One of the many ways to guide your marketing strategy is to focus on a specific market, but finding that niche can be a challenge. Whether you’re looking to focus on reaching out to a new market to guide your marketing strategy or you’re hoping to focus primarily on one market long-term, identifying your target market can help your business focus. Here are six easy steps to help you reach out to those niche markets.
Step 1: Look at Your Current Customers
This is the simplest way to identify your target market, so it’s the best first step! Take a look at your current customers. Do you see a pattern? Are one or two types of business coming to you time and again? Then you have a ready-made niche!
Step 2: Look At Your Skills
Not seeing a specific pattern in your current customers? That’s all right! Instead of looking out to your customers, take a look at what you do best and work from there. Do you have a killer sales pitch for business cards? That will serve you well in a business setting. Are you great at finding solutions for events? Event planners or hospitality businesses would benefit from that skill. Play to your strengths.
Step 3: Research Your Competition
Take a moment to check out that competition. Are there other businesses who are also targeting the market you’ve identified? Is there something you can do to stand out from them? Is there something of value that your business offers—a wide product selection, for example—that you can highlight?
Step 4: Gather Your Tools
You’ve identified your market and done your research—now it’s time to get your tools together so you can reach out to those customers. Start by tailoring your elevator pitch according to what you can do for that market, listing your relevant skills and experience and cutting details as needed. After that, identify what you need to do to create your marketing.
You might be surprised what tools you already have, too! If you have samples of previous orders for the market you’re targeting, that’s a great place to start. You also may have access to relevant vertical market flyers or even sample kits from Navitor.
Step 5: Get to Work!
You’ve got your target market. You’ve got the tools you need to speak to them. You’ve tailored your elevator pitch to this target market. It’s time to get to work! Reach out to your existing customers and consider new potential customers. Research trade shows or networking events where you could make new connections.
Step 6: Consider Where You Go From Here
It might seem like you could stop at step five, but it’s important for you to look to the future when you are targeting a specific market. Do you want to continue to focus on this market as you build experience? Are there other, similar markets that you could also target with relatively little effort—for example, if you’re focusing on schools, are there education foundations or colleges you could also market to? This will help make it easier to market in the future!
Do you work with a niche market? What advice do you have for businesses looking to focus on a particular market? We’d love to see you join the conversation in the comments below.
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