Niche Marketing- suits the pocket, hits the target
If you want to sell cosmetics, you will have millions of buyers. But for luxurious ayurveda based products, there will be fewer buyers. Agreed? Sure, because not everyone has an interest to invest in luxury items. Or we can say that the market for luxurious ayurvedic cosmetics is niche. Considering the target market, you use your marketing strategy. For the former, mass marketing will work, but for the latter niche marketing will do wonders.
Time has changed, and with the evolution of digital marketing techniques, not just big but small businesses have gained momentum. Most of the sales are made through online stores. Remember how Forest Essentials started with luxurious ayurveda solutions to meet modern ayurveda demands? Luxurious and costly skin care products have now become a need for all women especially those who do not find time to arrange for solutions like these. Bringing a modern touch to it, Forest Essentials started selling a wide range of cosmetics and skin care products . You all know how big Forest Essential has grown.
This is a perfect example of niche marketing for urban Indian women who preferred ready to use products for their skin care regimen.
Thinking about why the brand used niche marketing over Mass Marketing? Forest Essentials used niche marketing because they devised skin care solutions for different occasions. They infused women with the thought of a convenient and hassle-free self-care routine.
Abstract of niche marketing
Spoken too much about niche marketing and target marketing. Here is what Niche Marketing is?
Niche marketing is important or rather I should say relevant because if you try to cater to everyone’s demand with your product, that won’t be effective. You may start small with your powerful business idea. But have you thought about which marketing strategy you will make an impact on the market?
When your business idea is clear and the market is known, niche marketing will be beneficial.
Let us look in detail and find what is Niche marketing?
Niche marketing is synonymous with Lean marketing.
How?
Niche marketing is about serving a particular set of customers who are interested in your products and services. Now to maintain your niche and succeed, it is better if you use feedback loop, data, and iteration.
Lean marketing is based on small campaigns and trials but which gets you the actual image of the niche market. It puts forward for you the test results of your marketing activities.
Through Lean Marketing, small online stores can reflect their key set of principles based on which the product can be developed. Ideally, for niche markets, a lean strategy can help to apply elements of feedback from real customers.
Use online channels like Facebook and Instagram to see what your customers want.
Niche marketing framework
The niche marketing framework for your small online store be : Acquisition→ Activation→ Retention→ Referral earnings→ Revenue Generation.
When you are a start-up brand, you might be a little tight on your marketing budget. But that’s not to worry because the best way to try your market is by breaking your budget into small portions and then investing. You have to try until you get the most efficient marketing strategy for your brand.
Let’s understand niche marketing with an instance
You can see how Urban Company started. They promised to deliver all the skincare and beauty solutions at home. After every visit they made to their clients, they took their feedback. The brand never compromised on the quality of service. When people gave genuine feedback, they worked and widened their services. Urban Company was accepted faster than usual by the masses because there existed the need to get salon services at home. Their target market was people who worked and could not manage time to get out for salon services.
Urban Company is a success across all the major cities of India despite having started small because they:
→ Found the Niche
→ Focused on their target customers
→ Served them with high quality and hygienic services
→ Considered the feedback of their potential customers of what they wanted
→ The service providers at your home left the place clean which made the customers ever happier
→ People identified and acknowledged that Urban Company was different from any other service provider
The brand’s success is what everyone has witnessed. From Tier I and Tier II cities to spread across major places in India, Urban Company diversified its services also. The brand never falls back to offer services with quality and hygiene.
Niche Marketing can simplify these things for you:
→ Defining product features
→ Improving customer relationships
→ Spot the demographic for marketing
Why Niche Marketing?
You are already a small brand and wish to gain exponential sales and profits in the first month. That is unrealistic and sounds too good to be true unless you have a fool-proof marketing plan. Well! In reality, as a small online marketing store, you may face these challenges:
- Operate with fewer budgets and resources with “limited” market reach.
- Cannot follow the full spectrum of marketing activities. You may want to invest money in different strategies but all may not yield results.
- Need to get cash positive at the earliest. In the beginning, you will be just spending money on marketing and other expenses. There will be cash outflow but less inflow. Getting cash positive is the biggest challenge. The Sooner you overcome this, the sooner you will be successful.
- Can’t afford a big learning curve that implies you can’t go forever trial and test methods.
