Hidden Niche Dimensions
Usually when you describe your niche you think of the audience.
Sometimes you describe your niche with a product or price point.
Sometimes you describe it as a profession or specialization.
But there are other factors that contribute to really understanding our niche - and we need to consider them in our marketing too.
This morning I woke up with this thought in my head and thought I'd share it with you here:
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Markets behave differently at different geographic levels: local, regional, national, international, global.
As marketers, we can call this geographic segmentation.
Local businesses focus on serving the immediate community or city. Their operations are designed to meet the specific needs and preferences of the local population.
A local bakery might offer special pastries that are popular in its city or neighborhood and use locally sourced ingredients.
This will appeal to members of the community who prefer supporting local producers and vendors.
Regional businesses operate within a larger area that could cover multiple cities or states but is still specific to a part of the country. These businesses often adjust their products or services to cater to regional tastes or needs.
A regional supermarket chain might stock products that cater to culinary preferences or dietary restrictions prevalent in that region, like spicy food or gluten-free.
National businesses expand their reach across an entire country, which means they need a broader understanding of the country’s behavior, regulations, and competition.
A national retail chain like Walmart stocks different products in its stores depending on local demand and regional trends, like offering winter gear in northern states but less frequently or not at all in southern states.
International businesses operate across multiple countries and each one has its own cultural, legal, and economic environments. These business have to navigate regulations and market conditions in each country.
McDonald’s adapts its menu to local tastes, for example in India they offer the McAloo Tikki burger to cater to vegetarian preferences; but in Japan they might offer a shrimp burger.
Global businesses operate worldwide and face the challenge of maintaining brand consistency while simultaneously localizing to fit into each market they serve. These businesses have to master the complexity of operating in multiple international markets while maintaining broad appeal through their global brand identity.
Apple offers the iPhone globally with minimal variation, but localizes its software to support local languages and apps that cater to regional customers.
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Now, the question is:
Which geographic segment do YOU target?
Because this is part of your niche.
For example: If you're selling language education products...
At the global level you're competing with international and global companies PLUS governmental organizations that can fund projects that don't make money for decades.
That's hard.
Social media ads make it easier... but it's still hard.
But here's the thing:
Local businesses need different branding, different promotion than more global businesses.
I know a local business that's basically a guy heating up hotdogs in a microwave...
That's the owner. He heats them up for you.
He's only open 3 days a week, 4 hours per day.
But when he opens... there's a line of customers waiting.
Wanna know what the business is called?
Joe's Hotdogs
Now...
Will Joe ever scale this business?
He's 67 and he's been doing it for 20 years...
So, probably not.
But what you can take away from this is...
By understanding which geographic segment you are in...
You can see how other businesses in that segment operate.
The successful ones...
The ones with lines of customers waiting for them to open.
Because you are never ONLY competing with your direct "competitors" who sell a similar or alternative product...
You are also competing with every other company that is trying to sell to that audience:
If I just bought a new car yesterday...
I may be more apprehensive about buying your course today.
It's all connected.
To your success,
P.S. I’m going to try to share more of these gems more regularly, but what really motivates me to do it is seeing the questions people ask in the emails they send me. When you send that energy my way, I receive it and give it back. So when I see that happening, I tend to publish more stuff like this.