The process of growing a niche ecommerce brand can seem truly daunting. After all, with the challenge of having a smaller target audience, you might feel that marketing your solutions and making enough sales to stay afloat is next to impossible.
But in reality, this doesn’t necessarily have to be the case. Narrowing down your target audience allows you to choose exceptionally effective marketing and growth strategies for your brand. Plus, a hyper-focused approach can make it easier to break into any industry — even those dominated by well-established household names.
To guarantee that your marketing and growth strategies yield results, there’s one non-negotiable prerequisite you’ll have to meet: comprehend your target audience’s wants, needs, and priorities. Moreover, it’s crucial that you demonstrate this understanding, as 73% of people expect brands to understand their unique needs and expectations.
So, what are the most effective strategies to grow a niche ecommerce brand? And how can you apply them in your business plan? Here are a few suggestions on how to reach success, along with a few great examples you can take inspiration from. Let’s dive in!
Target High-Value Distribution Channels — Regardless of Their General Popularity
A well-thought-out social media strategy is exceptionally valuable in any brand’s growth strategy.
But here’s the problem. Most business owners think they need to target popular social channels used by the largest number of daily active users.
In theory, the more people online, the bigger your chances of capturing and retaining their attention. However, this isn’t necessarily the case for niche businesses.
You see, niche brands target highly specific customer personas. And those customer personas don’t always act like typical consumers. Instead, their online behavior depends on a variety of unique factors.
Based on the type of pain point your target audience wants to resolve, it’s crucial to develop an approach that will maximize receptiveness.
Developing and following a targeted marketing strategy doesn’t just lead to higher reach. More importantly, it drives higher engagement rates, which are crucial if you’re after sales.
In other words, choosing content distribution channels based on the value they offer to your business (instead of their popularity) can help ensure your messages reach your prospects when they’re most open to hearing them.
Take Pinterest, for instance. This platform only has about 357 million monthly active users. So, compared to Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok — all of which attract billions of people — it may seem a waste of time. But before you write it off, think of why people go on Pinterest. Its main appeal includes the ability to find visual inspiration.
So, if your ecommerce brand sells aspirational products that align with a specific aesthetic or lifestyle, Pinterest could be the perfect space to distribute your visual content.
Check out how Pergola Kits USA does it. Knowing that its audience is almost guaranteed to browse Pinterest during the awareness stage of their buyer’s journeys, this brand uses the channel to upload real-life photos of its products. This propels brand and product awareness via a low-competition social channel. It also subtly aligns its products with people’s idea of the ideal solution to their needs, which hugely elevates purchase intent and helps Pergola Kits outperform its main competitors.
Source: pinterest.com
Incorporate Hyper-Specific Topics Into Your Content Strategy
The biggest plus of marketing and growing a niche ecommerce brand is that it allows you to answer audience questions no one else in your industry has even addressed.
Ultimately, 62.6% of people primarily use the internet to find information and learn new things. And oftentimes, they rely on businesses to provide the knowledge and guidance they need, not least because they expect businesses to be the ones who will remove their pain points.
That’s why it’s a good idea to invest in a high-quality content marketing strategy that will be optimized to rank high on SERPs. It’s just as important to answer the exact and specific questions your ideal customers have in a way that will demonstrate your brand’s authority and credibility.
For a better idea of how to do this, check out the What Are Flame Tamers on a Gas Grill article on the EXT Cabinets website.
At first glance, this article looks like a typical informational blog post about an outdoor kitchen feature. However, if you take a closer look, you’ll quickly discover that the post is actually a super-informative deep dive into some of the unique products and benefits people need to consider when planning outdoor cooking spaces.
Ultimately, this post doesn’t just educate the brand’s audience on a type of product they might want to incorporate in their outdoor kitchen build. It’s also a great demonstration of EXT’s in-depth knowledge on the topic of outdoor cooking. Additionally, it shows that the brand is highly dedicated to delivering a positive customer experience, as it clearly demonstrates that the business is willing to take the time to help each buyer build the perfect kitchen for their specific needs, not just trying to push as many sales and include unnecessary features in people’s purchases.
Source: extcabinets.com
Target General Search Terms, Then Create a Market for Your Solution
Investing in niche content to grow your niche brand is an exceptionally powerful marketing strategy. However, if you want to maximize your company’s success potential, then broadening your aim could also offer impressive benefits.
