This is a question we get a lot – and absolutely love! Why? It gives us the insight that agency owners are experiencing a plateau (which usually means a breakthrough is around the corner.) At this point, the agency may be overwhelmed. They realize it’s time to specialize as it’s a fast track to standing out. If they can find out to catch clients’ attention amongst the myriad of ‘me too agency’s’ they can win.
Jack of all Trades, Master of None
If you’re just starting out and you are wondering why niche down if I want to capture them all? I want to be opportunistic. We will save you the time and testing now. The truth is, you can’t scale if you’re selling ten different products, services, and features. If you want to scale, think clarity over confusion. You have to be able to be okay with not serving every group of people. You simply can’t help them all and that’s ok.
Simplicity Scales, Complexity Doesn’t
Let’s say you’re at the 6-month of your agency’s life span. You’ve gotten to the point where each customized solution is becoming a drain on your wallet and energy. Answering calls at crazy hours of the night, ditching friends and family in hopes that the workload will finally ease up. It’s at this point many agency owners realize, they’ve got to narrow down their focus and specialize. Congratulations, you’ve just hit a big milestone! Let’s talk about how you can actually find the right niche for you. Because when you’ve nailed that, you become THE PERSON for that NICHE.
- Exclude Others to Increase Relevance
The pushback from agency owners on this is that they are afraid they will miss out on business when they say no to some. Sure, that may be true. But if a client has a choice to choose between two agency owners, they are going to pick the one that specializes in their specific industry. Competition is tough; therefore, agency owners must find a way to stand out.
- Identify Your Why
In other words, do you know what you’re passionate about as an agency owner? Yes, we all want to escape the 9-5, big checks, and the freedom to run our own schedule. But within all of it, what tasks actually make you lose track of time? Is it creating a killer creative ad for Facebook or is it a set of instructional messages displayed by email copy that lights you up?
- What Do You Excel In?
AKA what will people pay you for. While hiring a team with alternative strengths can help you diversify skill sets, you should pick a niche that you can speak to. This is especially important if you’re the one selling your services. What have people complimented you for? Can you further increase the skills required to become the best in that field?
- Think Long-Term Goals
What is the vision for your agency? Do you still want to be working inside of it or do you see yourself helping others as a consultant? Define your revenue goals. This will help you decipher which industries are more willing to pay large retainers and which are typically your lower ticket clients.
- What’s Your Bullseye?
The next step is to assess which niche matches up with the three criteria above. Do your strengths align with your passions? Do either of them equate to a long-term vision you have with your company?
- Identify Your Audience
Now that you’ve identified your sweet spot it’s time to look at who needs your defined service. What kind of problems and challenges does this target face in their business? If they had questions about these problems, could you use your specific knowledge to handle them?
- Confirm Market Viability
Now that you’ve identified the what and the who, ask, how big is the market? Can you justify this strategic position? Create an excel sheet and start categorizing your target within that niche. Go into Facebook groups, LinkedIn, create forums and do even deeper research to see your niche most pressing needs.
How to Set Yourself Apart as the Niche Specialist
Now that you’ve collected deep research on your niche, start looking for trends within the findings. What comes up as a common theme? Does your website copy reflect the fact that you know the industry best?
- Create 10-12 Pieces of Content
Take the topics you’ve learned about your niche and start providing value for free. Whether through social posts, blogs, or weekly email chains, you want to position yourself as the source on the topic.
- Lead Magnets
Consider advertising or creating an email sign-up. The idea is to get your audience to take action.
- Simply Ask: research works!
Research never hurts. Reach out to clients with the simple intention of developing a better understanding. What do your clients need and what digital marketing solutions have proven to be useful?
Unique Position as Differentiation Strategy
The fact of the matter is, there are A TON of industries, agencies, and digital marketing solutions all circulating the internet competing for customers. Whether you’re an agency focused on help-desk SAAS companies or one who knows Facebook ads like the back of their hand, figure out what you do best. Why? That’s how you build a reputable brand. That’s how you build authority. Most importantly, that’s why Clients wait in line and pay top-dollar to work with you.
Looking for other actionable insights on growing your digital marketing agency?
Check out this video on our Youtube channel. Let us know what you’ve found useful and other tactics to close clients and finally kick your agency into high-gear!
Ready to See How Clickx Can Help Your Agency?
Reach out to our team where we’ll get on a discovery call to assess your agency’s needs and see if we can be the partner that can help you reach your goals.
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