In 2020, there were a total of 33.7 million small businesses in the United States, accounting for 99.9% of all businesses, statistics from the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy reveal. Around 66% of small businesses last just two years, while only 50% survive for five years. Out of the numerous common business-related pitfalls, niche mistakes are a major one. Niche marketing is key to standing out to a target market and garnering a following of loyal repeat customers.
Know your target audience
It’s essential to clearly identify your target market — the customers your product or service appeals to most. In most cases, when a business’ offerings have niche appeal, it can be even more challenging to determine your specific ideal customer base. Fortunately, segmentation can help identify the basic personal details of your target market (like age, gender, income, and marital status). Ultimately, the smaller your niche, the better you have to know your customers in order to efficiently target your messaging to them.
Pay attention to SEO
SEO (search engine optimization) essentially works to put your businesses in front of the eyes of your target audience. SEO best practices place your website further up in the search engine results, which is especially important in competitive and saturated industries. For example, law firms can use SEO to achieve first-page rankings, which typically translates into credibility and trust in the eyes of potential clients. Lawyer SEO takes a narrow, industry-specific approach, pinpointing legal phrasing to make sure a law firm’s business profile matches the search terms used by its target audience. Using as specific terms as possible (for example, “estate planning attorney” rather than just “attorney”) is key to standing out against the competition.
Position yourself as an industry authority
Establishing your business as an industry authority will help you stand out and make an impression on your target niche audience. Content marketing, in particular, is an effective method of demonstrating your expertise and professionalism — aim to create content that solves the relevant questions commonly asked by your target customers. In-depth instructional guides and how-to’s, for example, are great ways to provide your audience with useful, detailed and actionable information. Having more Twitter followers will assist you to boost your audience.
Niche marketing is undoubtedly the key to business success. By clearly identifying your target audience, paying attention to SEO, and positioning yourself as an industry authority, you can better attract and keep customers.
