By Brooke Chaplan
Niche businesses can be profitable and successful. You need look no further than the quirky Throx. Throx sells socks by the three, freeing you from the menace of the sock-eating vortex in the dryer. That said, building up a client base for you niche business can prove tough. Niche markets might be global, but spread so thin it’s hard for you to get noticed. Fortunately, there are some ways for you to encourage people to notice.
Referral Marketing
If you’ve got even a few orders, you’ve got an opportunity. Those customers are in your target market. They’ll know other people who will want your product. You need to encourage your customers to talk to those people. Remember, recommendations from friends and family hold more weight than all other marketing. The simplest approach is asking for referrals. You can be a little subtle about it. Include a card with your orders that says something like: “Share the love. Refer a friend and get 10% off your next order.” Online reviews get a lot of trust as well, so encourage those.
Lead Conversion Services
Sometimes the problem in your niche business isn’t traffic, but your conversion rate. There’s some dancing around what constitutes a conversion rate. The one most businesses care about, though, it’s the percentage of people who go from just visiting to buying something. If you’ve done everything you know how to do to boost that number, a lead conversion service that specializes in your niche can help. What these services provide is an analysis of where your conversion efforts break down and a fix customized to your business. For example, a lead conversion service for law firms like The Rainmaker Institute might identify the Contact Us form as the weak spot and help craft a new one.
Careful Social Media
Social media can be powerful or a time-sucking Pandora’s Box of wasted effort. Your market is niche, so don’t jump straight into Facebook or Twitter. It’s easy to get lost in all the noise. Look for the platform where you target market congregates or that offer the best opportunity to showcase your product or service. For an extra boost, encourage your customers to share pictures or videos showcasing their use of your product. It’s like a getting a testimonial, but with visuals.
The quest for a bigger client base is often a matter of survival for niche businesses. If you aren’t bringing enough orders for the business to be self-sustaining, you’re sliding toward doom. You can help draw in your future customers with a combination of referral marketing, lead conversion assistance, and careful social media activity.
Brooke Chaplan is a freelance writer and blogger. She lives and works out of her home in Los Lunas, New Mexico. She loves the outdoors and spends most her time hiking, biking and gardening. For more information contact Brooke via Twitter @BrookeChaplan.
