Simon Dutta

There are a lot of things that can be done that can cause for your business to fail, but the most dire of them all is not finding the right market niche to sell your product to.  Think about it – if you are marketing your shoes to people who have no feet, are they really the right people to be marketing to?  Not finding your niche market for your product or service is just like that.  You need to find out who wants (or could want) your product and then blow them away with your fantastic marketing strategy.

So who is in your niche or target market?  Keep these points in mind:

-    Who wants or needs your products and services?
-    Who can afford to pay the price tag for your products or services?
-    Can these people be reached easily by your marketing strategy?
-    Are there similarities between these people that allow you to “group” them together (this can make it easier to come up with an effective marketing strategy)

Remember, your product or service does not need to be something for everyone.  While you definitely will get some results just marketing whatever you’re selling to everyone in the universe, you will not only be wasting a ton of money but people (including those who would otherwise being your target market) may very well ignore you and push you to the side.  Focusing on one or more target markets or niches will leave you with a whole lot more business and money in your pockets.

Just think about it. The money that you would have spent marketing to absolutely everyone can now be reduced and used on just a few select target markets.  Sure, you won’t be reaching every potential customer, but here’s the real benefit.  When you focus on a smaller group of people, you will actually increase the amount of business from that niche or target market.  Why?  Because you have then created a marketing campaign that is meeting the specific needs of that niche.  You are telling these people, “Hey!  I’m the one you want to solve your problem!”  If you are the only company who is actually meeting their specific need, then you are, in their logical minds, the right company to turn to for help.

Here is an example of a real life “mass marketing” advert, and a “niche” advert:

123 Accountants.  Offering Auditing, bookeeping, tax prep and payroll services for start up accounts and management accounts.

Pretty general, right?  They go on and on about what services they can offer but they aren’t targeting anyone specific.  Now let’s change this up to make it “niche”-worthy…

123 Accountants.  Your specialists in helping start up businesses get off the ground quickly, effectively, and profitably.

Big difference.  You can see here that with this particular advert, 123 Accountants is looking for business from start up businesses specifically.

What we’re trying to get across here is that before you begin any type of business or marketing campaign, you need to sit down and really think about who you are going to be buying into your product or service using those four points above.  Draw a picture if you have to so you can keep it all in perspective.

ABOUT: Simon Dutta has 20+ years’ executive marketing and business development experience spanning 18 countries and 24 industry sectors within start-ups, SMEs and multi-£billion blue-chips. His particular expertise lies in driving revenue growth by: (1) developing products that the market actually wants; and (2) executing customer acquisition and retention strategies that actually work. Simon is a Certified Internet Marketer, Chartered Marketer, and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.  He also sits on the Chartered Institute of Marketing’s Regional Board (West Midlands).