Your Target Niche
I often ask people to identify the target market niche for their product or service. Many answer, “Anyone who will give me money!”
OK, that’s good for a chuckle – we all need all the customers we can get. And who’s to turn away someone who wants to spend money?
But when I ask the question again, it’s clear that many people don’t have much of an answer. That’s a problem. When you’re trying to market to everyone:
- You’re spreading your budget so thin that you can’t spend enough to be make much of an impression with anyone.
- Your message is so vague and diffuse that people often aren’t clear about why you’re different than anyone else.
Here’s the challenge, then: Go ahead and sell to anyone who wants to buy. But when you’re developing your message, make the target narrow enough that you can achieve real intensity, real leadership. Ideally you’d like to have a target market that’s large enough to keep you in business, and a message that clearly shows how you’re head and shoulders above the competition.
It’s not easy.
I recently developed an example business which would be focused on left-handed tools. Forget for the moment that there probably aren’t enough uniquely left-handed tools to actually make this a successful business. Instead, let’s think about the strength of the message.
- Could there be a large enough market? Well, 10% of the population is left-handed, so that could be a decent size for a small business.
- Is it a unique message? Quite possibly, especially if you’re talking about an actual storefront. There’s left-handed stores on websites, but if there was a good reason for people to prefer a more personal experience, a storefront could be a powerful selling point.
- Could you achieve a “best in class” perception? Quite possibly, because lefties are treated as an afterthought by most stores which sell tools.
Next: If you were to create such a store, would you ONLY sell left-handed tools? Probably not, because that would ignore the fact that most tools are in fact ambidextrous. And actively DISsatisfying right-handed customers might create problems.
Your product offering can be larger than your highly targeted message, to the degree it makes sense. But create a truly powerful position in the market so people can see why you’re different, why they should care.
Carl Dierschow
Small Fish Business Coaching Fort Collins
www.smallfish.us
Post has no comments.
