The decision of who your target market tends to take a bit of time.
You’ve got some research to do and more than likely you’ve got to convince yourself. Here’s the thing – any market will work! Now that is a bit broad of a statement.
As long as your target market ticks all 5 boxes then you’re good to go:
- Are there lots of them – >5,000 is preferable in your country
- Do they have the ability to pay – or you can help them quickly
- Does your IP help them – you are improving their financial condition
- Do you like working with them – are they fundamentally good people
- Will their business (or variation of) exist in the future.
During the process of selection I hear fears about going all in on a singular target market…
“What will my existing clients who are not that niche think?”
“What if it gets boring working with one?”
“What if our potential recruits want variety?”
A simple explanation to your existing clients that going forward you’re marketing to a niche, the service levels will improve and you will still look after them will suffice. Of course, during that conversation asking them for referrals is important as well. It should never get boring working with one unless you make it so.
You might have one market but you have a number of service offerings, things always change and no two clients are identical. If your potential recruits are looking for variety then they’ve got it – see the point above. There is variety in people, situations and service offerings.
There are 4 good reasons to pick one niche and go deep into it:
- Marketing is so much easier
- You are more useful to them
- You are more efficient with them
- You can charge a premium
Those are 4 very good reasons to get focussed and pick one! So decision made. Now what. Time to go (as the gambling term says) “ALL ON BLACK”
What does that mean? It means you go very deep on your chosen niche. It means that all of your digital assets reflect your target market. I still see firms who have made a decision to target X market yet their website says they are generalists.
Your digital assets are websites, LinkedIn profile, twitter, Facebook, Instagram …EVERYTHING needs to be changed to reflect your target market.
It means you start creating ‘a body of work’ targeted to your market. Articles, books, white papers, video content, downloadable tools and interactive tools. You write / film / curate it and then you populate that piece everywhere. It means that your language changes internally.
You coach your team what to say and how to say it. You talk about your market at every team meeting. This is not “do you think we should do something this quarter to to promote to …” NO. It is “what are we doing this week to promote to ….”
It means you become obsessed with your market. You research them, you subscribe to every available newsletter / email about them, you network with them, you study them, you get to know other vendors in the space and you look for speaking or media opportunities. It means you decide to become THE expert in THE space about your subject matter.
You decide, then you become the “Red Adair” (google him) of your space. The market calls you because you are the best. It means you remain on target – F.O.C.U.S. Follow One Course Until Successful. Don’t jump around from niche to niche.
I hear this one a lot…“We started with X market, got some good traction there. Then we got a good lead into X market, so we’ll go there as well”.
There are plenty of both markets available. How can you do all of the above in 2 markets is beyond me?
This is my variation of a saying that first appeared in the last 1800’s …“You’ve only got one ass, you can only ride one horse at a time”It’s all about lazercution (yes, I invented that word) – execution with laser focus. It’s all about getting serious, staying focused and going deep.
