Specific is Terrific!
But how do you choose?
Work to your strengths!
What problem do you solve and how do you solve it?
Now look to your market: who has that problem, and who wants/needs it solved in your particular way?
Start there to build your niche market, then work outwards to demographic criteria.
I am a 10-time startup front-office Executive - Sales, Marketing, Service, etc. I would ask that you give more context to your question such as, are you a startup and still looking for a business model, are you scaling up and are trying to find the best strategy to dominate a market space? Are you in a new market space or in a crowded arena? The answer I would give depends greatly on the context of the situation.
Feel free to reach out to talk further. FWIW - I would not charge for that first conversation.
Bill
Hello:
It sounds like you're early in working on this, which is good. Ultimately, it's smoother to grow from a successful niche (narrow and deep) than from a broad base (wide and shallow).
Why?
- When your resources are limited, you can tailor your initial product/service development to that target market, which you will know much better than an entire industry.
- Your messaging will be focused on addressing key headaches that this select group has.
- You can fully focus your marketing efforts on the niche, raising the prospects of solid ROI on those efforts.
If you wish to discuss, send me a PM through Clarity for 15 free minutes.
Thanks,
Kerby
Here's the thing - we get excited by saying "if we cast a wide net, we're bound to get a bunch of clients along the way."
This is flawed thinking now-a-days because everyone is doing everything and everything is saturated.
I rather be a big fish in a small pond VS a small fish in a big pond.
The more niche you go the more specific your marketing campaigns can be. If you go broad, your ad spend will be expensive b/c you will be target a handful of different demographics. This will be extremely expensive.
Niche niche niche is like location location location in real estate.
Please do not make the mistake of going broad.
Go for niche, but be open to pivoting and appealing to a broader audience.
Ideally, when planning your product roadmap you should build it around the needs of a specific group of users.
But there comes a time when you have conquered the TAM (unless it's a blue ocean market like health, fashion, fitness etc) and you would want to branch out into adjacent or adjoining markets.
But if you have built too deep, it might be extremely hard for you to expand and grow.
So, go vertical right now, but also account for horizontal expansion.
A few more things to account for when determining your target market:
- the interest in the type of product over time. (you don't want to build around a fad).
- whether you are solving for a bleeding neck or for a sprain. If you have demonstrated expertise, people will line up for the former.
- whether you are solving for convenience or cost. Some markets care about convenience, and others are cost-sensitive.
Get any of these wrong (these are just few of the many factors) and your product will not appeal to your target market at all.
Start with a niche audience you can reach, get them to start using your product/service. Then, you can start scaling/broadening your user base in iterations. Remember Facebook: First Harvard students, then other colleges, then (when the product was more robust and the concept proven) the general public.
Generally, the smaller the niche, which can produce your target yearly recurring income is best.
Let me ask about your personal experience?
When you have an illness, do you want a specialist who knows the problem and immediate solution OR a general doctor than helps with colds? Yes, part of the answer is that the specialist earns much more because typically they have put years of effort into solving that problem & they solve it fast.
As a coach, I suggest our mind points us to a non-logical answer to this question. Our fear-based mind sees scarcity, "not enough", so it thinks a general client base is "safer", will feed us, but fear drives away clients. Shift your inner world, your mind, to an abundance mindset. Focus on the great number of people with the specific problem you want to solve. Also, many starting entrepreneurs are addicted to variety so they resist a specific niche they can invest years into.
A coach can help you grow your inner mindset as well as the outer-world practicals like niche.
Marketing is about creating change. Change for people who deserve the change along with our talents, time, and resources.
I bet it's a small niche of people that you change at first, but if you choose your targeted people with empathy, you'll find they are connected to people just like them...and they will eagerly share your change be it through a product or service.
In my experience, it's better to start with a niche group and focus on providing a more robust service to a select group. Gradually others who fall outside of the target market will also seek you out as you build your positive reputation within your niche target market.
It's always best to start off small. The saying goes "if you market to everyone, then you market to no one". Once you get some learnings from the small niche and you better understand the audience's challenges and pain points, then it's always easier to go broader.
Here is a short video I did about the ideal target market when I was launching my #1 best-selling book: https://www.facebook.com/jeanginzburg/videos/444206866114742/ (I am not trying to plug the book, but the topic of this video is about the ideal target market)
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