of the most crucial tasks you can do for your business is to tightly define your niche. Your niche, also called your ideal client or targeted audience, is that segment of the population that a) has a need or source of pain; b) that can be solved by your product or service; c) at your price point. The more specific you can be with your niche, the more efficient you can become at closing your deals.
How Well Do You Know Your Ideal Audience?
The more you know about your niche, the better you can meet their needs. Spend some time brainstorming to come up with a comprehensive list of attributes or characteristics of people who need or want your product or service. Where do they live? What do they do on a typical day? Do they work in an office, a warehouse, or from home? What do they do in their spare time? What books or magazines do they read? Do they tend to watch the same TV shows? What concerns do they have? Write it all down. Then pick out the characteristics that most closely align with the audience you want to work with and write it out in a clear sentence: “My niche is someone who …” And there you have it, a description of your niche.
Once you know the characteristics of the individuals in your target audience is, you need to spend time specifically tailoring your marketing messages. Make sure to address their concerns and offer your product or service as a solution. A targeted marketing messages is always more effective than a general market message. Never forget that your actual target audience is comprised of individuals who all have a need or source of pain in common.
One method that works for me is to sit down and write a letter to an individual in my target audience (I call her Tonya) and list all the struggles she is having and how Mirelli can solve each one. Each problem/solution combination I come up with is a possible marketing message. Then it’s just a matter of testing different messages and ways of communicating them to come up with something that really resonates with a large portion of my target audience.
You Aren’t Done Once You Define Your Niche and Create Your Messages.
You still have one more step to go – you need to decide how you are going to position yourself and your marketing message in front of your target audience. How do you get their attention? You’ve got to be visible to your target audience.
I recently asked a young lady to tell me about her ideal customer. She said her product is perfect for single moms or working moms who are over-busy. When she described her marketing activities, I saw that she was participating in a lot of direct sales groups on Facebook. They weren’t bringing in much business. Her messages were very generic. I asked if she was also involved in any “mommy” groups. She looked confused for a second and responded, “No. I don’t have kids.” Major disconnect.
You have to go where your niche is. Otherwise, you are talking to people who are not going to buy from you. Even if you don’t have children, if your product solves a problem that mothers have, you need to get involved with mothers. And you need to talk about the issues that mothers have that your product solves. If your target audience takes their daughters to dance class once a week, talk to a dance studio and see if you can do a demonstration of your product to the moms in the waiting area. Think outside the box. They have to see you before they can buy from you. And don’t forget, buying is often a result of a relationship. Buyers want to feel that they know, like, and trust you before they spend money with you.
Define your niche and find ways to get in front of them. It is time well spent. I believe so strongly in that activity that I will be presenting Niche Creation Intensive, a 4-day hands-on workshop March 3 – 6, 2022 in Savannah, Georgia. Reserve your spot today.