As a digital agency owner, you probably tell your clients all the time that they need to refine and focus in on their service or product offerings. But have you applied the same logic to your own digital agency?
Finding a niche for your digital agency allows you to connect with your prospects and deliver a unique selling proposition that speaks directly to them. To make this connection with a prospect on the first impression though you must have clear and targeted messaging. If you’re trying to tell ten different stories and appeal to ten different audiences, then you’ll lose them all.
This is why you’ve never seen an Asian-Italian-Greek-Burger-Smoothie fusion restaurant.
Sounds silly when you think of it like that.
So why then are you and your digital agency trying to help so many people, in so many different industries, by providing so many different services?
Instead of focusing in on on being really good at one thing and developing a killer value proposition along the way, you’re spreading yourself too thin.
Find a niche for your digital agency now. Every day you waste, the competition is getting more focused, more precise, and more skilled at the niche you could be in. However, it’s important to pick the right niche, one that provides enough opportunity for new business without being oversaturated. You need to be able to carve out a unique section for your agency and there needs to be a demand for it.
Follow the nine steps below to find your digital agency’s perfect niche and start growing your agency today.
1. Find a niche that is digitally friendly
Is the industry digitally friendly? A lot of industries have done as little as possible to embrace the digital world – believe it or not they still exist! Make sure the industry you’re going to target doesn’t intentionally run from digital marketing services. If you pick an industry that avoids digital marketing then every day will be an uphill battle (and it doesn’t have to be!).
2. Do some competitive analysis
Who else is doing it? You’re probably not the first person to consider this niche so you need to find out what you’re up against. Research the top three competitors and compare what they’re offering to what your agency is capable of. See where their strengths and weaknesses lie and make sure your agency can stack up to the competition. Remember, NEVER let your competition dictate how or what you do. You’re here to be unique and it’s ok to blaze a new trail and change an industry, just make sure the industry is ready for it.
3. Hone in on your target audience definition
You can’t refine your messaging if you don’t know who you’re speaking to. Start by defining your “ideal customer avatar.” Who is the perfect client? What do they look like? Where do they look for answers? What keeps them up at night? Give your customer avatar a name, a story, and a personality. The better understanding you have of who they are, the easier it will be to reach them and connect with them.
4. Perform a target audience financial analysis
A need and desire for your services aren’t enough… unless you plan on working for free. You need to make sure your target audience has enough money to pay for premium marketing services. Some industries are booming, but their profit margins are so small that they don’t have the budget to spend 10-12% on marketing initiatives. Unless you’re okay with slim margins too, think very hard before entering into this type of niche!
5. Consider the niche opportunity scope
Is the niche so new that no one knows it exists? Is it so popular that it would cost a fortune to break through? There might be a lot of opportunities in that niche, but if you’re up against large established agencies you might never stand a chance. Alternatively, you might pick such an obscure and narrow niche that people just don’t need your services that much. Make sure there are viable opportunities right now.
6. Evaluate the niche’s long-term growth potential
You need business now, but you’re also going to need it in six months and in six years. Do your research and make sure your niche will provide a healthy flow of opportunities long-term. Ideally, there will be more opportunity long term because the niche is trending and growing. If you want to grow and scale your agency, the industry needs to be growing too.
7. Decide to have a genuine care for your niche
No research for this one, just some soul-searching. Do you genuinely care about the industry, products, people, etc.? Of course, this is not an absolute or hard-core requirement, but it definitely makes life easier. You won’t always be motivated to work so hard but if you genuinely care about the industry and enjoy the work you’re doing it will be easier to push through the tough times.
8. Understand your niche’s pain points
Can you really relate to the pain points of the niche? Ninety percent of all digital marketing services are identical across industries. Videos are videos, blogs are blogs, and ads are ads. It’s the remaining ten percent that makes agencies and industries so vastly different. This ten percent stems from understanding your target audience’s pain points. Does their pain come from spending money they don’t have? Then they’re looking for cheap services. Does their pain come from their current agency screwing them over? Then they’re looking for someone to get the job done right. Does their pain come from being spread too thin? Then they’re looking for an agency that feels like an extension of their business. Find their pain—and you’ll find success.
9. Hire a coach
At the end of the day, there is no substitute for having someone who has actually built a successful agency in your corner. Owning and running a digital agency is one of the loneliest places so get an experienced sounding board and stop living on that island yourself! It’s astonishing the difference it will make in both your professional and personal quality of life.
