When asked the question "who is your client/customer/donor?" how do you respond?
If what first comes to mind is "everyone" you are not being specific enough.
For example, one of our niches here at Captivation is working with youth-serving non-profits nationally. Notice how I didn't just say "we work with non-profits"?
In Sarasota, there are over 3,000 non-profit organizations and although we could undoubtedly add value to each one, we know that our collective experience and toolset allow us the ability to make the greatest impact on those NPO's serving youth, that is our niche.
But Why Isn't "Everyone" the Right Answer?
Without a niche, your focus remains broad, forcing your marketing to follow suit.
By focusing on one specific group or series of specific groups, you allow your team to spend their time, energy, and expertise being the very best provider you can be for those you serve.
This allows for the investment of marketing collateral and venues that connect most with those you want to attract and help [the most].
So How Do I Start?
Here's a great mnemonic outline to start the process of identifying your niches - courtesy of our friends at Yoast.
- N — a niche focusses on a narrower audience
- I — a niche makes the most of your individuality
- C — a niche focusses on your ideal customers
- H — a niche product helps certain customers more than generic options
- E — a niche sometimes evolves over time
Start with a category, narrow your audience/focus, and finally, define your specialty, deploy & test.
An example of this process is outlined below:
- General Category: Pizza
- Niche Position in the Category: Chicago-style pizza in Florida
- Hyper Niche Position in the Category: Vegan Chicago-style pizza in Florida
One last thing to mention is that as your business naturally evolves, so may your niche. How much or how fast this evolution takes place will be in direct relation to how you collect feedback, decide what needs tweaking, and implement those tweaks... over and over.
