Big niche marketing.
Is there such a thing as a “big niche”? Isn’t that an oxymoron?
I like to think of “niche marketing” as the act of curating customer devotion.
Niche market businesses are centered around serving a specific set of customer needs.
And many people misunderstand market niches, thinking that niches are small… but small according to what? Is a $10 million or $50 million niche small, when you’re the category king? What about a $500 million niche where you’ve carved out a sizable, loyal customer base?
When researching a market niche, far more important than sizing TAM (total addressable market) is working to understand the target segment’s unique needs, preferences, and identity which makes that segment different from the broader market.
And brand matters, a lot. Mission-driven companies succeed in niches because they understand and invest in brand elements across important loyalty drivers like prestige, money saving, environmental conscience, or social status.
Marketing isn’t about getting the message out. It’s about getting the message received. So think niche. And think big, too. Big niche marketing is about how a message is going to be received, and the trade-off between audience size and impact. It’s about nurturing a deep understanding of customer needs, and going above and beyond to deliver value.
Some great additional resources, which helped as inspiration on this topic:
- How to build a BILLION dollar company, selling a product nobody needs (Clay Hebert on Instagram)
- Broad niche or Targeted niche which way to go? (Dan Martell and others on startups.com)
