Many companies have a select audience to which their product or service appeals. General marketing tactics may work for the majority of businesses but may not always work within your niche. This is why it?s important to not follow one-size-fits-all marketing strategies and to try and think outside the box. Here are some tips for targeting a niche and getting leads.
Outsource specialist marketing companies
If you don?t want to do your own marketing and would rather hire a company to do it for you, think twice before selecting a general marketing company. It may work out better to find professionals within your niche. If you?re a tech startup hoping to get some press attention, it could be worth looking into a tech-focused PR company who are more likely to have better contacts in tech magazines and blogs that your average generic PR company. Similarly, if you?re looking to get a professional website designed, you may want to consider a designer who caters to your field. There are companies that specialize in web design for specific trades such as?law firm website design that may be able to help you stand out whilst creating something professional and presentable. As with outsourcing any professional, check that these companies have good user reviews and credentials so that you know that you can trust them.
Use relevant social media
It doesn?t hurt to get your business on all social media platforms, but clearly, some will be more beneficial than other making them more suited for focusing on. Facebook and Twitter are useful for all businesses. Instagram, on the other hand, may only be suited if you have physical results that you can photograph on a regular basis. A cake-making company or a retailer may be able to use Instagram to successfully show off their products, helping them to gain clientele. However, it?s unlikely you?ll get much out of Instagram if you?re an accountancy firm, with little to photograph on a daily basis. Contrastingly, sites like Linked In are likely to far more useful to business-to-business companies like accountancy firms than they are to a cake-baker. Linked In is ideal for professional networking and could be a better place to focus your efforts, messaging and linking up with other companies that might need your services.
Focus your keywords
Making use of the right keywords can get the right people visiting your site. If you?re doing an AdWords campaign and creating a web ad, you?ll want to choose keywords that cause your ad to show up when key people search for you. Whilst it?s good to use some broad keywords, make sure to use some more specific keywords and related keywords within your niche. If your company sells backpacks for travelling, think beyond ?backpack? (people looking for a work or school bag could be searching this) and consider keywords like ?travel backpack?, ?affordable travel gear? and ?passport wallet? (people looking for a passport wallet might also be looking for a new travel backpack).
Get involved in online communities related to your niche
There may be online communities which attract your key client base. If your company sells cameras, you might want to consider photography forums and photography blogs. Promoting your product in these forums and in comments sections of blogs could be seen as spammy, but by contributing regularly you could build a good reputation for yourself which will help your online credibility.
Cross-promote with companies within your niche
Another great way to market within your niche is to team up with other companies within your trade. You can agree to promote their wares in exchange that they do the same for you. This could involve advertising the company on your website, posting about them on social media or even retweeting some of their posts. You?ll want to avoid a conflict of interest of course ? if you?re a restaurant, you might not want to promote another restaurant in your area although it could prove beneficial to team up with a local hotel (you recommend them in exchange that they recommend you). If you?re a budget company, you may want to team up with another budget company, whilst a high-end company might benefit to team up with another high-end business.