You see, specificity and relevance are key to reaching and engaging niche audiences. But sometimes, your ideal customers may not even be aware that they need a specific product. It’s your job to open their eyes and make them see the benefits of choosing a niche solution.
The great thing about this tactic is that it works really well alongside any other marketing strategy you already employ.
Simply identify broad topics and search terms related to your offer (prioritizing high-volume keywords). Then use them to produce content that gently introduces your audience to your niche solutions and nudges them toward considering whether these solutions could resolve their pain points.
For inspiration, check out how Lunaescent does it on its blog.
This brand sells a touch-free skincare and makeup applicator. But instead of investing in content about this niche product (which, let’s face it, not many people even know exists), it’s directing its marketing budget toward something more general.
By covering broad skincare-related topics — like the article on Adapting Your Skincare Routine for Seasonal Changes — Lunaescent attracts a large number of web visitors. Then, it can subtly mention its solutions somewhere in the content to build awareness, communicate key user benefits, and nudge readers toward becoming customers.
Source: lunaescent.com
Prioritize Connecting with Audiences — Not Getting Them to Click ‘Buy’
Sales-oriented content, though necessary, can be a double-edged sword, especially if you’re trying to engage top-of-the-funnel consumers.
Ultimately, aggressive sales tactics tend to backfire. They don’t just lower consumers’ purchase intent. They can be harmful to your brand’s reputation, which is the last thing you want when growing your business.
With this in mind, one of the most effective, though commonly overlooked, tactics to drive business success is to shift your focus from conversions to community.
Research around consumer-brand relationships clearly demonstrates the value of building rapport and connection.
According to SproutSocial, 64% of people want brands to connect with them. Moreover, Adobe found that showing you ‘get’ and ‘care about’ your target audience directly contributes to brand loyalty.
And the best thing about fostering connection is that it can be really easy. In fact, all you have to do is produce content and cover topics you know your niche audience cares about.
Although it may not seem like a good tactic to boost conversions (or drive growth), the strategy encourages sales thanks to the mere exposure effect, a psychological phenomenon that causes people to prefer buying from brands they’re familiar with.
For instance, check out Sewing Parts Online. Its TikTok is filled with content that helps and encourages followers to pursue their sewing hobby.
Do the short videos sell sewing machine parts? Not at all. However, they are engaging, valuable, and educational, making them ideal for building business awareness and familiarity. Moreover, they’re a great way to make followers want to continue interacting with the brand, effectively building connection and familiarity.
Thanks to these short videos, the next time a follower needs to purchase a sewing machine part, they will remember Sewing Parts Online, choosing to buy from this business over a company they’d never interacted with before.
Source: tiktok.com
Assist Consumers Throughout the Product Research Process
Growing any business depends on your capacity to convince your target audience to convert. However, the fact is that this can be significantly more challenging when running a niche ecommerce business, simply due to the innovativeness or complexity of the solutions you sell.
Ultimately, a low level of product understanding directly decreases people’s purchase intent.
According to research, consumers who don’t feel informed enough to make a smart buying decision often experience choice overload, causing them to delay or avoid conversions.
So, if you want to grow your ecommerce brand, the logical way to boost conversion intent is to educate your audience about your solutions.
Investing in product page design and prioritizing user value throughout your branded messaging are excellent methods to do this. But, in some cases, they may not be sufficient, so it would be wise to explore additional methods of assisting consumers through the product research and evaluation process.
If you check out OrthoBracing, for instance, you’ll see that the brand includes an interactive quiz product finder on its homepage. It’s an exceptional solution.
On the one hand, this resource helps potential buyers find products that align with their unique needs and preferences. On the other hand, it serves as a lead-generation element, helping the brand capture prospects populating the upper stages of the funnel, then nurture them into customers through personalized email and retargeting campaigns.
Source: orthobracing.com
Final Thoughts
Despite seeming complex at first glance, growing a niche ecommerce brand doesn’t have to be difficult. In fact, it could even be easier than trying to compete with thousands of competitors selling solutions that are similar to(or the same as) what you offer.
First, you need to gain an in-depth understanding of your target audience. And secondly, identify the unique differentiators making your niche products superior to anything else in the market.
Then, you can use the strategies described in this guide to reach and engage your ideal customers. If you do everything right, you’ll nudge them closer to a conversion in a way that feels natural and unpressured, helping you grow your brand in a gentle, customer-oriented, and future-proof manner.
