Launching a new product is a rush—like stepping into the spotlight with your big idea. But here’s the catch: who’s in the audience?
Do you throw open the doors to everyone, hoping to catch a massive wave of buyers, or zero in on a smaller, obsessed group who’ll rave about it? It’s a fork-in-the-road moment that can make or break your marketing, shape your budget, and decide if your product flops or flies. In this week’s edition of Let’s Talk, Our experts weigh the ups and downs of targeting a broad crowd versus a tight crew, giving you the rundown to figure out what’s your winning move.
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Katy Pilar, Head of Marketing, ANZ, Intuit Mailchimp
“Every new product launch poses a question: target a niche or cast a wider net? Niche strategies build deep, loyal connections through tailored messaging, while broad approaches expand reach but face more competition and higher costs.
“At Intuit Mailchimp, we see businesses succeed with both strategies—as long as they prioritise personalisation. As my marketing professor used to say, “You can market a product to ‘everyone’, as long as you do it one segment at a time.” Whether addressing a small group or a large audience, the key is delivering tailored messages that are relevant and engaging for them.
“That’s where automation and audience segmentation come in. By analysing customer behaviour and preferences, businesses can automatically send the right message to the right people at the right time. This ensures every interaction feels personal, no matter the scale.
“Ultimately, success isn’t about niche vs. broad—it’s about delivering value in a way that feels personal and authentic.”
Mark Drasutis, Head of Value, APJ, Amplitude
“When your company is launching a new product, it’s best for it to be complementary to what you already sell. So if your first product sells to marketing teams, your second one should too. That’s the easiest way to expand over time.
“Introducing a product that meets the needs of a completely new type of buyer will be far tougher on your sales team. It’s a mistake startups often make. Both niche and broad market products can be successful, but consistency is the most important thing.”
Sonia Majkic, CEO, 3Phase Marketing
“As a digital marketing agency CEO, I’ve seen firsthand how the right market focus can make or break a new product launch. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but here’s my take:
“A niche market offers several advantages:
- It’s easier to stand out and gain traction when you’re not competing with larger, more established players.
- You can use your budget and resources more efficiently by focusing on a specific group of customers.
- It’s easier to build loyalty and advocacy when you have a deep understanding of your customers’ needs.
“For example, when we helped Canterbury Timber launch their new e-commerce platform, we initially focused on a niche audience of builders and contractors in their local area. This allowed us to gather valuable feedback, refine our messaging, and build a loyal customer base before expanding to a broader market.
“However, a broad market approach can also be successful if you have a truly innovative product with mass appeal, the resources to reach a large audience, and a strategy to differentiate yourself from the competition.
“Ultimately, the best approach depends on your specific product, target audience, and business goals. Consider factors like product uniqueness, competitive landscape, available resources, and your desired growth trajectory.”
Anto Lawrence, Chief Product Officer, Chocolate Finance
“Entering a niche market allows for a hyper targeted approach to creating your product. Conversely, entering a mass market makes it more challenging to narrow down specific audiences and needs. However, the latter not only guarantees a broader reach, but also a greater chance for exponential growth.
“With Singapore’s estimated 1,600 fintech firms and the thousands of financial products offered by legacy banks and dynamic startups, we decided to create an entirely new product category for Chocolate Finance when we officially launched to the mass market.
“Neither bank nor brokerage, the Chocolate Account marries personal finance with lifestyle. In today’s saturated market of complex financial products and cumbersome processes, we identified a crucial insight: growing one’s cash shouldn’t be overwhelming. We have transformed personal finance into an intuitive, rewarding process that makes managing cash a natural part of our clients’ lifestyles.
“Within the first eight months, we saw 70,000 app downloads and over 1000 5-star reviews—a clear indicator of the success the product has seen.
“Many would cite stiff competition in a saturated landscape, but forget your competitors for a moment. Ultimately, the key to launching a transformative product in a broad market comes from solving a specific customer need with hyper-focus and, from there, establishing a distinctive niche. This focused approach has enabled us to forge deep connections with our customers while building a unique position in the broader financial services landscape.”
Jodie de Vries, Founder & Brand Consultant, Tiny Hunter
“The answer – as with many important questions – is ‘it depends’. The first and most crucial point regardless of whether you are targeting a niche or broad market is whether you are solving a real, known pain point, in a new and impactful way. How is your new product going to matter to the people you serve? Another important question is the funding you have for launching and marketing your new product. Assuming all things are equal and YES you are solving a real problem in a way that matters to your customers, then in most cases niche markets provide an easier path to initial traction and typically face less competition.
