Niche Out Instead of Niche Down
Niche Out Instead of Niche Down
Welcome to the attention economy
There’s an old internet marketing concept known as ‘niching down’.
It’s based on the idea that - because the internet is so large - even the tiniest topics have an audience out there that you can tap into.
According to this worldview, you should try to become the subject matter expert by creating content that appeals to people who are obsessed with a certain small hobby or topic so you can be the go-to guy for anyone who’s interested in it.
That concept is officially outdated.
Trying to be the Vintage Typewriter Collecting Kingpin or the DIY Dogshed Guru isn’t going to work in 2024. Algorithms don’t reward you for playing the algorithm game, they reward you for getting traffic.
And these tiny niches won’t get you any traffic if all you’re doing is creating content for people who are already interested.
You can relegate ‘just niche down, bro’ to the same mental dustbin as ‘the customer is always right’ and other boomer business aphorisms.
The brands that are most successful on YouTube DO NOT niche down. Their small niche is the core that they find ways to expand out from in ways that appeal to the mainstream video-watching audience.
They’re not niching down. They’re niching out.
They’re not trying to be the big fish in a small pond. They’re taking their small pond and turning it into a gigantic fucking ocean owned by them.
The goal on YouTube in 2024 is to cast a wide net and make your channel as big as possible so the algorithm loves you. THEN AND ONLY THEN will the conversions roll in.
The people who are able/willing to pay for whatever it is you’re selling have the same internet experience as everyone else.
They type ‘youtube.com’ into their browser and end up on the homepage full of videos that the algorithm thinks (knows) they’ll be interested in, and they zombie-out and click on them just like everyone else.
This applies even if you’re selling high ticket items. It even applies if you’re selling B2B. It doesn’t matter. High net worth individuals and people who make buying decisions at companies are all watching YouTube every day. Videos are digital crack airdropped onto everyone’s phone and laptop and the whole world’s hooked.
What niching out looks like
Niching out does NOT mean ‘target the top of the funnel bro’.
It means creating general interest-type content that appeals to people who aren’t part of your funnel at all and never will be.
Your thought process shouldn’t be ‘will this video appeal to my potential customers?’ it should be ‘will this video appeal to random normies’?.
Imagine that you’re a fisherman.
When you create a video you’re not sitting on a canoe with a fishing pole hoping to catch a specific fish: ‘nothing’s biting today that sucks’.
You’re dragging one of those big ass nets through the ocean that catches EVERYTHING. You’re scooping up sharks, dolphins, sea urchins, manatees, eels, creepy deep water fish with lanterns on their face, and in the midst of it all you’re also catching the type of fish you actually want (people who will buy what you’re selling).