A market niche is a lot like a Jack o’Lantern.
Let us explain. Jack o’Lanterns are great! They’re all unique, and they can be a great way to express yourself. But not everyone loves them or needs them. And while they seem like hard work, making a Jack o’Lantern can be fairly easy! A Jack o’Lantern can take your Halloween decor from good to great.
The big difference is we think everyone needs a Jack o’Lantern…but not every creator needs a market niche. In this article, we’ll help you decide if you need a market niche and walk you through the process of creating one.
And how to carve a Jack o’Lantern. Did you think we were done with that? Oh no, it’s just paused.
What is a Market Niche? 🤔
A market niche is a specific segment of a larger market. Content or consumers in this niche share similar characteristics and interests. For content creators, a market niche would be a movie reviewer who specializes in horror movies. Another example is a food creator specializing in budget or low-cost meals.
This term is usually reserved for and used by marketing professionals. However, the average content creator might not know about market niches – or even need one.
Why You (Might) Need a Market Niche 🤓
Contrary to popular social media advice, not all creators need a market niche. They can be helpful and give your content a clear direction. On the flip side, they can also be limiting and keep you and your creativity.
You might need (or benefit from) a niche if…
🎃 You’re Selling Something
This is the one time we’d say you need a market niche. You’re specifically looking for customers, and having a niche would help you find and connect with your target audience. This would apply to authors, small business owners, and even some food creators.
🎃 You’re Overwhelmed
When you start creating content, it can be intense. Having a box to fit into can be really nice. It gives you a clear focus and direction. It’s like horse-blinders; there may be some other cool stuff going on, but you don’t have to worry about it.
🎃 You Have One Interest
Want to talk about cats? Talk about cats? Only willing to create content about Lord of the Rings? Then create your LOTR content! If you only want to create content for one niche or community, then do it.
So some of you do need a market niche. Let’s get into carving one of yourself. And get back to the Jack 0’Lantern analogy, of course.
How to Carve a Market Niche 🎃
Like carving a pumpkin, it’s not hard but does require a little thought and planning. The first step is finding your niche.
Find a Pumpkin 🧡
You don’t just grab the first pumpkin you see. There’s some digging, some twisting, and eventually you find what you think is the best pumpkin in the patch.
Look at niches and communities the same way. You want to spend some time looking at what’s out there to find the best fit for you. Where would your content be a natural fit? What community or niche do you enjoy? You can also think of what communities and content your audience would be drawn to.
Gut It 🫀
Everyone’s favorite and least favorite part of pumpkin carving is getting the seeds and guts out. It’s a long process…but there’s nothing like digging into a pumpkin and pulling out the gunk inside.
This step, researching your niche, is also long but satisfying. Crack open your niche and learn everything you can about it. Watch some of the top videos, see how many other market niches you can find. You have to understand your community to know how you fit into it. And researching it will help you see what content performs well – and what content you want to create.
Sketch a Face 😵
Your third step is to determine how you want to fit into the community. What is your market niche, and what content will you create? Every Jack o’Lantern is unique, so your content should be too!
There are a few things you should do to make your content unique.
- Create content pillars. You’re creating content for a niche, but what kinds of content? You saw a lot in your research. Find three that are exciting, interesting, or easy for you to dive into.
- Optimize your profile. Include your market niche or what kind of content you create in your bio. You can even include it in your username! That way, when people search for your niche, you’ll be even more likely to pop up.
- Start connecting with other creators in your niche. Follow them and engage with their videos. Don’t just focus on big creators; micro and nano creators are more likely to connect with other people in their niche.
- Find your editing style. Do you like short videos, or are longer ones more your speed? What about voice-overs? Experiment with your edits to find what you (and your audience) like.
Carve It 🔪
Now it’s time to leave your mark on the pumpkin and your market niche! Start creating and posting content for your market niche. As you create, give all your content a unique touch. You can create for a market niche and try to be like everyone else…but that’s boring! Both for you and your audience.
You don’t have to reinvent the wheel or come up with something that’s never been done before. Just find a way to put your own unique spin on it. Sometimes, it might just be you and how you speak to the camera!
Don’t stress about having a unique touch at the start. You might find it as you create content!
Add a Candle 🕯️
You could say the candle in your Jack o’Lantern is your personality. And it kind of is!
But for our purposes, the candle is your creative spark. A Jack o’Lantern can still look good (great, even) without a candle…but it makes everything better somehow. As you make content, keep in touch with your creativity.
Try new things within your market niche or film content. Find ways to keep your creative spark alight.
Toss It 🗑️
You’ve made the perfect Jack o’Lantern. It’s so cute and everyone loves it, but eventually it will mold. At some point, you’re going to have to throw it out.
And your market niche or strategy might be like that. You’ll have to keep an eye on it and make sure it’s still working. Update your strategy to refresh your approach if you notice your content isn’t doing as well as before.
If you’re lucky, your platform might explode and you won’t even ned a specific niche! Once you’ve established yourself and you’re building an audience, you might be able to branch out and join new communities.
But don’t completely abandon your market niche. It’s how you got your start, it’s the beginning of your community.
Strategy gone to die? Check out this article to learn how to resurrect it. And if you’re worried about getting burnt out, this article has you covered.
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