The essence of attraction marketing is creating a niche with your ideal client in mind.  This ‘customer driven’ sales strategy means you must have a good idea of your ideal customer. Niches do not exist but are created by recognising the needs, wants and desires of a select audience which is not currently being addressed well if at all by your competitors.

Narrowing down your offer to attract one type of client is counter intuitive, but best summed up with the well known phrase that if you chase more than one rabbit it is likely you won’t catch any.  So presuming that rabbit chasing is not actually your business what do you need to do?  

Recognising the one rabbit and naming him … let’s say Peter …  is a great starting point to creating your niche.  The aim is to be that big fish in the small pond that both you and Peter are in.  (sorry about the mixed metaphor!)

What makes a good niche?

A good niche is created on purpose and with intention which means it is completely focused.  It leverages your passion and core skills which mean you enjoy doing it.  Plus it has an audience with a need which is willing to invest.

Caveat!  It is important to test market your product or service to your niche as what you think people will want, is biased.  Reality may prove it not to be the case.

A good niche is likely to have a life span but may well evolve.  So it is important to be aware of the changes and more importantly what external factors (PESTLE) may influence your niche.  Moreover, it creates distinction. It helps you differentiate at some level whether that is price, quality or indeed specification.

So let’s assume you decide you want to go down the niche route. There are some things to consider and clearly define to make your journey effective.

Attract your Niche

Firstly you need to know what you stand for and what your business purpose is.  What are your values, and what footprint do you want to leave behind?

Then you need to recognise the profile of your ideal client and what they value enough that they will pay for it.  If you chose the ‘anyone with a pulse and a cheque book’ you will end up relying on luck and scrambling for your clients with the rest.

Know what your Unique Promise of Value is, when you tell people what you do – how memorable is it?  Can you americanise it so that it becomes a BOP; A Bold Outrageous Provocative statement?  And can you deliver it authentically.  The message needs to be simple and yet so attractive that it draws clients to you because they detect the value for themselves.

Once you have ‘got’  that, you are then ready to create a promotional pie.

Promotional Pie

Communicating what you offer in a style and language your niche recognises is attractive to your ideal customers.  The method of communicating may take various forms but not all of these.  You must chose the most appropriate for your niche.

Business Card, Brochures, Flyers, Elevator Pitch, Promotional goods, Television, Radio, Webinars, Referrals, Online advertising, Newspaper advertising, Public Relations, Online Forums, Podcasts, Webcasts, Advocates, Joint Ventures, Strategic Alliances, Ecourses

There are many ways to get your message out there. All are valid all have their place but there will be some which are more suited to your niche than others. Which of the above are likely to give you the best return on time and money invested?  The result is in the value of the clients attracted

Ad-hoc promotion does not work.  So you will need a number of marketing channels to support your marketing message.  Consider the six that would make up your marketing pie; a core set of channels through which you will deliver a constant and consistent flow of messages.

And to finish – a few words from Seth Godin “It’s entirely possible that you will choose a niche that’s too small. It’s much more likely you’ll shoot for something too big and become overwhelmed. When in doubt, overwhelm a small niche”

My thanks to Beverley Hamilton of One Step Further for her inspiration.

Published by TheHiddenEdge

I love words - they communicate so much or so little depending on how you use them. Come and explore my thoughts with me in this, my learning journal. View all posts by TheHiddenEdge