© 2024 Melanie White
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Recently I was asked whether pivoting your niche requires you to set up all new social medial profiles and pages, separate from your existing ones. Let’s talk through this today and summarise a few key points.
No matter who you are, when you start your business, it will take a long time before you truly, deeply understand your niche. Even if you have your own lived experience with your niche’s main problem, your experience of it will be different from theirs.
And as you know, being on a journey yourself means that more and more layers of the onion (as we call it in coaching) are peeled away revealing the true meaning and beliefs behind our habits, thoughts and actions.
And invariably, as you peel off those layers and learn more about yourself and your niche, you will likely become more specific about who your niche is. You may even pivot your niche because you finally understand who your best clients are or because you may have outgrown the niche clients that you started with, or realised that some aren’t as committed as others and you want to work with people who are totally all in.
What does this mean for your business?
In short – it probably means you need to rebrand.
You’ve probably heard the word branding being used in a marketing sense. Your brand includes the images, personality, position, values and traits that your business is known for. Your brand is designed to attract the right type of customers to your business.
When you start your business you have an immature brand, because you have somewhat limited knowledge of your niche and ideal client.
Your brand matures and evolves as you get to know your ideal client.
What I mean by that is that you start using their language in your marketing, using more images that look like them, sharing personal anecdotes that resonate with them, and connecting more deeply. Maybe your customer journey has evolved.
As a result, you set up your website and social media accounts to appeal to those people.
So if you pivot your niche or evolve it substantially, what do you do with all those social media pages?
Do you create new pages and run them in parallel?
Do you move to a different social media platform?
Do you close everything down and relaunch?
Right up front, I’ll be clear that I’m not an expert in this – but I have heard the same stories from some true experts.
And here’s the general agreement on how to do it.
Let’s start with option 1 – you’re going to be more specific or make some upgrades but essentially work with a similar type of client.
Start telling your people that things will be changing around here.
Let them know you still love your followers but they’ll notice you sprucing things up and maybe talking a bit differently or more specifically than you have in the past. Or let them know that you are having a complete change and revamping everything!
If you’re doing a similar version of what you currently do, then let them know that you’re still the same amazing business owner, and you’re still there to serve them as you are right now.
It’s great to email your list and send a personal message about the exciting new change, and create a similar version or a life or reel saying the same thing on social media. Repeat the messages over about a 4 week period so everyone hears about it.
Share your new vision and mission and be excited about it to generate momentum and get your audience Re-engaged with you.
It’s important to also know that if your audience doesn’t feel connected to the new way of doing things, that’s ok, you won’t be offended if they unsubscribe or unfollow. After all, we all outgrow things in our lives, and that’s ok.
After the four weeks, you can start introducing your new branding, messaging and images and weaving it into your posts and communications.
Or, you can make it fun and create anticipation by counting down to a relaunch, and making an event out of it!
What if you’re totally pivoting to something completely different and no longer want to work with the old niche, or you’re discontinuing some services?
This is option 2, and it means you’ll need to break up with them, in a way, to draw a line in the sand and be very clear that you are making a complete change.
Still, make the announcement and share your new vision, share stories about the good and bad times, and all the success, but draw a line in the sand.
Let them know whether there is a cutoff date at which old programs finish or a date at which you’ll wrap up with certain clients, or you might decide to continue working with some of your original clients simply because you love them.
Whatever you choose, make a clear decision and be transparent and consistent about it.
Don’t create false hope or set weak boundaries. Be honest and upfront about your plans. People will respect your honesty.
Someone who has done a full pivot really well is Denise Duffield Thomas. She ran lucky bitch boot camp for many years and then let everyone know she was closing it down and pivoting into a money mindset course. She closed down her old website and social pages and started fresh – and that makes sense if you are doing a complete and total rebrand into a different area.
Denise had a last hurrah celebration and a big goodbye, and everyone still loved her. Some people left, and some stuck with her, but everyone respected her efforts over the years and her honesty.
Today we talked about how to pivot your business in a way that is seamless and considerate of your audience – whether that pivot is minor or major.
There are a series of steps to take to make it work properly – but no matter what you do, consultation with the audience is an important part of pivoting without upsetting or losing your audience.
Understanding who you are and what you need will allow your business to thrive! If you’re truly ready to break old habits and get out of the rut I encourage you to check out the Habitology membership.
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© 2024 Melanie White