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For example various design businesses can have creative freelancers as their client group: a design company can offer them web design and app development, another company can offer them branding advice or photography. It is the combination of target market and specific service that creates a niche market. Why is it important to have a niche? 1. Don’t spread yourself too thin Instead of the risk of spreading yourself too thin, and say that ‘everybody Is your potential client niche marketing will help you to focus on a specific group of people, and what their specific needs and wants are.
Especially as a sole trader you won’t be able to serve everybody, so It is important to focus on what you do best and for a group of people who will buy what you create. You will soon find out what is important to them, what magazines or blobs they read, how they talk and dress, who the main people in that network are. You can develop products or services specifically for this group, based on your increasingly thorough knowledge and understanding of what they are interested in. 2.
Easier to identify and target potential clients and partners to work with As the pool of people you are looking at is mailer, it will be easier to identify potential clients and partners to work with as you can be more targeted with your marketing efforts. 3. Easier to become an expert and well known In your niche It will be easier for others to understand What you do’ and for whom’, which will make you an expert In a certain field. As this group Is more targeted and smaller you will be quicker well known within this group of people.
Your visibility and profile will increase within this group, and it turns out we live in ‘a small world’! 4. More and better referrals As it is easier for other to understand what you do and for whom it becomes easier to refer more and better clients to you, as you have build up trust and got more visibility and credibility, and it is clear what you specialist in. 5. More unique = Less competition There will be less competition, as you provide specific services or create specific products for specific people, in a specific way.
The BIG advantage of that Is that It can’t be easily replicated! 6. Marketing become easier Niche marketing will really help with your marketing, positioning and branding as you will attract the ‘right people’ easier. People with scalar Interests behave and are attracted to similar things. And also a lot of your clients will do the hard work for you tribe. 7. Easier to identify specific clients You can also identify specific potential clients easier, especially if your clients are other businesses, such as galleries, retailers, or freelancers.
You can identify them by name (unlike most consumers) which will make the communication from the start more personal and unique, instead of mass marketing or advertising. 8. More repeat business As you can provide an increasingly better service or product, based on your client’s deeds, the chance is that you will get more repeat business – people will come back for more, and often will start spending more with you as the relationship grows. Niche marketing really comes down to this: Who would you rather be: A small fish in a big pond or a big fish in a small pond? So, it sounds like niche marketing is the way to go! But hang on a minute . F I focus on only a small group of people, won’t I miss out? You might like to be everything to everybody, but that’s Just not possible in terms of your time, money and energy. Also, it might not make you very attractive! Why? Imagine that you have Just darted dating, and your friends ask Who are you looking for? , and you respond ‘Any wife will do’. I bet you won’t get that much actual interest! If you narrow your focus and market you will be able to serve your clients much better, and you can focus on those people who need your products or services the most and get the most benefits of what you have got to offer.
In fact you get to create your best work for the people you like and work with the best – that’s a definite win-win! I don’t like to be labeled! Some goaltenders are worried that they will only be known ‘as the person who does ‘. Actually, think about it, that doesn’t need to be a negative! And don’t worry, when you are creating your niche there is one simple solution: Once you are known for a certain niche, and have plenty of clients, you can grow from there. You can either offer additional services or products based on the actual needs of your client groups.
For example a graphic design company can focus purely on creating corporate identities, and expand then into annual reports. A textile designer can firstly create romantic and colorful interior products directly selling to clients, and then expand o working with interior designers and create a collection to be sold in interior and gift shops. In fact you can ask your clients or users to help you design new services or products with you. And by the way, you don’t have to do this all by yourself! You can work with partners who deliver these other services, and who will like to work with you as they know you have the clients already.
For example a graphic designer who works for small businesses, can work very well together with a developer, a marketing consultant, a photographer, a branding agency and web designer to offer a full service. I have only Just started, and I don’t really know what I want or what I am good at! In the first 3 years or so of any business startup it is indeed very hard to identify what your particular strengths or talents are, where there is a profitable market for your product or what your clients really need (they often say something else than what is really on their mind! . Also, you need some really practical experience, because sometimes you need to find out the hard way what works and doesn’t work for you, and your clients. Niche marketing, developing your understanding of your market and improving your approach, so stay flexible for opportunities and listen to client feedback, and then fine tune to discover more and more about what you are passionate about and the best at. Niche marketing is really about ENERGY. Especially as a small business owner you can’t be everything to all people, and there are only 24 hours in the day.
Niche marketing will help you to focus on two things: Where and with whom do I want to spend my energy? Where and from whom do I get my energy? 2. As a creative business adviser and trainer I regularly see clients who have identified a target market because they think it will make the most money. Many of my crafts business clients focus on the high end luxury market, but they actually hate working for rich people who don’t appreciate their skills and love for making their hand-made work. Is that you?! Don’t make that mistake! The end result is that you will feel upset, frustrated, uninspired and won’t do the best work you can do.
