Liz Canham

What is Niche Marketing?



Posted: Sunday, January 22, 2012

by Liz Canham
http://www.internetmarketingwithliz.com

Niche marketing is just what it sounds like - selling products or services to a niche market or a special area of demand.  Basically, you wouldn't target the whole world as your market, just those people who have a particular interest in your products or services.

Even a big business can use niche marketing by breaking down their product range into smaller pieces.  For example a computer manufacturer wouldn't just sell PCs, they'd sell netbooks, laptops, printers, external hard drives, cables, memory cards and so on.  Thus, someone who already has a PC but is looking at laptops would still seek out their products - that is a niche.

Taking out adverts in national newspapers and magazines or on national TV or radio costs an absolute fortune but of course the major companies can afford it.  However, it wouldn't be possible for the average small business to advertise to a huge market in that way but by choosing a narrow niche the advertising budget goes further.  For example, if you're selling knitting patterns you wouldn't want to advertise in the New York Times because out of that huge readership, very few people would want to buy knitting patterns but if you display your wares in a knitting magazine, you can assume that all its readers are interested in knitting.  That's a good use of an advertising budget.

Niche marketing targets the specific needs of a target audience.  A website offering advice on how to treat acne is only of interest to acne sufferers; a book on caring for cats is if no interest to people who don't own a cat and don't intend to.

Niche marketing isn't about trying to compete with the big boys; very few individuals can do that.  Make your niche extremely narrow and target the right audience.  For instance, many people own dogs and lots of doggie subjects can be aimed at most dogs - that is rather a wide niche.  However, if your niche focuses on a specific breed and its particular problems, then owners of that breed will come flocking to buy your product or service.

Aim small to start with and a few sales can make big profits; no sales mean no profits.

So in answer to the question "what is niche marketing", it's an efficient and cost effective method of selling specific products to a targeted market.

Liz Canham has done a lot of research into niche marketing so for more examples of a niche market and help with choosing one, visit Liz's website, Liz-e-Biz.com.
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