Who else is tired of the ‘find a SaaS Niche’ cliché?

Everywhere you go. Every site you check. And every expert you ask; the same big talk of niching down.

We both know that you want to niche down.

You want to find the perfect market and interact with the right audience.

You want people to listen to you, and you want your solution to count.

But even after checking the dictionary multiple times, you still don’t understand what it means to niche down.

And the most annoying part is that, in the SaaS industry, you either niche down or go home.

Don’t worry; even the best were once confused.

So this is not going to be the phase where you drag your coding apps to the waste bin, close your laptop and call it quit.

Because just like you, I had a hard time niching down.

It took me years.

But with this piece, I intend to reset the course.

I aim to simplify the SaaS niching process by breaking it into digestible bits, help you find your community, and effectively sell your product.

So, take a deep breath…

And enjoy the ride.

Okay, first things first, let’s answer some fundamental questions.

What’s a ‘niche, and what does niching down mean?’

Well, a niche is a specialized segment of the market for a particular kind of product or service.

Specialized segment? What does that mean?

For instance, let’s say you are a college student with the coding skill to build a SaaS product.

You have a market in mind. And you have found a problem you believe you can create an effective SaaS solution for.

It might be the medical department. Maybe the idea is to help simplify students’ blood testing and result checking process.

The medical department is quite large, and not everyone would need your product.

To create an effective SaaS solution, you need to understand the dynamics of the market.

Dynamics? That’s finding answers to questions like

• Okay, this is the problem; what’s the niche market like?
• Which specialized segment of the market would need my product?
• And how do I get in touch with them?

So once again, we are back to the exact old definition;

‘Niching down means finding that specialized segment of the market to whom your solution is viable.’

Why is niching down so crucial in the SaaS industry?

Nowadays, the world is highly reliant on software.

From medical personals to freelancers, content creators, and even families {enjoying their fair share of Netflix} software as a service runs wide.

And since you are not Elon Musk, nor have the funding to cater to multiple SaaS products at a time, you can’t be everywhere.

You have to niche down.

But that aside, they are lots of perks to niching down.

• Niching down helps you get a clear focus of who your ideal target customer is
• With a niche, aligning your marketing to match wouldn’t be an issue
• It gives you easy access to subject matter experts
• Niching down helps you build credibility in your industry
• It keeps you connected to a healthy and active tribe
• A niche market offers a pool of ideas to help you become a key person of influence in your industry

I can go on and on about the perks of niching down, but because I would like us to get to our destination ASAP, let’s close with this…

Without a niche, you will remain all over the place. You will talk to everyone, yet no one. Nobody will blink an eye when you launch your product, and your marketing materials will be bulky, irrelevant and pointless. 

How can I find my niche?

This is the million-dollar question we’ve all been asking.

Well, for me, what worked was passion.

I am not going to say I live and breathe SaaS sales every day. Or that copywriting is the most exciting occupation I ever came across. NAH.

You can develop passion for something in multiple ways.

So maybe it’s time I told my story.

I was a dropout with little to no funds to do anything.

I needed a way to survive. Writing worked out fine for me, but acquiring clients was a big deal.

My voice was all over the place. Today I am writing for a casino brand; tomorrow, it’s an extended reality company.

Yeah, income was sustainable. But my confidence level was at an all-time low.

I needed credibility. I needed to be an expert. I needed to niche down.

And this is where passion came in.

I dived into research.

The first step was to find an audience in an industry I was comfortable talking to.

I needed something I wouldn’t have to wet my pants writing about.

People I was comfortable around and a place I could call home.

And since I strongly believed in the notion that behind every challenge lies an opportunity, I dived into the SaaS industry knowing I had a lot of learning to do. 

Little by little, the dots between EdTech and SaaS began to make sense and started connecting themselves.

And yeah, even without winning a new client, I felt reinvigorated.

Knowing I had found an attentive audience brought about a breath of fresh air, exploration, and at the moment, redemption.

So, realizing my voice didn’t seem all that challenging anymore.

And passion for writing started to flow easily.

Now, passion and the zeal to succeed helped me niche down.

But telling you to go about the niching process with passion and determination alone is in no way sustainable.

Actionable tips to help you find your niche

Niche populations are tribal. Yes, you heard that right.

Niche populations, just like a tribe, are individuals connected to an idea and also connected to a leader—or in this case, multiple leaders.

Finding your niche requires a similar process to finding your tribe. Some of the questions to ask are:

Where can I find my niche audience?

Let’s say you want to better understand the needs of individuals in the automotive industry and design a product that tackles a specific problem.

Stay on top of questions like, where do they hang out? Which social media platforms do this automotive expert make use of regularly? Which communities are active, and how can I join?

What’s the size of my audience?

Now, it’s fun and exciting to find a niche market.

You get to interact with people sharing the same viewpoints and opinions. Get direct connection to industry experts. And if you like, measure and document your growth every step of the way.

But this is only possible if you find a niche audience of the right size.

Wondering what I mean by right size?

Niche markets are not created equal. Some are bigger than others.

It’s easy to go after an audience that’s not your own.

Weigh the size of the industry and create a buyer persona of your ideal audience. With a buyer persona, pinpointing the communities to join wouldn’t be an issue. 

Is my niche audience too general?

It’s easy to fall for the trap of thinking you have found a niche when in reality, all you’ve done is locate another segment of an overcrowded market. 

Don’t forget; niche populations are tribal. So, niching down requires an ultra-specific frame.

For instance, let’s say you love golfing and would like to create a SaaS product for golfers.

To niche down, don’t go about following renowned golfers on social media platforms. That can be helpful in getting a general overview of the sport.

The aim of niching down is to find a problem you can create a SaaS solution for—you want to be more specific.

Instead, focus on social media communities and publications that provide small but intrinsic details about golfing and the issues facing a particular industry segment—not the industry as a whole.

A segment will do just fine.

Who are the KPI’s {key persons of influence} of this industry?

In every industry, there are multiple KPIs {In this context, KPI means a key person of influence}.

You can view a KPI as one of the many tribal leaders.

Connect with as many KPIs as possible. Then cultivate a healthy relationship.

You can also explore their profiles and portfolios to navigate niche-related communities and get an in-depth overview of the industry.

And also, If you are curious about anything, don’t hesitate to ask reputable KPI questions. Questions help build, foster, and nurture relationships. 

Is my preferred niche audience measurable?

It’s a common myth that marketing is all about numbers.

And just this once, I won’t try to demystify this myth.

The essence of finding a niche market and targeting the right audience are all marketing strategies to help you become successful in the SaaS industry.

If you can kickstart your journey by getting an accurate estimate of your niche audience, that’s perfect.

But since niches are just a tiny section of an overcrowded market, don’t feel sad if you don’t find any statistical analysis to help you measure your niche audience.

You can create a rough estimate of the niche market by weighing the number of active individuals in the communities you interact with regularly.

Measuring your niche audience will help you streamline an effective marketing strategy.

Conclusion

The simple idea behind successful SaaS products is that they offer ‘need to have’ solutions instead of a ‘nice to have.’

That means they pinpoint and understand their customers’ pain before developing a product.

Going the other way around will keep you going in circles.

That’s creating a SaaS product before looking for individuals who need it would keep your marketing materials all over the web, speaking to everyone, yet no one.

Simple steps: Find your niche and engage with your community. Navigate a critical problem that needs changing. Create a product.

Best of luck.