We have talked about why mainstream businesses should consider the Muslim consumer market extensively here at Muslim Ad Network. We have also written articles and guides in general about how to do so.
Today we want to take a closer look at identifying niches within the Muslim consumer market. This is because as a company, you sell specific products or services. You are not selling a blanket “Muslim product” that every single Muslim will want to buy or find interesting.
There are several niche markets within your industry. If you think of a very specific product that serves unique Muslim consumer needs, you can classify it as a niche business idea.
So let’s look at how your strategy to approach a certain niche within the Muslim consumer market should look like.
Define an Unmet or Underserved Need
Let’s say hypothetically that your company wants to target Muslim executive women who travel frequently, and you want to sell them a line of wrinkle-free, formal, yet modest clothing to serve that specific need.
Muslim women executives’ needs would certainly be a gap in the marketplace. While their numbers may not be astronomical (which is the whole point of being a niche), their purchasing power would be more than sufficient to justify your efforts.
With the Muslim consumer market in general expected to grow exponentially and Muslim women taking up more leadership positions, this qualifies as a growth opportunity for your company.
You would not be the only one targeting Muslim women executives but you would certainly be one of the first to do so:
Larger companies are taking notice and are trying their hardest to implement more diversity by working with companies started by Muslim women and implement initiatives to support underrepresented communities in their companies. One example is Macy’s and its work with Verona Collection and its emphasis on holding events during Ramadan that cater to the Muslim market. Macy’s understands that it is not enough to implement products, but rather gain the trust of Muslim women by showcasing their diversity and willingness to understand the unique experiences of Muslim women.
Source: Don’t Underestimate The Power Of The Muslim Woman – Forbes, March 21, 2020
Research Your Muslim Customer Base
It goes without saying that it is extremely important to research your Muslim audience to understand their needs, goals, motivations, frustrations, and expectations.
A statement that has become iconic to me as a marketer personally is Saman Munir’s explanation of the frustrations and challenges of wearing a hijab during her workout routine. She is one of the ambassadors for Under Armour who launched their sports hijab in August 2020.
I used to sweat quite a bit in my different hijab, and I used to get complications as a result of it pulling on my hair. I additionally needed to maintain going to the washroom to repair my hijab and used to be anxious it could slip. However, the Under Armour sports hijab is light-weight and breathable. – Saman Munir
Source: Under Armour Launches First Sports Hijab
According to Charlene Walters, author of Own Your Other, you must get your audience involved as early as the minimum viable product development stage.
For your hypothetical product mentioned earlier, you would involve Muslim women executives in your product development discussions at this stage to help you develop the right fit for them.
This is, however, not something you should do at the start only, you should also perform regular maintenance checks with your niche ambassadors to reassess your customer base and competition.
Create Your Niche Statement
After you have figured out your Muslim niche target, the pressing problem, how your product or service provides the needed solution, you need to put all that into a niche statement for your startup.
You must use this niche statement and use it in many ways to attract Muslim customers and define your company to the world. This will help you stand head and shoulders over your competitors.
For the best results highlight what’s special about your business: your unique selling points, your motivation, and the benefits of using your products.
Every niche statement follows a certain format and includes:
- Your niche
- Their problem
- Your solution
- Your promise
Going back to your hypothetical product your niche statement would read:
“We work with Muslim women executives who have to travel across the continent (niche) and are feeling inconvenienced and overwhelmed by having to shop for hours online before finding suitable modest attire for the office that is both formal and modest. This issue becomes even more exacerbated when they have to travel for work or business because they have to look their best (problem). We offer a wide range of stylish, modest, wrinkle-free, and comfortable formal attire for women just like you (solution). You now no longer have to spend hours looking for the right formal attire that doesn’t compromise your faith (promise).”
This niche statement will be your blueprint for all content you create, your advertising, the employees you hire for your business, and basically every aspect of your business.
Market Your Business to Your Muslim Target Audience
In the same way, your product or service is a niche, your marketing style should be focused as well. A good recipe for success is targeted ads, blog posts, and podcasts. They are invaluable tools for getting your niche-statement-based message out to Muslim audiences likely to be interested in your niche business idea.
For example, a targeted marketing strategy for a mainstream company selling vegan baked goods would be to appear on a podcast dedicated to halal product reviews.
When I talked about Under Armour launching their first hijab, I mentioned how they worked with Muslim insiders to get their product optimized for the Muslim niche they were targeting.
I quoted Saman Munir on her frustration working out with normal hijabs. But Saman is not just any regular Muslim woman who likes to work out. She is an influencer on social media with 240k followers on Instagram.
When it comes to targeted ads, there is currently only one platform that can accurately and efficiently target the Muslim niche you desire to convert to customers – Muslim Ad Network.
Muslim Ad Network has been specializing in targeting Muslims online for over a decade. Neither Facebook ads, Google Ads, or any other platform has the ability to exclusively target Muslims online on all major Muslim and Mainstream websites across the internet.
Eagle -eye ad targeting as part of a Muslim Marketing Mix, will put you well on the way to running a successful niche business.
For a more statistical view of how the Muslim market is growing read: The $3 Trillion Reason Why Mainstream Brands Cannot Ignore The Muslim Consumer Market
For any questions please do not hesitate to contact Muslim Ad Network.
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