How to assess your niche as an interior designer
Last week I wrote a blog post about niching down as an interior designer. In this blog post, I thought I would delve a little deeper into the theory behind ‘niching’ down.
In marketing terms, we call this market segmentation. An understanding of market segmentation can help interior designers identify gaps in the market that they could serve better rather than open up their services to everyone and facing massive competition.
So what is market segmentation?
Market segmentation divides a larger market into smaller sub-groups of consumers with similar needs or characteristics.
This allows interior designers to tailor their messaging, product offerings, and overall branding strategy to better meet the needs and preferences of this specific sub-group of interior design clients, leading to increased brand recognition and loyalty.
In interior design, market segmentation can help designers better understand their target audience and design spaces that meet their specific needs and preferences. They may specialise in beauty salons or professional offices for dentists and doctors. Wherever there is a specialty, there is a need for specialist designers.
Another way that interior designer may segment their market is to base it on demographic factors such as age, income, or family structure. You could design spaces for retirees or divorced people. You could specialise in psychographic factors such as lifestyle ( living in the country) or design preferences (heritage buildings).
By understanding the needs and preferences of different market segments, an interior designer can create custom designs that meet the unique needs of each segment, leading to increased customer satisfaction and brand recognition. They can build a good reputation, leading to increased referrals and exposure on specialty platforms.
Additionally, segmentation can help interior designers identify new opportunities for growth by targeting under-served segments or developing products and services specifically for these groups. Some good examples of this could be the nursery school market or gyms, where it is difficult to find well-designed products to be included in designs.
When considering a market segment, you might want to think about the following:
Accessible: Can you reach your identified group through your marketing and referrals? How would you do this
Measurable: Can you estimate your market size easily so that there are enough customers in your niche?
Substantial: is the segment large, established and stable enough to justify targeting it?
Viable: can people within this segment afford your interior design services, and will they see clear and desirable advantages of using it compared with a generalist designer?
I’ve written a worksheet that will help you analyse market segments and find out if they will suit your interior design business. You can download it below.
See you in the next blog post .
Hi 👋🏽 I’m Joanne!
I’m an interior designer, educator and business coach. After studying Economics and Education at uni, the design world beckoned, drawing me to Christie’s in London, where I completed post-grad studies in art & design and then to Hong Kong, where I founded Eclectic Cool, a design firm and design store. . Eclectic Cool represented international brands such as Gubi, &tradition, HAY, Armadillo Rugs & Dinosaur Designs to name a few. My work and store have been featured in Monocle, Conde Nast Traveller, Elle Decor, Expat Living, Cathay Pacific inflight magazines, South China Morning Post and the ABC (Australia) network and more. I live on the south coast of Australia on a country property between the beautiful Australian bush and the Pacific Ocean with my husband and cavoodle. I’m the mum of three adult children.
