The thought of limiting your target market by niching down in your business can be scary, particularly if you're just starting out. While it might sound counterintuitive, the benefits of having a niche might just be the secret to your success.

What is a niche?

A niche is a specialised or focus area within your industry. So, when we talk about niching down in your business, we are talking about identifying a smaller segment of customers within the larger market that you serve. 

What is the benefit of having a niche?

Much like your personal brand, a niche is something that can be used to differentiate yourself from other people in your industry and give you a unique edge over your competitors. For example, instead of promoting yourself as a dietitian, you could get more specific and market yourself as a plant-based dietitian. Or instead of promoting yourself as a physiotherapist, you could say your a women’s health physiotherapist.

From a marketing perspective, having a niche also enables you to be super clear about how you serve your audience. So, in the example of the plant based dietitian their title makes it really obvious that they specialise in vegan nutrition. 

Having a clearly defined niche such as this is important, particularly when we are talking about online businesses, because the more targeted your niche area is, the more likely it is going to be that you attract an online audience that is interested in what you do and what you sell.

And it is these people who we would call your ideal audience or client. The more of these people that you have in your audience the better because when it comes time for you to sell a product or service, they are the ones who are most likely to buy from you.

But I'm afraid to niche down

A common objection to having a niche is that people feel what they do or what they offer can help everyone. However, the danger with failing to niche down is that you market yourself so broadly that it dilutes your message. This will result in you attracting fewer ideal clients to your platforms, meaning that when your sell a product or service, fewer people are interested in buying from you because they are unsure if you’re the right person to help them.

Think about yourself here. Let’s just say you have anxiety and it's been suggested you see a psychologist. You jump online and do a google search in the quest for a new therapist and find two psychologists. Psychologist A's website doesn’t really make it clear what area they specialise in, whilst psychologist B's website clearly outlines that they specialise in working with clients who have anxiety.

What psychologist are you going to pick?

Of course, you are going to pick psychologist B. Why? They are clear about who they serve, and as a potential client, you make the assumption that they are experienced in this space. Perhaps you even feel more confident that they will be able to help you manage your anxiety. And all because they had a clearly defined niche area that positioned them as an expert.

The take home message

The take-home message here is to pick a niche area and focus your attention on this in order to help you create a really strong brand message which attracts ideal clients to your platform. At the end of the day, most customers aren’t just looking for an option, they are looking for the best option.