To be able to have a thriving and sustainable business you need to have a passion for your work and work with people who inspire you, who get you excited, who give you respect, and who will give you the energy to keep going and improve all the time! Do you want to know what a niche market is and the difference between your target market and niche market – check out our related post What is your niche market? What is your sweet spot? Or how to identify your niche market 1. What are your values? Why do you want to run a creative business? What do you want to achieve? Who do you want to be in 20 years time?
What is the legacy you want to leave behind? What do you want to change in the world? What is really important to you? These are really major questions for you to answer. Is it about quality, innovation, reiterative, solutions, beauty, providing pleasure and Joy, creating partnerships, rebellious, or sustainability for you? What are your specific core beliefs that drive you and your business? Many of these values have got more interpretations, so be as specific as you can. This is really about: what makes you uniquely you and is the foundation of you and your business idea? Identify five specific values that describe you as best as you can.
If you can figure this out, and communicate that well, then you get something that is very difficult to replicate. 2. What are you passionate about? What do you want to change or improve in the world? What is your ‘soap box’ topic? What are you obsessed about – and doesn’t feel like work at all? Be as specific as you contact 5 people from across your life to help you answer these questions for you! 3. What are your strengths? What are your special talents? What do you want to be known for? 4. Who will pay for what you offer? What do you know about your potential or current clients?
Are they trade or consumers, or both? What kind of retailers or clients will buy from you? Identify specific facts about them e. G. Gender, location, industry, age. Where do they live, what do the read, what hobbies have they got? And then go a bit deeper than these facts: what do they dream about, what are their aspirations, what are their wants and needs, what are their worries or challenges, what do they need help with, what keeps them awake at night? It really can help to write a short story about your different client groups: who they are, what they do, why they buy from you.
Or have fun creating a collage with collected images of what they would look like, what they wear, what they read. If you combine these 4 different areas, what is the (partial) overlap? This is called the sweet spot. Maybe at this stage you can identify a couple of overlaps, Just dot them down for now. To get you into more detail Can you make a list with the names of 20 potential clients for each of these sweet spots? If not, you might need to do some more research by digging deeper or by researching more potential clients. Go out there and try these different sweet spots.
Nothing beats actual feedback from potential clients! Have some fun with it, try out different ways of introducing yourself, of presenting yourself. Find out if there is a market who is willing to pay for what you o. Tweak it if necessary, Just a slight different approach might do the trick! So to really sum it up: niche marketing is a combination of you and your talents and what the market wants and needs. Some case studies of how the sweet spot and niches can work: My sister has got a disabled teenage daughter who is incontinent and uses a wheelchair full time.
For a really long time my sister found it impossible to find funky, colorful clothes for her to wear. She is a creative person, so started making her own clothes, and many of her friends commented positively. It is very often the case that successful businesses are started by somebody who had first hand experience of a specific need that others would have too. Fast forward 5 years later and she has got a thriving online fashion business called Pine & Poole for disabled kids, that she can run while working around the demands of a very busy family life!
She is very good in getting referrals and repeat business due to her niche. Her marketing mostly exist out of sending additional postcards with orders to hand out to friends, a monthly e- newsletter, and exhibiting at 2 disability trade fairs. In different styles, working happily along without any strategic planning, but she new she wasn’t selling as well as she knew she could. After a trade show we realized that the products in itself were good, but that the collection and presentation was unclear to retailers.
We simplified her collection together, ordering products around different themes and styles (giving each collection a working title e. G. Fairy tales, sass’s Copenhagen), identifying target groups (e. G. Plywood Kitsch, Vintage High Street Gift Shop, Colorful Brighton) which made it easier to identify potential retailers. We also cut out more than 60% of the collection, and added new products at different (higher! Price levels. We managed to identify her nearest competitors, and it became fairly easy to find out to which retailers they were selling.
Most competitors posted on their websites a listing of where they were selling their post cards! A very clear picture of the market emerged. Case study…. JEEP 30. Where did the Jeep go? Strategy of a reborn automaker Now to give one real-world example of a strategy implemented to extend the life of an existing product line without changing the original design. I want to discuss Willis, one of American earliest motor vehicle manufacturers. The story starts as the US Army needed a newly designed vehicle that could go anywhere for reconnaissance.
Several proposals were made following the Quartermaster Corps’ specifications in 1940, which included among others: 1) A front wheel-drive axle with two-speed transmission including provisions for disengaging the front-wheel drive; 2) A rectangular body with a folding windshield and three bucket seats; 3) Superior engine power; 4) A tow bar; 5) 30-caliber machine gun mount; 6) Blackout lighting; 7) Hydraulic brakes; 8) Full floating axles; 9) Wheelbase of 80 inches, maximum height of 40 inches, and maximum weight of ,275 pounds; and 10) Able to reach 50 MPH on a hard surface.
In July 1941, the then War Department decided to adopt a single model: Willis was selected because its bid was lower than the others submitted. Since then Willis Overland has maintained those corrections to the original design and engineering technologies for the four-wheel drive Jeep that played an enormous role during World War II, since it could traverse the roughest roads or places where roads did not exist. After World War II, Willis realized that its technologies were no longer of much value even in its home market.