- There is an urge to establish the brand as soon as possible.
- Whether the customers will come for repeat purchase or not? Often the customers who make the first-time purchase do not return unless they are satisfied.
Any marketing strategy that increases the profit and multiplies your sales is best suitable for your brand. As a small online start, you must understand the relevance of niche marketing.
9 Benefits of Niche Marketing
For a small start-up, niche marketing can be beneficial as it :
1. Results in higher Return-On-Investment:
In Niche Marketing, you generally focus on a specific target market. These are the buyers who are likely to purchase your product. For example, you are into a semi-precious jewelry business and about 100 buyers are interested in this type of product. Out of these, around 10 buyers visit your page and complete the purchase. In contrast, suppose you go for mass marketing and showcase your product to 1000 buyers. Still, 10 buyers complete the purchase. The rate of conversion in niche marketing is better than any other marketing strategy.
2. Less Competition:
For niche marketing, there is a lot less competition. If you are a makeup stylist and your market depending on the geographic location, chances are you get more customers. You may be able to win the competition.
You know that your target market is specific who looks for a particular demand. Apart from this, you also know that there are competitors in your segment only. When you prepare yourself with these two factors, you easily specialize in the area you are good at. As a brand, you must capitalize on the unique skills, knowledge, credibility, and brand.
3. Earn loyal customers:
Through Niche marketing you are serving the customers things they want. This could be the best way to earn loyal customers. You are serving your competitors with products that have unique features.
Niche marketing is all about having an ideal client. It is the best way you communicate with your client. With the perfect strategy, you can spot the ideal clients for you. If you fail to establish contact with your niche target customers, you fail in your business.
In simple words, without deciding your niche, you are trying to attract many people but do not succeed to get even one ideal client. To beat this, find out what best you have to offer to your customers, lure, satisfy, and please them.
If you are an apparel brand and sell clothes made of silk, you will have to market your product as luxe, high-end, and pure. People won’t buy silk unless they test it or touch it. The buying behavior of customers can be a challenge for you. In such a case, you need to connect with people through videos displaying your products.
Your target market will be middle-aged women who love to wear sarees. Now silk would be preferred in the region where the temperature is favorable and doesn’t offer discomfort after wearing. Instagram would be the best channel in today’s time to showcase the product, sell it, and learn more about the taste of the buyers.
4. Fits well with the smaller marketing budgets:
In niche marketing, you test, run trials, work on feedback, repeat these activities, and gradually improvise on your products. In the end, you have things that the customers look for. Despite having small budgets, you can go for niche marketing in small budgets.
5. Efficient use of resources:
You put all your resources to the best possible use. Different permutations and combinations can bring solutions that open up the way up for success.
6. Easy to specialize and become an expert:
When you test different methods to gain customers and earn sales, you become an expert in your domain. Gradually, it gets easier for you to identify clients, vendors, and partners.
There are many players in the market and you know it. With the existing competition in the market, a niche marketing strategy will help you stand out. It will help your audience remember you. You need to pitch in straight stating that you are here to offer a solution. When you are clear, you will automatically attract more customers.
7. Word of mouth publicity:
One happy client can spread all the good news about you. In niche marketing, when you give a personal touch to your target customers, they are more satisfied. It will fetch you more genuine clients that indicate organic growth. One happy customer will come to you for a repeat purchase.
8. Easy to manage marketing:
Niche marketing for your product is easy to manage marketing. You get the new as well as the repeat clients. Ultimately, capital dependency reduces over some time. With fewer people and small budgets, it gets easier to fetch sustainable results.
9. Feedback loop aids to maintain quality:
Taking feedback in a loop can help you to maintain quality and think about product development. You know what satisfied your customer that saves you for future investment.
Starting your business with Niche marketing can increase the success rate in a shortened duration. Your small online store will get credibility earlier than expected and make you popular. In short, Niche marketing is getting to the point where you want to be with excellent strategy. If you are unsure of how to capture the target market, you can contact us or write to us at hello@localhost to guide.
The team at Noboru specialises in crafting the right action plan for you. Our practice starts with research and analysis after which we chart the marketing plan.
We understand that it is your dream plan and hence we give our best to steer you swiftly from launch till the end.
Still thinking? Connect with our team and know more.
We would love to have your opinion.