One of the most overwhelming feelings as you embark on your online career as a niche marketer is sizing up the competition you will go up against. If you are in a unique niche with low competition, this may not be as harrowing.
But in any saturated niche where the demand for products is high and there is a healthy number of consumers, there are bound to be many people vying for the attention of the same target audience are going after.
If you are planning to make a success out of your online efforts, you can stay strong in the face of competition. You have not only to work to get attention for your brand and offers but also believe in yourself as a top-tier authority figure people should be learning from.
Start your business with confidence in your ability to compete. It will be easier to convince people to sign up for your list and purchase your products over your competitors' ones.
The truth is, it's easy to break into a saturated niche, even if you are a complete newbie going up against seasoned online entrepreneurs or more prominent brands. It would help if you planned to be proactive in creating a name for yourself and seeing the results you deserve.
Below, you will find seven simple methods to set yourself apart from other niche leaders. You can begin implementing these to shine a light on your strengths rather than focus on the fact that you are new to the industry.
#1 - Start with a Specialization in a Sub-Topic of Your Niche
Many newbies need help determining where they should position themselves in a niche, especially one that is saturated. Should they go abroad? Should they drill down? Suppose the place you are targeting has much competition. In that case, it can sometimes be more effective to start narrow and then branch out and expand your business approach over time as you gain a reputation.
You will find that it is easier to dominate in many different ways as a leader of a sub-niche than it is to try to get your foot in the door as a top leader of a very broad one. For example, you probably know of a handful of gurus who represent the fitness niche.
As a newbie, it's not feasible to think that you can go up against these individuals from day one on a broad scale. But if you have a specialty sub-niche in mind, it will be easier to break in as an expert on that particular topic.
Do a little bit of research to uncover sub-niches that are not being served well by other leaders. It could be a particular demographic or a specific topic. You can use tools that will help you analyze the market and study the demand to see if it will be worthwhile leading in that area.
Then, you'll want to spend some time building a brand that reflects your expertise for that sub-niche. You may need to expand your knowledge so that it goes deeper in that one area rather than a broad brush approach to the overall niche in general.
You can map out a content plan that will showcase your passion for that sub-topic and your expertise that showcases your knowledge in that area. Along with your content strategy, you'll want to work on getting it optimized for search engines and social media so that you have increased discoverability for the demographic that is hungry for information on that subject.
#2 - Be a Rapid Product Developer for Important Niche Topics
Being an online entrepreneur means you want to make money quickly. One way you can do that while operating as a newbie is to create and publish products rapidly. Whether they're info products, membership, or tools – speed will help you be competitive.
For many marketers, product creation is a time-consuming process. To position yourself at the top of a niche, you can pay attention to trends and news and churn out focused products before anyone else can.
Usually, it takes marketers a while to spot something growing in popularity. If you have your eye on the social buzz and news regarding your sub-niche, you can be one of the first to create content or products about it.
Consumers love a cutting-edge leader. They want you to introduce new ideas and solutions to them – before they even know they exist or have to ask for them. The people you're competing against have a lot on their plate.
As seasoned marketers, they likely have a busy schedule running their business, promoting colleagues, recruiting affiliates, and building their blogs continually. Set yourself up for niche success by identifying news and trends early on.
It also means paying attention to what competitors are mentioning online to their social media following as well as their subscribers. Many times, marketers will say something that is starting to gain momentum to gauge the reaction of their audience.
While they are waiting in the wings for feedback, you can leap at the chance to be the first person in the marketplace with a product or solution about the topic. Not only will you beat them to the punch, but they may be eager to promote your launch to test the waters with their subscribers to see how well-received it will be.
You can develop templates for your product creation and your sales copy and listings. Templates will allow you to rapidly churn out products whenever you see something on the horizon that you feel people will want to know.
For example, suppose someone mentions upcoming search engine optimization changes. In that case, you can create a product that will serve as a guide and publish it before anyone else can bring it to the marketplace.
#3 - Let a Host Strategy Put You in the Top Tier of the Niche's Leadership
As a newbie in a niche, you will notice what appears to be cliques (colleagues) getting together to promote one another, participate in events, and network in some way – inviting each other onboard as top-tier leaders.
You don't want to be left sitting on the sidelines when this happens. You want to be right in the mix. While it's likely that you'll be invited as a guest speaker for a niche seminar if you're still determining, you do have some control over how you position yourself as one of the best.
Learn how to host certain events yourself that will allow you to cherry-pick the people involved, which will always include yourself, of course. You don't have to rent out a conference room and host a live, in-person event – don't worry.
But there are a couple of online events you can host. As the event coordinator, you want first to determine who the other top competitors are that you want to align with in some way.
You don't want to choose people with “scammy” reputations but rather top thought leaders whose products and services are well-respected. You're going to organize an event that will highlight these individuals (and yourself).
When everyone sees the participants, they will want to say yes to the event, assuming you've put together something professional that will serve them well in some way.
You can host a webinar with an expert panel or a giveaway event designed to help each participant further grow their list. With a webinar, everyone can showcase their expertise and refer viewers or listeners to their landing page or offer.
