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How to brand a niche digital agency?

by Vincent Chase
6 replies
Hi warriors,

I have read everywhere that it's a good idea to position your digital agency in a niche right from the beginning, which makes sense.

My question is, how far do you go in branding your website to cater for that niche in the beginning?

So if hypothetically you are offering seo services to doctors, do you name your site accordingly (i.e doctorsSEO.com) and use copy writing that specifically talks to that niche? Do you feel that this is too limiting for a beginner?
#agency #brand #digital #niche
  • Profile picture of the author savidge4
    Branding does not have to be about the name... it could be "Bills SEO" and then the byline "We Specialize in Doctor's online traffic" Not a very good example but on none the less.

    I will say this... Branding IS important, but not to the point you need to lose sleep over it. Right now.. and for years to come, no one is going to know the name of your company... they will know YOUR name long before your business name. Clients will tell their friends "Hey call <insert name> he/she is the one that does my SEO"

    I would say choose a name wisely... one that works today and down the road. It may be doctors today..but what happens when you take on a lawyer or a plumber later? Part of Branding is looking ahead and not only looking at your branding needs for today, but for years to come.

    Branding does not happen over night... it can take years... so you do need to plan for the long haul and anticipate some directional change
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  • Profile picture of the author FreedomBlogger
    Actually, being as SPECIFIC as possible - is the best way to go!

    The more specific (targeted) you are - the better.

    And the Broader you are, the harder it will become to attract the right people who are more likely to buy your products/services.

    I would highly recommend you to be very specific and to actually implement what you are thinking about here. You are thinking correctly here.

    This is one very important thing about Niche Marketing - being very very specific!

    Keep up the great work!
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  • Profile picture of the author Vincent Chase
    Thank you both for your answers.

    I was just confused on what exactly is the implications of the common wisdom of picking a niche from the start. So does is simply imply that we should target a specific niche and stick to it? Does it mean that we're building our online presence around that particular niche?

    It makes sense to me that I do not restrict myself too much at the beginning, but also specialising will help me sstand out from the rest of service providers.

    So what I am thinking, is rather than specialising in a niche from the start, I might look at specialising in a service.
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    • Profile picture of the author savidge4
      Originally Posted by Vincent Chase View Post

      Thank you both for your answers.

      I was just confused on what exactly is the implications of the common wisdom of picking a niche from the start. So does is simply imply that we should target a specific niche and stick to it? Does it mean that we're building our online presence around that particular niche?

      It makes sense to me that I do not restrict myself too much at the beginning, but also specialising will help me sstand out from the rest of service providers.

      So what I am thinking, is rather than specialising in a niche from the start, I might look at specialising in a service.

      Lets look at the example you mentioned already, Medical SEO. The #1 listing for the term "Medical SEO" is none other than medicalseo .com. only makes sense right? but look at the site more specifically the bottom of the page at the copyright. "Seo Advantage" is the actual company behind the site.

      From a Branding prospective this is a bit of a loose thread.... a bit confusing.. "who am I dealing with?" comes into play. From the SEO traffic perspective.. well its good stuff. - UNLESS you understand SEO and then you have to look at the "Parent site" and wonder why its not ranking for the term... so there is the understanding that there is some "SEO Magic" going on here, not that it is a bad thing... but a potential client with some SEO knowledge may actually stay away from this.

      I would suggest rolling out in stages. I would develop locally first. Obviously depending on your market this may be very easy.. or a bit of a challenge. none the less it is a great place to develop some traction and good listings. Once you have a good footing there then expand your efforts to a more national level. The phrase "Think Local, Act Global" comes to mind.
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      • Profile picture of the author Vincent Chase
        Very good point regarding medicalSeo.com savidge4 . From what I have seen a lot of digital agencies have offshoot agencies that target particular verticals.

        After several conversations that I have had with friends who own brick and mortar businesses, I have decided to take the 'counter intuitive' and highly frowned upon route and start generic, all encompassing digital agency.

        One of my friends is a private mortgage broker, the other owns a day spa and the third owns a Krav Maga gym. the first two don't even have websites.

        What they all have in common is that they don't know anything about internet marketing. SEO is a foreign acronym to their ears. What they are all looking for is not PPC, SEO, Social media, branding, etc.....but just attracting additional customers from the net.

        This lead me to conclude that if they are my avatar of a perfect client, then I would not be appealing to them if I specialise in one service. They are, like most offliners seeking results and do not care how these results are achieved let alone how much of an SEO specialist or a PPC expert I am. They are also seeking the convenience of having one party handling their digital needs for them, rather than having to manage a web design guy, an seo guy, a lead generation guy, etc. So if i could get them results right from the beginning, my designing their sites, and brining in new leads, then I would be their, and their colleagues, 'go to guy'.

        On the other hand, if I start by specialising in one niche, then I am definitely limiting myself. I already have hot leads in different niches that I could immediately start working with.

        Of course this does not mean that my sales pitch cannot be positioned to differentiate me from the rest.
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        • Profile picture of the author qu4rk
          As Savidge mentioned, you are the business at this point. So, to add to that another way to Brand yourself is to:

          -Get all their internal jargon down.
          -Know their common business problems.
          -Know their business cycles (busy, slow seasons).

          This is just the tip of the iceberg, because what you want to communicate is that I'm just like you. Then, use all this in every conversation that you have with them. Use it in all your email messages. This communicates to them that you get it.
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