Many companies choose to target diverse and sizeable audiences in pursuit of better brand exposure and higher sales.
However, this approach will only work for a short period of time, without leaving a lasting impression of your brand as a reliable one (even if you sell great products).
Why is that?
In marketing, there’s a principle that always works, when it comes to targeting a certain audience.
This is the Pareto Principle, which states:
- 80% of your revenue is generated by 20% of your products
- most importantly, 80% of your sales volume comes from 20% of your customers
This principle leads to the conclusion that no matter how big your target audience is, only a small part of it will bring you 80% of your revenue.
To hit this 20% of your target audience, you need to do audience segmentation or focus your next marketing campaign on this ‘niche’ audience.
The Role of a Niche Audience
A niche audience is merely a subgroup of your main target audience. While your target audience may be more generalized, the description of a niche audience will include their biographical, demographic information, as well as specific wants, needs, and interests.
Focusing on a niche audience means that you will hit the right people with your product. There are also other benefits, including:
- Reduced marketing expenses. Focusing on a specific audience persona will give you an idea of your niche content should look like, thus, saving you a lot of money.
- Less competition. The more specific your niche audience is, the lower are the chances that someone will outcompete you.
- More credibility and trust. Focusing on a niche audience will allow you to become an expert in a certain area, thus bringing you more credibility in general and more trust from your clients.
The biggest benefit, however, is, of course, more revenue and increased profits. Focusing on a niche audience will make your marketing campaigns more defined, as you target the customers that are more profitable.
Leveraging Social Media Marketing to Target a Niche Audience
Now, let’s go to practice and take a look at the following ideas, how different social media marketing strategies can help you attract a niche audience.
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Focus on Niche Content
What are your current audience’s main interests?
This question can be easily answered if you take a look at the analytics from your pages on different social platforms. For example, here’s an extract from Twitter analytics:
After taking a look at what your audience’s general interests are, you can move forward to creating niche content to attract a niche audience.
When working on niche content, it is important to remember that:
- This content should be straightforward. You message should clearly state, what niche audience you want to target.
- The use of niche keywords is a must. Think, how your niche audience will try to find you. Work out main keywords that can lead a specific niche audience to your brand.
- Your content should bring value. Invest in content that will not only leave a lasting impression but also will bring value to your niche audience. In this case, you may benefit from investing in interactive content.
A great example of following all three above-mentioned rules in terms of creating niche content is San Francisco-based brand Lefty’s. This shop sells kitchen goods, gardening tools, and school supplies for lefties. And, just in time for the back-to-school season (and the International Left-Hander’s Day), they used their Facebook to promote their products:
As only 10% of all world’s population are left-handers, Lefty’s target audience is already a niche audience. Thus, their niche content is straightforward and uses keywords, related to their niche audience.
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Seek Them Out with Hashtags
One of the best ways to attract a niche audience is to help them find your brand via a hashtag.
A hashtag is the fastest route you can build to your niche audience. A combination of hashtags can also help your niche content appear in different searches, also increasing your online presence.
You cannot choose random hashtags, however. The choice of hashtags requires a prior analysis if you want to make sure you’re targeting the right audience.
An international real estate company Flatfy tried various hashtags before they chose #realestate and #bootstrap to target their niche audience. When looking at the performance of these hashtags, they paid special attention to how these hashtags are used by users around the world:
Ultimately, using the right hashtags helped them to eventually hit the international market, as the attention of their niche audience kept growing.
- Collaborate with Niche Influencers
Influencer marketing is a worthwhile investment. Reportedly, 89% of marketers say that ROI from influencer marketing is comparable to or better than other marketing channels.
But while many influencers have very diverse audiences and can potentially market everything, that’s not what you’re looking for.
If you want to attract a niche audience, you need to work with a niche influencer as well. This will bring you certain benefits:
- higher profits, as you hit only a certain audience
- clearer goals, as it will be more understandable what you expect from your collaboration
- measuring the campaign will be easier as both you and the niche influencer will have a clear understanding of the results of your work
A good example of working with a niche influencer is Avery, a popular stationery shop. Their collaboration with Sereena, an influencer and a YouTuber, known as Studyign, helped them reach over 100K people, who are passionate about stationery products:
Together with the influencer, Avery also developed a series of hashtags that helped other people from their niche audience to find their brand.
In Conclusion
As you can see, going more specific with your audience can be even more beneficial than you’ve thought. Targeting a niche audience has many advantages, from increased profits, to brand credibility and more trust.
Social media channels are the fastest route to target your niche audience. Hopefully, the tips that we shared with you, will put you on the right track and help you attract your niche audience.
Author bio:
Ryan is a passionate writer who likes sharing his thoughts and experience with the readers. Currently, he works as a digital marketing specialist, you can check his website here. He likes everything related to traveling and new countries.
