Can You Use Inbound Marketing in a Niche Market?

As businesses dig into their options surrounding marketing strategy, there is often some question surrounding “who” can really benefit from inbound marketing. To be blunt, the short answer to this question is "everyone."

If you’re in a niche market, it means that you’re appealing to a part of the marketplace that has previously been overlooked. There are some interesting advantages to being in a niche market such as the fact that you have reduced competition. The pool of people that you’re appealing to could be smaller in comparison to others, but your audience has very specific needs, which you've hopefully found a way to meet. After all, the more specific those needs are, the more important your solution will be for your ideal buyer. 

Enter inbound marketing: the strategy that allows any business to specifically target and reach specific demographics more effectively. Inbound means that you’re drawing in your consumer to find out about your business rather than “selling” what you’re offering. It’s all about creating engaging content that will appeal to your target audience and serve the purpose of educating them throughout the sales cycle. The valuable content you create is what will keep them returning for more information and take them one step closer to being a delighted customer.

Inbound has proven time and time again its effectiveness for all types of businesses. In fact, niche businesses can especially benefit from this strategy because of their unique and narrow audience. The ability to not only attract but also engage those unique buyers, use data to measure efficiency and steer your strategy, and educate your consumer can help you build up a strong following over time. Here’s why:

Reach Your Market

Given that you’re appealing to a smaller audience, traditional marketing isn’t going to cut it. Putting up a billboard, creating a newspaper advertisement, or sending out a direct mail piece isn’t going to reach those who really ought to be seeing and learning about your business. If you’re using traditional marketing tactics, you can re-prioritize your marketing dollars to ensure you’re getting the best return on investment. With inbound, you’re able to specifically target your ideal demographic to expand your reach. Setting specific parameters on your various platforms, especially on social media, is a unique benefit to inbound, it makes your so-called “net” that you’re throwing out “catch” the right type of leads. Increasing your valuable time spent on effective strategy instead of time wasted on the wrong kind of leads will boost your overall productivity.

Educate to Engage

The goal of content creation should be to engage and educate. These are two of the guiding principles of inbound marketing that foster a relationship between your business and potential consumers. Having quality content that is related to various topics that your potential consumer may be searching for will not only increase your search rankings but entice the consumer to click on your site. Say, for instance, your business is selling vacation packages that specialize in international travel with an emphasis on education. Your strategy with inbound could be to brainstorm what kinds of topics or questions your ideal consumer would have that are related to your business. Perhaps it could be a checklist on how to pack a carry-on bag, a blog post all about when the best time is to book international flights, or a campaign focused on a specific destination and what that specific destination offers in terms of historical experiences. Most often, people don’t do a Google search for a specific business, but when they find content related to their search: bingo! You’ve got them hooked.

Measure Your Efforts

If you’re a niche business, it's especially important to make sure you’re making the most out of your marketing budget. A huge advantage of inbound is the emphasis on tracking your efforts. Looking to see where your website visitors are coming from, what topics are of most interest, what Facebook posts get the most activity, and so much more helps you determine what's working and what's not. Real-time measurements and statistics let you steer your efforts in the right direction and make fixes to your overall strategy whenever needed. Knowing where you should be allocating and investing your budget is extremely valuable when it comes to optimizing your marketing ROI. 

Get Found

In a crowded marketplace, you need to make sure that consumers can find you. We know that this is easier said than done. The good news? Inbound makes this much more attainable. Creating content for your business helps you to be seen by qualified leads. We’ve talked before about the importance of creating content because of the value it brings to your business.

A business blog that focuses on the unique challenges and hurdles faced by your particular target demographic remains a great way to drive traffic to your site. You may be targeting a small market, but, often, that just means that each lead has the potential to be that much more valuable to you in the long run. Optimizing your content and integrating keywords will take your efforts one step further.

If you have a viable product that solves a problem, there are people out searching on the internet for it. You know your target audience better than anyone, and inbound provides you with a way to communicate directly with them in the hope of solving their problems. Even if you’re a niche business, there’s a huge opportunity to garner more leads and achieve a higher number of delighted customers. Because let’s face it, everyone is searching online for something. Your goal is to be the business that people find and trust.