When new businesses are just getting started, they may make the mistake of marketing too broadly. Niche marketing is a better choice for most businesses. When business owners target their advertising on a specific segment of the population, they will save money and create a more loyal customer base.
Grace Rizza, the owner of Identity Dental Marketing, explains the reasons why niche marketing is a good choice and gives tips for targeting a specific segment of the population.
Sitting down and deciding which portion of the public, you want to engage with your marketing can take time. It seems easier to target your advertising and to let the market decide which people will respond, but it makes much more sense to target your marketing efforts.
For example, a dental business may want to target all dental patients. Advertising to such a broad segment of the population requires large ad buys on television and on the internet. It may be wiser to drill down and decide which part of the dental public is the best fit for your business.
You may want to target patients over 55 with significant income, or you may want to target families with young children. A marketing professional can help you decide which forms of advertisement are best for these segments.
Television advertisements shown on cable news networks or during the nightly news may be a good fit for finding retirees and other older patients. Advertising on children’s networks or on Facebook could be a good fit for finding younger patients with families. If you want to target millennial patients, consider advertising on Instagram or Snapchat.
Social media advertising can be a cost-effective way of targeting your market. With social media advertising, online tools enable you to choose exactly which segments of the population you want to reach. Age, geographic location, and interests are all available.
Here are the steps to choosing your perfect niche market and reaching the customers you want to see in your business.
1. Your Ideal Customer
Take time to decide who your ideal customer might be. Look at geography, age, and the income level you would like to target. Be as specific as possible. Targeting too broadly will lead to wasted advertising dollars.
2. Focus on Your Services
Dental businesses may want to focus on the types of services they provide to their patients, including prosthodontics, pediatric services, cosmetic dentistry, and general dentistry. It is a smart idea to drill down and decide which services you want to offer to your patients. Perhaps you want older patients with private insurance to receive caps, veneers, and dental implants.
3. Identify with Your Customers
Take the time to put yourself in your customer’s shoes. If you want to detail cars, consider what times of day your ideal customer will need to pick up and drop off their vehicles. Consider which types of services your ideal customer will appreciate the most. Don’t worry about making your business one-size-fits-all.
4. Think Your Niche Through
The right niche will match up with your vision for your company. Your customers will want it. It will be planned out carefully. It will be a one-of-a-kind business which attracts customers. It will be able to evolve through time, absorbing new information and new lines of business as time goes by.
5. Test Marketing
Finally, it is time to test your marketing idea. Start by advertising your product or service and see how many customers you catch. Offering free samples of your work is a great way to get started. In the case of a service business, offering a discount is a good way to begin. This test should be inexpensive to run. If you need to spend a lot, you likely have the wrong approach.
6. Be Successful
Implementing your new niche marketing idea may be nerve-wracking, but if you put in the time and thought described above, you should be able to turn a profit. If your marketing plan doesn’t work, it is always smart to go back and tweak the plan. If you followed up on all of your questions, your new marketing plan would not be just a gamble.
Work with a Marketing Professional
If these steps seem too challenging to complete on your own, don’t be afraid to reach for professional help. Companies like Identity Dental Marketing will work with you and your vision and create the best possible marketing plan for your needs. Above all, remember that you can’t be all things to everyone. Targeting a niche means that you can save your effort for the most profitable segments of the market.
