Attract more clients with niche-focused marketing

22nd, Apr 2015

Are you worried you may lose business if you don’t market to every kind of client you’re capable of handling? A lot of marketing by professional service firms suffers from focusing on too broad a market. Although being more general theoretically gives you a larger potential audience, you can’t really be everything to everyone and your prospects know it. In fact, a Hinge Marketing study found that the fastest-growing firms tend to be specialists in a carefully targeted niche. Why is this? What are the benefits of focusing on a niche practice? Here are 7 of them:

1. Differentiating your practice. We’re all suffering from information overload and offering your audience more generic services and resources won’t set you apart and get you noticed. Marketing a specialty sets you apart from the competition because it forces you to clearly define what you do and what you know in a highly specific way that is different from other firms.

2. Fewer competitors. There are tons of firms that say they serve business owners or high-wealth individuals or they can handle a laundry list of issues for any size company. So if you target your marketing message that broadly, you are going to be competing with all those firms. On the other hand, focusing on a particular industry, type of service or other niche means you have a smaller group of firms who directly compete with you.

3. Better quality leads. How good are the leads you are getting? Are they truly solid prospects? Do you have a high conversion rate? Marketing yourself broadly may bring in more calls, but if they don’t convert to business then it’s not really helpful. Having a well-defined specialty means people have a better sense of the kind of work you do and whether your expertise is a match for what they are looking for from a firm. The ones who call you are specifically interested in your niche practice and that means they are more likely to become clients.

4. Becoming an expert. Your prospects don’t want a generalist; they want a specialist who understands their needs, concerns and industry/situation. By defining a niche, you can really get to know it well and showcase that expertise. Monitor the relevant developments and trends, learn the industry and the key players, influencers and competitors. The more you know about your niche, the better you can provide insightful information to your audience and position yourself as the go-to expert.

5. Knowing your audience. If you have a niche, you need to know who you are targeting with a lot of specificity. Who are they? Where are they? What are their challenges? Where do they turn for information? Imagine trying to understand all of this if you have a general audience. By specializing, you are in a better position to understand how to help your prospects solve their problems and make them satisfied clients.

6. Targeting your message. When you focus on a niche, you can develop better distribution channels for getting your message out. You know where your audience is and you can deliver the message to them. That means taking the time to join and get involved in the groups your audience is involved with, write for the publications they read, and build relationships with the influencers they trust.

7. Maximizing resources. If you’re trying to hit everyone, you will be stretching your time and money very thin. Instead concentrate your resources on your niche. You will find it easier to leverage your marketing and content efforts. Whatever you’re doing to showcase your expertise – writing, speaking, networking, search engine optimization, partnering – can all work together to help you amplify your message and get you more bang for your buck.

Still worried about losing potential clients you were qualified to handle? Marketing a niche doesn’t mean you’re only taking clients in that one area. And there is nothing to say you should only have one niche. The larger the firm, the more specialties you may want to have. However, keep in mind all the benefits described above and stay focused on your best niches for success.

Tagged: best practices, niche