You'll get the option to record the event and sell it afterward (even allowing participants to promote it as an affiliate). It won't work if the event appears to be run by an
Amateur. So, everything from the idea you conceptualize to the graphics, sign-up page, and schedule needs to be well-planned and professional.
For the experts (your top competition) to join in, they need to see that value will be provided to the audience they send there. You'll want to lead with value and host the event in a way that shines a light on your capabilities, too.
#4 - Speak Up About Why You're the Best Niche Authority Figure to Follow
No one else will sing your praises in the beginning but you. Whenever you care for a follower or customer, you allow them to spread good word of mouth about your brand.
But in the beginning, you have to bluntly talk about what sets you apart from the rest of the niche leaders and why you feel your ideas and products are the best option for the consumer.
What you don't want to do is slam the competition. It's not a good idea to sabotage your future success by creating enemies in the industry. Instead, be a steward of professionalism and tout what you bring.
You don't want all of your content to be bragging, but feel free to explain why your products or insight is unique and beneficial. You even want your branding and website to reflect a level of authority not seen in many solo entrepreneurs.
When you create content, do it with the idea that you want to prove to readers that you're a valuable resource. Develop thorough pillar blog posts and informative emails they can open.
Please take the opportunity to network with those who can invite you to their podcast or speaking events. Upload proof of your appeal to audiences in various formats, showing how you can persuade readers, viewers, or listeners to engage with you.
Whenever you start getting positive feedback, screenshot it and ask for permission to use it in your online marketing. Social proof goes a long way in positioning you as a top leader.
#5 - Serve Your Audience Like Other Niche Leaders Fail to Do
One immediate way to edge out the competition is to be of service to the audience. It is something many experienced entrepreneurs and brands need to pay more attention to as their business grows.
You'll often hear from customers who are excited that you replied to their emails promptly or responded to their comments on social media. That's something you can use to show customers why you're on the best.
You can also serve their needs regarding content and products that fill the gap where information is missing in the marketplace. By listening to their needs, you’re outdoing the competition who ignores them.
Always overdeliver on what you promise and keep the lines of communication open so that the relationship between yourself and the customer is a two-way street where they feel comfortable reaching out.
#6 - Saturate Your Online Presence to Cast a Wider Net with Your Audience
When you are new to a saturated niche, you have an advantage over some more experienced leaders. When they started, they were often early in positioning themselves online to appeal to that audience.
They may have quickly built a blog that ranked well, and they may have grown a Facebook group to a respectable number. They may even have a YouTube channel gaining steam faster than you could hope to catch up.
But what you have on your side is the ability to cast a wider net and ultimately position yourself as the niche leader on other platforms they have not yet had time to tap into.
Some of the newer platforms, including TikTok, have many different niche audiences waiting for leaders to create short-form videos on topics that they are hungry for.
You can conduct a data analysis of various platforms to see how your competitors are faring and whether or not it would be in your best interest to pursue something there.
This way, you won't waste time on platforms that don't have a solid audience. But you can also analyze what your competitors have been doing correctly and incorrectly so that when you do get your start, you can immediately dominate with that audience.
Tools online now can give you feedback on exactly what the competition is doing with their blog, how they are ranking, what content they are missing, and other details about their strategy that are delivered to you so you can leverage that to your advantage in an instant.
#7 - Make Your Competitors Brag to Their Subscribers About You
Lastly, you can create irresistible products that you know your competitors will want to promote. In that case, you'll force them to send out emails to their subscribers and share praise about you as a niche leader online.
The key to making this work is not focusing on the money you can earn from this initial product launch but instead making it a process for affiliates to get on board. Identify the
top competitors in your niche, and carefully analyze what they usually promote so that you can create a product that you know will convert well with their audience.
You want to create an offer that blows them away regarding what they will receive in exchange for the promotion. It should be something similar to a 100% commission right on the front end and a series of one-time offer upgrades that ensure they will find it worthwhile to send out an email on your behalf.
Any additional perks that you can provide to these top competitors to make sure they promote for you is ideal. You can create an exclusive bonus report for each person to include as an incentive.
You can promise a reciprocal promotion for their next launch if you only target competitors whose products you strongly believe in. You can also offer them a position on your download page for one of their graphics that leads to their landing page or an offer.
You can even make this an exclusive offer just for the top-tier competitors you want to speak on your behalf as a niche leader. Whenever their subscribers receive an email from them endorsing you and your products, it gives them an instant reputation as someone who is on the same level.
Of course, your products must be top-quality for this to work. If you can combine the timely issue, allowing them to promote a product associated with some news or trend, that's even better.
In Conclusion,
These seven strategies are easy to implement into your online marketing efforts. You have to "dress for the job you want, not the job you have," so to speak. Refrain from talking about how new you are or beg top leaders to network with you.
Always approach things as if you are already a top competitor because nobody else truly knows your experience. Suppose your products and approach are top-notch, and you're actively engaging with other leaders. In that case, you'll easily fit in and reap the benefits of being a go-getter with self-confidence and a growing presence with a growing bank account.