Should you define a niche for your business as a Golf Coach?
Welcome to my latest blog post, where we look at the question of whether we should create a niche for our Golf Coaching Business as a Coach.
Is it advisable to create a niche or is this an outdated strategy? In my opinion, the focus of a Golf Coach is one of the most important tools. A Golf Coach with focus stands for something, he has a specialization, and it is immediately clear what he can do and what he specializes in. It also helps to create a plan for your goals and to make decisions easily.
But let’s look at the topic step by step and see what a niche is and what the advantages and disadvantages can be. You will also find as step-by-step instructions on how to create your own niche for your Golf Coaching Business.
niche marketing
In order to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of creating a niche, we should first look at what niche marketing actually is and what it means.
What is a niche?
A niche refers to a small segment of a market. If golf is the market, the Golf Coaches are a small segment of the market. Golf Coaches for tour players, for example, would be s submarket of the golf trainer market – therefore a niche.
What distinguishes niche marketing form other types of marketing?
In contrast to other types of marketing, niche marketing only deals with the sub-segment of a market. As a result marketing activities and messages can be targeted precisely to the target group or recipient. If we stick with our example form the previous paragraph, the sub-market is Golf Coaches for Tour Players and the marketing activities and messages would then be aimed at Tour Players, as this would be our target group.
Creating a niche = focus?
Let’s say you are looking for a Golf Coach for long drive. You find two people on Instagram. Person A’s bio states that he is a Golf Coach, and in his feed, you will find various posts on golf-related topics. However, it is not clear whether this person has a focus.
Person B says in his Instagram bio that he is a Long Drive Coach and his posts have a clear thematic focus, namely on long drive.
Which person would you choose?
Focusing, i.e. creating a niche, helps you to show what you stand for and what you specialize in. The example above is about a personal brand, but the same applies to any other brand. In the end, creating a niche can have an impact on sales.
Advantages and disadvantages of focusing
As with everything, there are advantages and disadvantages for Golf Coaches when it comes to niche marketing. Let’s look at the advantages first.
Perception of a defined target group
Focusing on a sub-segment of the golf player market can habe the advantes of increasing awareness in the defined target group. By addressing them in a targeted way and using appropriate messages, they feel addressed and picked up.
Greater differentiation and less competition
Another advantage of niche marketing is that you create a stronger differentiation from your competitors. By focusing on a small target group, you know exactly what their problems, wishes and goals are and can therefore address them specifically with your marketing activities and content.
You also reduce your competition if you focus on a sub-segment. Instead of being one Golf Coach among many, you can become an expert in a specific area by focusing on it, for example the short game expert.
Target use of marketing budget
The marketing budget is usually a small budget for Golf Academies and Golf Coaches. Niche marketing hat the great advantage that you can use your existing budget in a targeted manner, as you are not addressing the entire market, but only a part of it. You can take a very targeted approach when selecting activities and create the right content.
Of course, niche marketing can also have disadvantages. Focusing also always means that you have to part with parts.
Limited market volume
The more focused and specific you are with your niche, the smaller the target group will be. It can happen that the market volume is later so small that it is no longer viable for your Golf Coaching Business. Golf Coaches for long drive with focus on woman who are left-handed – this seems to me to be a very small target group. Golf Coaches for long drive is specific but will most likely have a larger volume.
Is this a customer-relevant market segment?
Is the selected market segment even a relevant area form the customers point of view? Are there customers who are interested in this segment and is the target group large enough?
An important question to ask yourself when creating a niche is the question of market volume and relevance, as this is where the disadvantage of niche marketing lies.
Niche down in 4 steps
You can create your own niche for your Golf Coaching Business in just a few simple steps. All you have to do is answer the following questions for your business:
Step 1: what do you do?
In which subject are do you working? If you work in the golf industry, your answer here could be Golf Coach or mental Golf Coach.
Step 2: who is your target group.
Now its time to be more specific. Who is your offer aimed at?
Who is your ideal customer? An example could be golfer between the age of 25 and 40.
Step 3: do you have a specialization?
Can your subject area be narrowed down even further or have you a specialized subject? Let’s stay with the example of a Golf Coach. Here the answer could be specialization in the short game or course management.
Step 4 can you possibly narrow down your target group even further?
The target group of golfers between the age of 25 and 40 is still quite large and makes it difficult to address, so it is advisable to be a little more specific here. In the golf coaching example, you could further restrict the target group by creating your offer specifically for ambitious player or handicap 16 or better.
Maintain focus through a niche
By creating a niche, you go from being a generalist to a specialist. However, this also means that you have to give up something. This is the part of niche creation that most people struggle with for fear of losing or missing out on something.
Creating a niche gives your business a focus on a target group and a field of activity. It also helps with the creation and selection of marketing activities. Marketing activities without focus: however, if you want to appeal to everyone, you will end up not being noticed by anyone.