Can building your online business in a niche market help you stand out from the crowd? These five advantages unpack why niche marketing gives your ecommerce business a competitive edge.
A niche is a section of the market that follows its own specific rules according to customer and product demand. An easy example is Lefty’s The Left Hand Store in San Francisco. This specialized niche is targeted for particular products and services (for left-handed people only).
For most small online companies, finding a unique differentiator is a challenge. Broader market segments are crowded and dominated by companies with enormous marketing budgets and established online reputations. Niche marketing is a smart way for you to kick-start your sales.
These underserved markets are waiting for a creative mind like yours to shake things up! Here are five of the best benefits that come with finding the right niche and targeting it for online growth.
#1: Enjoy Lower Investment for Higher Returns
It’s tempting to invest a fortune in finding and listing thousands of products so that your ecommerce store will be competitive. Many small businesses go down this road, and it can be time-consuming, complicated, and expensive. When you find an industry niche to cater to, you flip this model on its head.
Instead of “high investment, low return,” you get to enjoy a lower investment across the board for larger profits that come along sooner. A narrowly defined customer base is typically easier to sell to because you know what they like, and you know what they want.
Using our demographic example of left-handed people, their interests will extend to a few key items. If you focus on scissors, quick-drying pens, left-handed technology, and other uniquely specific inventory that this market needs, you don’t need quantity since you have quality.
You also improve your chances of selling those big-ticket items that are traditionally tougher to sell because of the price tag. A smaller niche means a higher chance of selling pricier inventory. Your demographic will gladly spend $15,000.00 on a rare left-handed electric guitar.
>> Product specialization saves you time because there’s less of it to manage and money since your niche inventory sells at better prices, more often.
#2: Faster R&D for Less Time To Market
Because you know your niche market inside and out, research and development for your product or service categories will be much easier. From a business perspective, that means finding, listing, and selling things that sell well—and consistently—without much effort.
The key to closing sales online is to understand and segment your market. When you focus on niche marketing, this becomes simple to get right. Fewer products and services and a clearly defined target market make your marketing strategies more effective.
Targeted advertising uses specialized long-tail keywords, which quickly finds you customers! For Lefty’s, this means less PPC competition, lower ad spend, and higher returns.
Your niche business will also benefit from the quick discovery of new products and services that your market loves. Sourcing or creating these is fast, and you don’t take on so much market risk for your online store. Customers will give you reliable feedback that can influence your strategies.
>> Finding products that sell is easier with niche marketing, and so is changing, adding, or adapting your online store based on customer feedback.
#3: Create Stronger Customer Loyalty at a Quicker Pace
Lefty’s has an incredibly loyal customer base, and this is because it’s generally hard to find products for left-handed folks on your average store site. Serving a niche market is an excellent way to build a stronger customer relationship with buyers in a short space of time.
Customer loyalty is hard to create these days, with multiple ecommerce business types online. With 56% of customers saying that they stick with brands who “get them,” there are real niche market advantages to playing small. Your market may be shallow, but as a result, you can serve them best.
Because you cater to the unique needs of your niche, they quickly become a fan of your brand. In human psychology, studies have found that the key to friendship is having common interests. As an online store with distinctive products and services, you appeal to that same base function—shared interest.
Your customer views your brand as an expert in your niche, and trust is the natural result. Other important factors like likability and authority follow on from this. Lefty’s isn’t just a shop that sells items for left-handed people—they’re the leading authority on all things left-handed.
>> Specializing in a niche allows your online store to quickly build trust, loyalty, likability, and authority in your market.
#4: Compete With Fewer Companies for a Larger Market Share
There are millions of general stores on the internet right now. The large superstores lead markets, and smaller companies with general online shopping are left to fight over the scraps. It’s not easy breaking through and selling products in such a crowded space.
That’s why niche marketing has intrinsic value. Because you can target smaller customer segments, you face less overall competition. It gives your online business room to grow and expand at a much faster rate than your average, all-purpose ecommerce brand.
Plus, you aren’t restricted to your local market. Your niche might be global and far more extensive than your local market—which gives you options if you want to expand, find new growth avenues, and add supplementary services down the line. Lefty’s live all over the world!
A more targeted audience has knock-on benefits like more accurate data collection, better website conversion testing, and lower marketing costs for your store. When your niche is narrow, it’s easier to convince customers to buy things—so your marketing messages will be more potent as well.
>> Get more market share when you focus on a niche, and avoid being overwhelmed by the competition. Improve everything from data to marketing to performance testing.
#5: Simpler Customer Service That Inspires Genuine Connection
There are significant customer service benefits involved with catering to a niche market. Your target market will probably face the same issues that will crop up repeatedly as you serve them. Because of this, you’ll become a champion at solving their problems, which casts you in a positive light.
A small customer base also makes it easier for you to personalize your communication. You’ll spend time engaging your customers on things that interest them instead of fishing for sales. In the process, you’ll discover unique ways to reach and convert existing customers.
Lefty’s, for example, ran a Facebook promo that revealed that their Valentine’s Day advertising should focus on children and parental love, as opposed to romantic love. This is a great insight that would never have been discovered if the community was less engaged and more generalized.
Genuine customer connection results in improved experiences, which drastically increases revenue generation. Research shows that 84% of companies who focus on customer experiences enjoy more sales. It boils down to customer support and the connection you share with your buyers.
>> Customer service is simpler and more personal, which results in improved experiences and an overall increase in product or service sales.
When you become a niche brand, your audience will get to know you, and you’ll become an essential part of something that makes their lives better. If you’ve been looking for ways to grow your online presence, you should consider switching to an ecommerce platform that focuses on a niche market.
Build your online business by targeting a specific niche in 2021 and stand out from the crowd.
