Niche Marketing Definition

Niche marketing is a style of marketing which has a narrow focus. Rather than targeting a broad industry or target audience, niche marketing instead attempts to target more specific market segments. Niche marketing can give businesses a distinct edge against competitors because some market segments may not be targeted very well (or, in some cases, at all).

Furthermore, niche marketing is usually more affordable, especially within the context of online marketing, because keywords and other targeting options generally have less competition than broader topics. Target audiences are also likely to be more receptive to marketing, sometimes simply because they haven’t been exposed to it as often, and because marketers can “speak” more directly to a smaller market segment.

Niche Marketing Example

If a business sells a product or service that resolves a very specific problem, they’re already operating within a niche market. Businesses involved in broader markets may find a great deal of benefit in finding ways to reach smaller market segments with targeted advertising campaigns. If profitable enough, a business may even develop a specialized version of their product or service to appeal to this niche.

Online niche marketing is effective because it allows businesses to be noticed by a market segment in what might otherwise be a crowded vertical. For example, suppose that a business sells a product with broad appeal—if they found the reasons that it would be useful for a highly targeted demographic (e.g., married women over 35 with a college degree), they could adapt an online marketing campaign to communicate those specific benefits to that market segment.

Why is Niche Marketing Important in Strategic Marketing?

Strategy

Niche marketing is a powerful outreach method for most businesses, since it allows them to communicate more directly with a certain group of people.

Customer Experience

The customer experience for leads generated through niche marketing is often improved because their expectations can be more accurately met than if an advertising campaign or sales funnel was prepared for a broader audience.