Do you have niche phobia? Is it holding you back from explosive growth and becoming the quilt shop you want to be? I'm going to talk about the power of “niche down” -- focusing your marketing efforts -- and why it's so important to niche down in your quilt shop.
Riches in the niches
To niche down seems to go against common sense. After all, don't you want to have your business seen by as many people as possible? The more people that see it, the more people will probably make a purchase, right? Well, not always.
Of course, we want to attract lots of customers. But how hard do you really want to work to attract those customers to your quilt shop?
Why you need to niche down
Here are three powerful reasons why marketing to a niche audience makes it easier to attract more customers and grow your quilt shop business.
1. You can become the expert.
When you choose a narrow niche, you focus on learning as much as you can about meeting the wants and needs of your target audience. Now, you're not constantly reinventing the wheel for every new customer. You are the expert in your area, and experts attract more customers and command more money.
For example, let's say that I want to take some old T-shirts and make a T-shirt quilt. I have a few options. I can do it myself. I could just totally wing it and hope to get it right. I could find and follow an online tutorial. I could also find a relative or friend to do it for me.
But when I come across a custom quilter who specializes in making beautiful quilts out of old T-shirts, I'm going to be talking to them because they specialize in exactly what I'm looking for.
2. You can eliminate the competition.
When you serve a narrow niche, you tailor your products and services to your customers’ specific needs, setting you apart from generalist competitors. You’ll understand exactly what your niche’s specific challenges and needs are, and you can present solutions that are unique to that market. With a specialty focus, your customers won’t compare you to other companies in your industry.
If your customers see you as the same as your competition, you end up competing on price.
As a niche specialist, though, you can command whatever price you want or at least have more control overpricing.
3. You can speak their language.
Have you ever visited a website, seen an advertisement, or heard someone speak and you thought, “Wow, it's like they can read my mind?” You feel like they understand you. This is exactly how you want your customers to feel when they contact you or see you online.
The more you know about your customers, the easier it is to speak to them in a language that motivates them to buy your products and services. Whether it’s kits, batting, longarm quilting, custom quilting, custom quilts like my T-shirt quilt, you’ll get to know them better as you communicate with them. You’ll gain an understanding of exactly what makes them tick.
FOMO can make you miss out
When I hear someone say: “We do everything from A to Z,” I know that they're just a generalist and I immediately tune them out. I might come back to them if I don't find the specialist I'm looking for.
Many of us are afraid to niche down for fear of excluding customers. The truth is, if our messaging is too broad, we're not going to attract anyone anyway. It's less risky to hone your marketing efforts so that you can attract the customers you actually want to work with.
The way to accomplish this is to focus on a narrow enough group that has common problems, challenges, and dreams. Then, you can study them and learn everything about them. You can speak to them in their language about solving their problems and fulfilling their dreams, and they're going to want to do business with you.