Demand was waning because road conditions in the USA were improving and paved roads were available almost everywhere. Image 10. Revival of the Willis Jeep The off-road technology packaged in the Jeep was still valuable in many other countries, however, and therefore Willis transplanted its manufacturing facilities to Latin America, Africa, and Israel. In taking this step and harnessing its specialized technologies for use in areas where they had economic value, Willis restored its position as a profitable enterprise.
Viewed from this perspective, Willis stands out as classic example of a company that extended the life of its product by developing new applications for existing knowledge and technology. Http://pitchstone. Com/blob/2012/06/11 ‘luxury-UN-wheeled/ http://www. Owe. Com/list_7338847_creative-ways-sell-luxury-cars. HTML six strategies of niche mark.. Deponent. Was. Cowardice/SB10001424052748704130904574644084205858424. HTML The trendy and innovative new a-Class is being marketed by Mercedes-Benz India in an equally innovative manner.
Mercedes-Benz Indian’s unique “Ultimate Touring Trails” contest has witnessed participation from over 1 Lake people and celebrates an active lifestyle. It has used only Social media during pre launch of the car which marks a new approach to Luxury automotive marketing nun: It’s 13 years since the Mercedes Benz started rolling out from a plant in Pun. But the lure of the three-pointed star remains as strong as ever. Other luxury players such as Audio and BMW may have also tasted success, but Benz still rules the Indian Not surprisingly, it has announced its intention to sell more cars than ever in India this year.
And the target looks Justified, with the company having already sold more than 50% of its 2007 sales during the first five months of 2008. The company has discarded its old name Daimler Chrysler India and changed its marketing strategy. The car maker has also evinced interest in the luxury bus segment and has partnered Suttee Motors for creation of the bus body. The launch is scheduled for the second half of 2008. To meet future requirements, Mercedes Benz is setting up a Rests core manufacturing facility at Khan in Pun on a 100-acre site.
It plans to manufacture 5,000 passenger cars and 1 ,200 commercial vehicles annually. Mercedes-Benz India has evolved a four-pronged strategy towards passenger cars his year as it transfers its truck and bus business under Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICE). The company had been selling buses -?? inter and intra city and Actors mining trucks -?? in the India market, which would now fall under DICE portfolio. As part of its India approach, Mercedes-Benz plans to launch four new products this year, invest in dealer network, improve overall ownership cost and double production at the Khan plant. We have termed this year as an offensive year for Mere in India with aggressive plans to strengthen our position in the market,” said Bernhard Kern, MD and chief executive, Mercedes-Benz India. Going forward, Khan will be for passenger cars and Achaean will be for trucks and buses,” said Kern. Starting with the launch of 663 on Tuesday, Mere plans to drive in its much-awaited premium hatchback A-class in diesel and petrol variants by mid-2013.
Other launches are the new GEL in May and the a-class diesel variant around the same time. Mercedes-Benz is doubling its production capacity from 10,000 units to 20,000 at Khan by end of this year to make space for the new models. Moreover, the company is looking at localization in a big way to improve ownership cost to the customers. Mercedes-Benz assembles models like S-class, E-class, C-class and M- class at its plant with localization ranging from 10% to over various mentioned models.
Asked about plans of further localization and possibility of an engine facility at Khan, Kern said, “l cannot talk of plans on other models but yes, we would look at further localization on our models by end of this year. ” He did not divulge any plans of an engine facility but said the relationship with Force Motors to assemble its engine for them would continue. Mercedes-Benz sold 5,006 units during April to January 2012-13, down 14. 7% year-on-year. It is hopeful of doing better this year, though a “relaxation in taxes on luxury cars in the forthcoming Budget” would be key to it.
Mercedes-Benz has invested about RARE core in India. “This amount does not include investment made in dealership networks,” said Kern while declining to put a number to the future investments in India. After losing top slot to BMW in luxury car race, Mercedes-Benz India plans to alter its marketing strategy to change its brand perception. Though the brand globally stands for main attributes of luxury, performance and technology, in India it has been identified as a brand meant for mature customers. The company aims to regain its number one position in the next three years.
As a first step, Mercedes-Benz India on Wednesday signed an agreement with Jayvee Sports International to become the official automobile partner for the first ever Fl race to be held in the country in October to boost consumer interest for its cars. The luxury carmaker will provide stand-by safety cars for the event. It also plans to set up a driving academy at the Fl racing ground Buddy International Circuit (BIG) in association with Jayvee Sports International, the organizers of the Indian Formula One Grand PRI next year.
The academy will be its fourth globally after Germany, China and the US. “To gradually change our brand perception, we will also go to places like malls, universities and airports, where we have never been before,” said Peter T Honing, managing director and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India. The company has recently opened a brand lounge at TO of the Delhi International airport and plans to showcase its cars in malls and educate college students about the company’s brand philosophy. “We are also talking to Fl drivers to promote the Mercedes brand in India,” Honing added.