Blue Ocean Strategy in MLM. How to identify and develop your own niche in the market
Market space is an ocean where boundaries have long been defined and rules of the game established, understandable and familiar to the players. The more competition in a certain sphere, the fewer chances of success in the market. This is the definition of the "red ocean," and it has this color because it is stained with the blood of failed companies.
If you want to safeguard your business, you need to enter the "blue ocean" - create your comfortable environment within an aggressive market and tough competition. In this article, we will explain what the "blue ocean strategy" is and how to apply it in network marketing.
What is the "blue ocean strategy"
If the market is saturated with projects offering the same product, companies strive to outdo each other and attract consumers' attention to themselves. In the "blue ocean," businesses identify unmet audience needs and create solutions that satisfy consumers.
The "blue ocean" strategy is a business development strategy aimed at organically shielding the business from competitors and moving out of the aggressive market space.
In two words, to describe the strategy, you need to create a product that differs from what is available on the market and satisfies the interests of a specific category of customers. This way, you can create a niche where you can influence the rules of the game.
In the blue ocean, there is no price competition, as the company's offer is unique and there is no identical product anywhere. The cost of services and goods is determined regardless of competitors' prices, which increases the potential profitability of the project.
"Blue Ocean" is a space of innovation and experiments. By creating such a space within the market, you can:
- create an entirely new industry and, consequently, product. For example, by adhering to this strategy, eBay created the online auction industry;
- change the boundaries of the existing industry and modify your product. Thus, you will naturally engage in improving and developing the chosen business sphere.
In most cases, companies choose the second path and modify the boundaries of existing industries. For example, Apple, understanding that they could not surpass Microsoft in terms of the computing power of their devices, decided to shift the focus to improving design and user interface convenience. Thus, they became iconic in their niche.
Look at your business from a different angle and imagine what innovations you can implement to attract the attention of new customers.
How to Identify a Unique Business Niche
To find your niche and unique product, you need to meticulously study what your potential consumers are like. To do this:
1. Identify a narrow target audience. Look at your potential clients and try to divide them into separate unique audiences.
In our blog, we have already published a guide on identifying and attracting the target audience. Read how it works in the article Target Audience in MLM
2. Describe their habits, interests, and "pain points" in detail. The more details and nuances you specify, the easier it will be for you to understand your potential customer. Include in the description all available reliable data that you can gather, not just trivial information like age, gender, marital status, etc.
3. Try to identify an important nuance for the consumer that others have missed. Find that criterion that your competitors persistently ignore or fail to notice. Put yourself in the shoes of your buyers, or better yet, ask what is important to them or people similar to them.
For example, with the growing popularity of the "eco-friendly" trend in 2017, the company EcoVita took on a new name — GreenWay. And if previously EcoVita sold regular household, beauty, and health products, then, using a name associated with nature, they decided to build a reputation as an eco-brand. Gradually, they are adding more environmentally ethical products to their range.
4. Maximize the criterion of your uniqueness as much as possible. Focus your offer around the identified unmet needs of your target audience. Show in detail how and by what means you will solve their problem, what result this will lead to.
5. Identify several target audience groups and uncover their unique unmet needs.Generate a tailored proposition for each audience and demonstrate how you will solve an important problem for them. To hit the mark and deliver specific information to the right person, create multiple landing pages with dynamic headlines and develop individual sales funnels for each position.
For example, Amway produces home goods, dietary supplements, skincare, and makeup — each type of product has its target customer groups. By creating different attraction funnels tailored to the interests of different groups within their audience, Amway managed to achieve impressive sales figures in each of the selected categories and become one of the world's largest corporations.
What to Focus on in MLM Searches
As we can see, most companies choose the path of changing the boundaries of the chosen industry, looking for new opportunities to differentiate themselves from competitors. When developing a network marketing business, think about how to enhance your uniqueness in the following aspects:
1. Geography. Study in which countries MLM business is less developed, where there are opportunities and potential for the development of a global enterprise. This could refer to both a country and regions that are a priority for promotion. In our blog, you can see:
- Features of network marketing in Poland;
- Features of network marketing in Finland;
- Features of network marketing in Kazakhstan;
- Features of network marketing in America;
- Features of network marketing in Turkey;
- Features of network marketing in the UAE.
2. Product Category and Assortment. Decide on the broad categories of products or services you will offer (e.g., cosmetics, personal hygiene products, clothing, travel packages, etc.) Once you've identified the category, you'll need to create a lineup of unique yet popular products among your target audience.
3. Compensation Policy. Fortunately, if you want to create a network business, you need to develop a unique marketing plan. It is rarely used in its pure form. Usually, it's a combination of various reward options — Hybrid marketing that will combine the main types ( linear, matrix, binary, and Note that it is better to entrust such marketing development to a competent contractor with practical experience in writing marketing plans for other projects. 4. Payment and logistics. If you are implementing an online product or service, your headache will be the payment terms and the set of payment instruments. If you have a product company, you will also have to consider delivery terms. For example, some MLM projects provide loans for purchasing large quantities of goods. This is an example of how a business takes into account the interests of its partners. Essentially, your goal is customer orientation and providing the most convenient payment/delivery conditions for people. Regarding payments — integrate as many payment systems as possible and consider payment upon receipt. For smooth delivery operations — contract with the most popular and reliable postal contractors, provide the option for self-pickup, and offer courier services. Don't forget about customer feedback, periodically monitor the reputation of postal services, record which payment systems have become outdated and which have appeared on the market. 5. Software. To simplify administration and automate work with the distributor structure, specialized software is integrated into MLM companies' business processes. Instead of Excel spreadsheets, hundreds of dialogues in messengers, importing statistics from dozens of marketing sources, routine training, and monitoring the progress of each partner, you can use a single system that gathers up-to-date and verified tools. About why you need to invest in software quality and what a MLM program should be like, we wrote in the article Network Company Software. When creating and scaling your network company, you must be prepared to keep your finger on the pulse and carve out your own niche for your project. To keep the business viable, you will most likely need to regularly introduce innovations, improve your product line, and seek new points of contact with your audience. Team FlawlessMLM, drawing on many years of experience working with MLM projects in various niches, we know exactly what solutions will work best for a particular type of business. Taking into account the specifics of your project, we will help minimize possible errors in the marketing plan, create or optimize your business platform according to industry trends. When planning to create or improve your company, ask any questions to the managers in the site chat flawlessmlm.com, and we will help you choose the optimal solution.
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