Ashley Alderson argues small brands win by picking a specific niche, not chasing everyone. Busy moms, curvy athletes, extended sizing: solve one group's real problem better than Target can, then build community around it.
Foreign. Business can be a lonely game, but it doesn't have to be. Welcome to Boutique Chat, where we explore community over competition and how to scale your company with the balance and the happiness that we all seek. We'll hear from product based businesses of all types, retailers, e commerce and wholesale brands, along with industry experts shaping the future of our industry. I'm your host Ashley Alderson from the Boutique Hub and I can't wait to chat. Hey guys, welcome back to 5 Minute Friday. And I am so passionate about today's topic and that is that the riches are in the niches. And I feel like I've learned this firsthand even from our business at the Boutique Hub. It's a very specific industry and a very specific customer. And as I look across the boutique and retail industry, specialty retail as a whole, and I see the same opportunity and the same success stories from you and your businesses. The businesses that are most successful have truly identified who their customer is and the very specific niche that they serve. Is it niche? Is it niche? How do you say it? I feel like the verdict's out. Let's run an Instagram poll. We're going to find out what you guys think. Regardless what I mean by this is when I look across the industry and I see someone telling me that they're an online trendy affordable boutique. An online trendy affordable boutique. Well, so is Sheen and so is Temu. And so if that's who you want to be, it's very broad, it's very general, and you're going to be competing with some of the largest websites in the world for that audience. And so how could you really set yourself apart? How do you make sure that you are reaching into the niches that you serve to set yourself apart and to be different? Well, you've got to dig into who is your customer and what is your customer's biggest problem. What's the biggest migraine headache that they have that you can solve? Niches that you may really serve are. I serve busy moms who want to have a few wonderful statement pieces to make them look and feel their best. You may serve athletic women with muscles and curves. That's very specific. You may have a niche for extended sizing. You serve everybody from a small to a 2x and beyond. And you yourself understand the curvy market. You may be somebody who serves women with exceptional taste and you have Italian leathers and fabrics and you have an just incredible way of styling pieces that make things feel more exclusive and rich. You might have a niche of serving boy moms. I've seen that in the Hub you might really understand how is a boy mom different than a girl mom and what should I stock in my store for that specific specialty? You may have a niche of understanding multi generational gifting and ways of dressing right. I think about Sarah Burke store. Her niche wasn't that she was so incredibly narrow, but it was in fact that she was very broad. She could serve everybody from the baptism to the funeral and everything in between, but she had a way of calling out and making each generation and each niche that is so broad feel very specific and targeted and understood. So when you're identifying what is your niche, what makes you different? How are you serving your customer in a way that the online trendy affordable boutique of Sheen and Temu can't? Well, it's got to come down to your content and your community. How are you speaking to your customer and letting her know you can solve her problems on a daily basis? How are you having daily engagement questions and dialogue and storytelling around the problems that you can solve? How are you engaging your customer not only to talk to you but but your customer to talk to one another and feel seen and understood while they're in your space? It's those conversations and it's that type of content that really sell products. It's not just having a product to sell. So the riches are in the niches and it's on you to dig in and figure out what makes you and your business and your brand incredibly different. Yes, it's the community and the conversations, but it's also going to be your photography and your merchandising and how you make your brand appear online on social media. Whether you're online only or you also have a brick and mortar, those elements of your brand are an extension of someone's experience with you in person. So make sure you're getting it right in both places and make people feel like they understand the niche that you're serving. So today for five Minute Friday, remember, the riches are in the niches. Get specific on the problem you solve and the people you serve and what makes you different from everybody else. You are you and that is your superpower. Thanks for listening guys. I hope you took away all kinds of nuggets and new ideas from this week's episode. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a rating and review. We love to hear your feedback and give you a chance to be featured on the show each and every week. For more information on our spirit of community over competition and to access guest downloads and bonuses and all the resources we talked about on the show. And head on over to the boutiquehub.com and join the community. We'll see you next week.
