Here’s When Niching Down Becomes a Problem for Your Brand

On the list of most elaborate and complex languages to learn, branding should be in the top 5. Unlike other languages, branding grammar seems to have no pre-determined rules (and if there are, they are definitely being broken all the time).

No doubt, branding is very individualized. There is no one-size-fits-all. That is exactly why there is such a thing as a brand identity, the thing that qualifies a brand as unique. The different uses of fonts, colors, messages, images, etc.. are what allow different brands to target different people within the same community. 

It is through this process that a brand determines how broad or niche its position in the marketplace will be, and there is a very fine line between the two. There are clearly many pros to niching down to attract a target audience… But how niche is too niche? Let’s dive in.

The Obvious Benefits of Going Niche

There is a certain quality of attention that you can almost feel from a more niche brand. It almost feels like a personalized experience, as if that product were made specifically for you. They met you exactly at your point of need. 

Whenever you are in the market for a new product, downloading a new app/software, or looking for a specific service, there is an unconscious process happening in the background of your mind that, through a series of observations and questions, will either qualify or disqualify your decision to purchase. 

Brands with a more niche approach alleviate this internal decision fatigue by making it very clear who this product is for and exactly what it is that they are offering.

In other words, niching down helps to reduce competition by creating a more effortless call to action by eliminating the customer’s need to analyze twenty different potential options. 

For example, if you were shopping for exercise clothing for the first time and saw “sweat-wicking” or “moisture-wicking” clothing, you would probably choose it over a dri-fit shirt (which are essentially sweat-wicking clothes). 

When Niching Down Becomes a Problem

When we talk about a “gap in the market”, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a completely new innovative product that’s never before been seen. Untapped audiences within existing markets are also gaps in the market that can be capitalized on. 

Nevertheless, there are a few considerations to make. 

The problem is that when you take the whole niching thing a little too far, you may end up with an audience that is way too small. Now, don’t get me wrong, there is power even in small audiences. 

However, when this decision makes it difficult to diversify your product line or services in the future, you might find yourself having to retract a bit before moving forward. 

The same goes for competition. Competition can be a good thing, but if you think that there is a chance niching down too much can lead to saturation, you may have to overcome more hurdles to overcome a slowdown in momentum.

The Sweet Spot

The way I see it: when you niche down too much, this may be the sign that the vision for your brand may be too short-term. It is possible that you may have short-term success but then moving forward from there may be a challenge.

On the flip side, having an approach that is too broad can be a sign that you are trying to do too many things at the same time or that you are trying to capture too many people’s attention and this may come with its own set of challenges in the future.

A good approach is: to focus on what you have now in such a way that you can still see what your brand’s next step is. For example, having the ability to reach as many people within your niched-down audience while knowing what the next potential product in the product line may be. 

An advantage of niching down is that the costs associated with advertising are greatly reduced since you can focus on and convert potential customers into buyers and create a far more loyal audience than attempting to reach a broader audience from the get-go. 

Now, similar to foreseeing potential future products, being able to focus on a niche audience while keeping an eye out for expansion to future audiences is another viable method. 

Final Considerations

No matter how much market research a company does, or how much data it acquires to gather as much information to make the best decisions before launching, there will always be an element of uncertainty. There are always potential risks that go along with launching and expanding any brand. 

Additionally, every different product category or industry has its own definition of what “too niche” means. A very niched-down audience in one community can be thousands of people. In another industry, very niched-down can be millions.

The simplest way to see it is to not be a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none, but at the same time to not be so rigid when it comes to your approach where adapting will simply break down your work.

Trying to plan everything out perfectly will most likely lead to frustration and having the ability to adapt is truly one of the only ways to have a higher probability of success with any venture.