How to identify your niche as an emerging brand
Emerging brands have a lot of opportunities to get ahead of their competition, but they also face some unique challenges. One of the biggest is identifying and leveraging your niche: understanding who your customers are and what they want. This is essential if you want to build an online store that lasts.
In this article, we'll look at how to identify your emerging brand's unique selling point (USP) and how it relates to your niche. We'll also explore how different niches will affect other aspects of your eCommerce store such as marketing strategy and product selection.
1.Why is finding a niche important for emerging brands?
Finding a niche is important for emerging brands because it allows you to stand out from the crowd. It helps them align their values with their brand culture and build trust, confidence, and credibility with a loyal following of customers who believe in who the brand are as a company.
2. Define your brand’s values.
We often think of a brand’s values as being the qualities that make a product unique, but they can also be applied to a brand as a whole. The things you want to stand for are your values, and ensuring that your company reflects them is essential for developing an identity that resonates with consumers.
When defining your brand’s values, it’s important to consider:
Who is my target audience?
What do they look like? What do they wear? How old are they?
What kind of lifestyle do they lead? Where do they live?
What concerns them today? Are there any issues in their lives at present (such as sustainability) or upcoming (such as education)?
By answering these questions, you will be able to construct messages around what matters most to people in similar situations.
3. Do your research and understand the world through your customers’ eyes.
Research the market: Before you begin selling anything, it's imperative that you do your due diligence. Researching your industry will give you a better idea of where demand is coming from and allow for more precise targeting in terms of marketing campaigns.
Research competitors: You may not want to copy what they're doing exactly—but it might be useful to see how they are getting ahead or falling behind. If they've been in business longer than you have and still haven't made any progress, there might be some things worth emulating about their strategy or tactics.
Research customers: What kind of person are these customers? How old are they? Do they work full-time or part-time? Are most parents raising children at home? What other brands have customers who look like this profile?
Research your own brand: What do people associate with your name when mentioned out loud? Would someone recognize whether it was spelled correctly after hearing it spoken aloud multiple times during conversation (assuming both parties were familiar with English)? Does it conjure up any particular emotion when spoken aloud directly after saying its name (e., "I love new shoes!").
Research community (if applicable): Where does this product fit into its immediate environment outside of eCommerce—on shelves at little stores or multi brands malls.
4. Identify the causes of your audience’s pain points.
Once you know what your audience wants, it’s time to figure out the causes of their pain points. This is where you have to get creative and think outside the box. Your audience may not realize that there’s a solution to their problem until they see it in front of them.
In order to identify these causes, here are some questions you can ask yourself:
What are my customers saying? We already established this with the research, but now we need more details. If possible, spend time with your customers in person so that they feel comfortable sharing their struggles with you (or use social media). You can also do surveys on Facebook groups or other platforms where people from similar demographic groups gather together online - even if they don't belong there! When asking questions about problems related directly to products sold through eCommerce platforms, try asking about things like shipping times or product prices instead of just straight up asking "what's wrong" because most people aren't going to tell someone else openly about issues.
How could I make things easier for my customers? Once again go back into your research phase and look at all the answers given by users who have provided feedback. In this way, you can find the right procuts and the right way for them.
5. Listen constantly and learn from your community.
Constantly listen to your customers. They will tell you what they want. Get to know and understand your community, who they are and what they do in their day-to-day lives. This can be done through social media or a follow-up newsletter where you can ask questions about their needs and wants.
KEY TOPICS:
1. WHY IS FINDING A NICHE IMPORTANT FOR EMERGING BRANDS?
2. DEFINE YOUR BRAND’S VALUES.
3. DO YOUR RESEARCH AND UNDERSTAND THE WORLD THROUGH YOUR CUSTOMERS’ EYES.
4. IDENTIFY THE CAUSES OF YOUR AUDIENCE’S PAIN POINTS.
5. LISTEN CONSTANTLY AND LEARN FROM YOUR COMMUNITY.
