Finding Your Business’s Marketing Niche

We love working with small businesses because there are so many cool stories behind them. There are family businesses, rural businesses, minority businesses, niche business and so many more. Small businesses like these are so cool and great for the communities that they’re in because they do so much more than provide a living for owners and employees. Small businesses are often at the forefront of customer service and industry knowledge. Small businesses have carved their niche and distinguished themselves from competitors, but how can they carve a space in their industry when it comes to marketing? If marketing your small business seems overwhelming because of larger business’ advertising budgets or a mountain of competition to overcome, here are a few great ideas that you can implement to build your identity, bolster your brand, and make all the special things that you do stand out.

Recognize and utilize your niche

Step one is recognizing what it is that makes your business unique. What do you bring to the table to no one else can or doesn’t bring as well as you do? Your niche could also be called your value proposition. In other words, why do customers choose your business over competitors that offer similar products or services?

Sometimes it’s as simple as you having the superior product or service, but oftentimes it’s much more than that. Maybe you’re the absolute expert in your industry. That brings a level of trust and reputation that competitors just can’t match. Or maybe it’s your customer service and the vibe of your business. Do customers want to come in and buy from you?

There are lots of things that can separate your business. To find the one thing that’s your niche, create a list of everything that you think could be a differentiator for you. Expertise, customer service, unique products, fun vibes, cool processes, and the like are just the start. Get thinking and see how creative you and your business really are.

align Your Niche with Your Marketing

Once you have your list, we need to narrow it down. Remember, you want your niche, or value proposition, to be something unique and something that your competitors can’t recreate or compete with. When you find your niche, then we need to align it with your marketing strategies.

Here’s an example to get you thinking. Imagine that you own a bike shop in a large city with 6 other bike shops that all offer similar products and services. Your bike shop has a great storefront location in a walkable area, branding that pops, and you sell high-quality, name-brand merch and equipment. You’re a bike enthusiast who loves to chat with store goers about their biking adventures and you also have a staff of bike enthusiasts who have experience biking around the world. You notice that new customers often come in to ask questions and get advice from you and your staff.

Your value proposition here is your willingness and passion to help customers through your own expertise become informed and make the best purchases for their needs. You’re not as concerned about making a big sale as you are about being helpful and probably retaining a long-term customer because of that.

Your authenticity to help is a great asset to your bike shop. In your marketing there are endless opportunities to share information on your website through a blog or on social media where people can see that you and your staff truly are experts and can learn from you. You can lead your marketing strategy by sharing valuable information and sprinkle in bits about your walkable location and add some color by making sure your branding is on point and shown off to the world.

Your niche should be the backbone of your marketing strategies because it’s how you will build your reputation and establish yourself as something different from your competitors.

Talk to and understand your customers

Larger businesses might have some advantages over your small business, but there are some areas where small business will always win. We think the most important edge small businesses have is their ability to communicate and be down to earth with customers. Big business often relies on data to make decisions, but they’re rarely in the trenches with their customers. Talking to your customers is the number one way to understand them, their buying habits, what they like, what they don’t like, and how you can strengthen your relationship with them.

The more you can talk to your customers the more you’ll be able to understand them. Understanding allows you to personalize offerings and marketing campaigns exactly to what your customers respond to. Furthermore, communication is a proven way to show customers that you care. If you genuinely care about your customers, that shows up in referrals and work of mouth advertising that is so important for small business, and something that larger corporations just don’t get.

The more you talk to customers, the more you understand them and show you care which provides many more marketing opportunities and potential customers later on.

Wrap it up

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