Just like people, market niches can be both large and small in nature. Some niches serve a broad audience such as gamers, while others target more specific demographics.
Just like people,
market niches can be both large and small in nature. Some niches serve a broad audience such as gamers, while others target more specific demographics. When it comes to finding your app’s niche, the difficult part can often be not trying to do too much with it. Some apps are meant to appeal to large audiences, while others fit in with a very small demographic with a very specific need for apps. Based on your app’s target market, you should aim to find a market niche and be happy with it, whether it is large enough to appeal to gamers, or small enough to target kite surfers.
Small Market Niches
In the mobile app industry there is a seemingly endless array of small market niches. For example, recently a tech company out of Denmark developed an app, Vaavud, with an accompanying wind meter, which plugs into smartphones providing the accurate wind speed. Obviously, this amazing piece of mobile technology is not meant for everyone or even a large niche in the mobile market. However, it holds a significant and extremely vital purpose to a small niche in the market. Primarily designed for the likes of kite surfers, sailors, and other sea-bound enthusiasts, Vaavud is a perfect example of how an app can serve a small niche and still be successful in the market. What's more, the app is an excellent idea that was brought to fruition without electronic components besides the use of an existing smartphone device.
If you have an app, or concept for one, that targets a small demographic, it very well could find a small niche in the market and become quite profitable with that select group of app users. The key, however, is for you to pinpoint that group and target market your idea toward them.
Large Market Niches
Larger niches in the market are much more common in the minds of app users. In other words, when someone recommends a fun or useful app to a friend, they likely mention a large market niche option like Instagram or Words With Friends, instead Vaavud, which the majority of people have no use for or desire to spend their money on.
Without question, targeting a large market niche with your app allows for more variance and room for error. For instance, say you develop a gaming app designed for all ages, but upon release it experiences little interest from adult demographics. Because its market niche is so broad, the app that you spent so much time creating can still be successful with other customer segments. In this example, because adults showed little interest, teens and younger audiences may turn out to be the true target market for your app, essentially saving the app from being scrapped. The ability to potentially appeal to multiple market segments is perhaps most advantageous about a large market niche.
Conclusion
Regardless of whether your app is destined to settle into a large market niche, or perhaps something smaller, there is generally plenty of room for profitability in both. If you have a specialized app like Vaavud, or a broad reaching gaming app like Words With Friends, the key to success is actually finding your niche and not trying to do too much. After all, over reaching with your app can produce an unfocused mobile offering that appeals to no one, and leaves you repeatedly going back to the drawing board to make corrections opposed to settling into a safe market niche.
