If an affiliate marketer posts content without an interested audience, did they even post at all? These days, audience size doesn’t matter as much as audience engagement. It’s less about building a huge following, and more about building a following that cares about what you post. That’s where niching down comes in.
In this blog and video, you’ll learn:
- What niching down means
- Why niching down is important for building your brand as an influencer
- How to niche down
- How niching down helps you attract an audience with the intent to buy
What Does it Mean to “Niche Down”?
Niching down means focusing on a more defined and specialized segment of a broader category. It’s not about limiting your creativity or putting yourself and brand in a box — it’s about getting specific. When you can succinctly define what you want to be known for and who you’re trying to target, your connection to your audience will strengthen.
The Benefits of Niching Down
When you spend the time to refocus your brand in a strategic and specific manner, you will:
- Build authority and become a “go-to” creator in that space
- Attract a more relevant audience
- Craft more compelling content
- Differentiate yourself from others
The Cons of Not Niching Down
As counterintuitive as it may seem, not niching down can limit your success. Here’s how:
- Lower engagement on posts
- Difficulty standing out
- Generic messaging that makes it harder to convert into sales
- More difficulty asserting yourself as the “go-to” for a certain subject area
- Audiences may struggle to find you if they’re looking for something specific
An Easy Way to Think About Niching Down
Getting to the heart of your brand is simple:
- Start with your overarching vertical, theme, or genre. Hint: It should be one word, like beauty, food, lifestyle, parenting, travel, etc.
- Get more specific: Affordable beauty, Thai food, hacks for busy parents, and so on.
- Claim your space!
What is a Vertical?
Before you can niche down your vertical, it’s helpful to understand what a vertical is. A vertical refers to a broad category or industry, such as travel, fashion, food, or beauty. Within every vertical are many, many subcategories that you can mix and match to carve out your niche.
For our purposes, niches are defined as a specialized segment within a vertical. They’re specific and targeted. For example, within the fashion vertical you’ll find sustainable fashion, plus-size fashion, or kid’s clothing. Other subcategories within fashion may include: men’s fashion, affordable, mid-size, petite, maternity, luxury, vegan, and more.
Niching Down Examples
Once you’ve identified your preferred vertical, you can niche down even further until you find a space that you’re comfortable claiming as your own.
It may seem counterintuitive to narrow your focus, but these are very specific, very high intent audiences — meaning they’re more likely to convert into sales.
Examples of niching down from a broader vertical can look like:
| Go From This… | To This! |
| Fashion | Affordable, plus-size fashion for women over 40 |
| Beauty | Cruelty-free skincare for acne-prone skin |
| Food | Plant-based, whole-food recipes under $50 |
| Lifestyle | Tips on sustainable living: Cleaning products, fashion, makeup, and more |
| Travel | State/country/continent-specific travel; budget-friendly travel, or vegan travel |
Getting into the Niching Down Mindset
Niching down may mean rewiring everything you know about influencer marketing, and that’s OK! It’s all about trusting the process and retraining yourself away from thinking that a large following is greater than a smaller, more connected one. You can have a huge following, but if they don’t engage with your content, you won’t have anything to show for it. After all, when you try to appeal to everyone, you risk connecting with no one.
Here are some helpful reminders to shift your mindshift.
| Instead of thinking… | Start thinking… |
| Niching down will confine me and stifle my creativity. | I can focus on becoming known for a specific topic and a go-to expert in my community. |
| I’ll exclude too many potential followers and limit my reach. | I’ll attract a highly engaged audience that’s more likely to convert. |
| I’ll get bored only focusing on a specific category within my niche. | I’ll master my craft, which will fuel creativity and open doors to more collaborations and content ideas. |
| I’ll miss out on opportunities in broader categories. | I’ll stand out and make it easier for followers and brands to recognize me. |
Attract the Right Audience with Niche-Related Keywords
When you add niche-related keywords to your content, you will attract the high-intent audiences you want. These keywords can be sprinkled in many places, including:
- Hashtags
- Post descriptions/captions
- Text overlays
- Your bio
- In the name field
- Within your username
- Spoken in your video content to show up in closed captioning
Finding Your Niche
The Niche Definition Formula (NDF) will help you position and differentiate yourself by combining three components:
NDF = Interests + Audience Needs + Differentiation
- Interests: What you are passionate or knowledgeable in
- Audience Needs: What specific challenges or desires your target audience has
- Differentiation: How you can offer something unique compared to others in the market
Define Your Interests
Take some time to think critically about your interests and skill sets — what can you offer the world that no one else can? Consider courses you’ve taken or certifications you’ve acquired. You should be able to rattle off some things that you consider yourself knowledgeable about, your Roman Empire(s), if you will. Here are some thought-starters to help guide your exploration:
- What do people ask you about the most?
- What expertise do they know you have?
- What are the things you could do in your sleep and would do for free?
Identify Your Audience’s Needs
Next, examine the specific needs, problems, or desires of your audience within those interest areas you landed on. Conduct market research using social media polls, Google Trends, and forums to see what kinds of questions people are seeking answers to — and if there’s a need for someone (like you!) to step up to the plate.
Hot tip: Take a look at your competitors’ content and their channels. What kinds of questions are people asking there? What’s missing? What’s leaving something to be desired? That’s where you swoop in.
Learn more about identifying your target audience.
Differentiate Yourself and Your Brand
When you find a gap or an underserved audience in your chosen interest area, that’s your chance to home in and carve out a space for you and your content. Consider what unique perspectives or experiences you can bring to your niche and go from there.
Putting it All Together
Once you’ve done your research, it’s time to assert yourself as a newly minted expert in the space using the Niche Definition Formula. An example of that could look like:
Interest: Fashion
Audience Need: Eco-friendly and ethical fashion choices
Differentiation: Focus on eco-friendly fashion for plus-size women, emphasizing affordability and style
Crafting Your Niche Statement
Make sure your newly defined niche clearly asserts who you are, what you do, and who you want to do it for. Think of it as how someone would introduce you on a podcast or in an article about your niche. If using the example above, that niche statement could be:
“I specialize in affordable, eco-friendly fashion for plus-size women, helping them find stylish and ethical choices.”
Niching Down Next Steps
Now that you know more about niching down and the potential it can unlock, you’re ready to get brainstorming. Don’t forget to:
- Challenge your mindset on niching down to look at it in a more positive way
- Apply the Niche Definition Formula to get more specific
- Craft your Niche Statement
Learn More with Mavely University
Niching down is just one of the strategic ways you can optimize your Everyday Influencer content. Check out more of our tips from our very own Mavely staff instructors. Still not using Mavely? Join today to start earning!
