The more clearly and concisely you can define your target market,the better. When you articulate a message that is obviously intended for a specific audience, you will stand out from the generalists. Those for whom the message is intended will take notice, and it will be clear who makes a good referral for you.
Won’t I limit myself? This type of thinking is common, understandable, but ultimately self-defeating. Trying to market to everyone is effectively marketing to no one. People like to work with specialists who “get” what they are about. When you spread the message too thin you will appear to be a generalist and, importantly, sound much like your competition and that isn’t really a good thing.
An example? One of my good networking friends, Todd Baker is an insurance specialist. Any of you who network will know that is a well represented industry. It can be difficult to distinguish between insurance companies. Sure some have different plans, shop the market more and so on, but essentially the messages coming from them tend to sound very similar.
As you can see from the image to the left, Todd specializes further and has a range of policies to serve the contractor market. This is his truck and it is pretty clear who his market is.
Although Todd can serve additional insurance needs, this focus on a niche market is powerful because it is specific, different and it is very clear who the message is intended for. Of course it isn’t all about logos on trucks (although it looks good!) but more about identifying a target audience, understanding that audience and focusing on their issues and challenges in your marketing message.
Of course, you don’t need a car wrap necessarily. The point here is that really identifying who you serve, the passion you have as a business owner or independent professional and then going to market with that, is a great way to differentiate your message and stand out from the crowd.
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3 Responses
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Marketing Action and Jerry Smith, Tobin Truog. Tobin Truog said: New blog post: Power of niche marketing focus http://bit.ly/4wIrKV [...]
Posted on October 29th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
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Posted on October 30th, 2009 at 11:43 am
This is such an awesome example! Congratulations to Todd for narrowing down the focus on the niche.
He’s put himself in a position to become know as “the expert” when it comes to the unique insurance needs of contractors. As he get’s really focused on the problems, issues, and challenges that his target market deals with and starts providing some answers and insights, he’ll be the go to guy.
I don’t see him limiting himself at all. In fact, I think it’s just the opposite than if he had chosen not to narrow down the focus of his niche. In my mind, one of the worst things a small business owner can ever say is, “Well we can work with anybody really.” UGH!
Todd’s got the oppotunity to acheive much deeper penetration in the more narrowly defined market. And there are absolutely enough contractors out there to fill and insurance practice up and then some.
Way to go Todd!
If we can help you achieve your marketing goals in any way, just give us a shout.
All my Best!
Kevin
Posted on October 30th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
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