Jack of all trades, master of none.
That old saying is surprisingly applicable to the approach some businesses take with their marketing. Instead of trying to figure out who they’re marketing to and the context in which that marketing is being executed, they simply allow themselves to dive in face-first. It’s akin to attempting skydiving without a parachute.
Sure, you might make it through. It’s far likelier, however, that you’ll end up a stain on the ground. Alright, we’ll grant that it’s not a perfect analogy — but it gets the point across just the same.
For your marketing efforts to meet with real success, you need to define your niche.
Finding Your Niche: The Questions You Must Ask
The right niche is a perfect blend of relevant, untapped, and compelling. It’s something you can write about without too much difficulty and which resonates with you as much as your brand. With that in mind, here’s what you should consider when seeking a niche.
- How competitive is it?
- How much do I know about it? Can I cover it with a reasonable degree of authority?
- Who is interested in this niche?
- Would this niche’s primary audience also be interested in my brand?
- Can this niche be tied back to any of my products/services?
- How active is this niche/how much traffic can I expect it to generate?
How Can You Tell if Your Niche is Too Broad?
We see a lot of businesses take the ‘kitchen sink’ approach to content creation. They shotgun ideas across multiple niches and topics, hoping that at least one of their shots will be a winner. They don’t realize that when your target audience can be best summed up as “yes,” you’re going to run into trouble.
The people who might be genuinely interested in your products or services might see the eclectic collection of blog posts and reconsider. And the people brought in by a blog that’s too general likely aren’t going to turn into qualified leads.
But how exactly can you tell if you’re targeting too general a niche?
- A high bounce rate on specific pages or posts.
- High traffic numbers, low conversions.
- Your list of topics could fill an entire page in a Word document.
- You cannot describe your niche in just a few words.
Granted, not all of the above are surefire signs that your niche is too broad. But they are all red flags. The good news is that now that you’re aware of them, they’re that much easier for you to avoid.
As for how you might narrow your niche if you already stumbled headlong into one that’s too broad? Examine your most popular content for common threads, look at what competitors are doing, and most importantly, ask your colleagues/team for any advice they might be able to offer.
Do all that, and you’ll be just fine.