“The beauty of a niche market lies in its constraints. This narrow focus becomes your strategic advantage, bringing clarity to every business decision – from marketing and networking to sales and content creation. Within a well-defined niche, your message resonates more deeply, enabling organic growth through word-of-mouth among like-minded customers.
“Yet, the niche approach isn’t without its considerations. The critical question becomes whether your chosen market’s size aligns with your business objectives. While gaining traction might be easier, you’ll need to consider if the market has the potential to fuel your long term growth ambitions.”
Rachel Kidwell, Founder & CEO, TCPinpoint
“I’ve learnt through my own work and experience, focusing on a niche market when launching a new product offers several advantages:
- Deeper Understanding, Stronger Value – Specialising in a niche allows for in-depth knowledge, enabling effective solutions to specific pain points. Having lived and breathed retail tenancy delivery, I built a solution to address that particular problem.
- Easier to Stand Out – With lower competition in a niche, it’s simpler to become the go-to expert, avoiding the struggle against generalist solutions.
- Clearer Messaging – Marketing to a niche means communicating directly with a well-defined audience, making messaging more impactful and easier to refine.
- Better Word-of-Mouth Growth – In close-knit industries, satisfied customers are more likely to refer others, aiding organic growth.
- Higher Willingness to Pay – Niche audiences often have urgent problems that generic solutions don’t address, making people more willing to invest in specialised products.
- Future Expansion Opportunities – Establishing credibility in a niche allows for gradual expansion into adjacent markets. This aligns with my focus on retail tenancy delivery, as opposed to a broader project management tool applicable across various industries.
“Fundamentally, targeting a niche market enables a focused approach, fostering expertise and differentiation, which can serve as a strong foundation for future growth.”
Anton Onufriienko, Head of Business Unit, Devart
“Ideally, every founder wants to solve a problem for the broadest audience possible — this is the fastest way to scale and reach massive ARR. However, winning over broad markets comes with serious challenges:
- The Paradox of Broad Markets. Even if you start “broad”, the market naturally fragments over time. Users demand specialized solutions, and niche competitors emerge, offering tailored products that outperform generic ones.
- Complexity Overload. A broad-market product must integrate multiple features for different segments. As a result, it becomes difficult to scale.
- Intense Competition. Broad markets attract giants with massive resources. While capturing even a fraction of the market can be lucrative, long-term dominance is unlikely.
“That’s why starting a niche is a smarter move. It lets you deeply understand your audience’s pain points and deliver a targeted solution. Even major companies like Amazon, Tesla, and Slack started niche before expanding.
“Ultimately, the best strategy is to start niche, go deep, and scale from there.”
Peter Curran, Founder & Business Development Manager, Digital Surfer
“Whenever you’re marketing a new product, think about what Steve Jobs said; “Sell the feeling, not the product.” The more precisely you can solve a problem for people or provide a solution, the easier this will be for you, which gets harder and harder the broader you go.
“Data is a great way to find out how niche you should go. This is something we do with our clients at Digital Surfer, helping them pinpoint not only their ideal target audience, but potential areas of expansion to tap into once their initial campaign is running smoothly.
“By looking at your niche target audiences in increments, you can continue to level up progressively, not overwhelming your systems and processes, and continue to experience growth.”
Drew Ridley, Founder, We Are Sprout
“Niche wins every time when launching a new product because it allows you to focus on a specific customer segment with unique needs. While broad markets sound tempting – who wouldn’t want everyone to buy their product? – the problem is that “everyone” is way too vague. Going niche enables you to build a stronger brand identity, face less competition (not going head-to-head with every mega-brand out there), better identify who, where and how to connect with your audience, specifically cater to them, and achieve higher conversion rates with targeted marketing strategies.
“A niche marketing strategy allows you to develop messaging and branding that resonates specifically with the target audience, and helps you build loyal fans.
“Niche customers LOVE brands that “get them” (and they’ll shout it from the rooftops… or their Instagram stories). Plus, with a clearly defined audience, your marketing budget stretches further. Targeted campaigns = higher ROI = happy you.
“Bottom line? Nail your niche, and you’ll not only stand out—you’ll build an army of loyal, raving fans.”
Peter Ceredig-Evans, CEO & Co-Founder of Try With Mirra
“When launching a new product, the decision to target a niche or broad market depends on your product and the problem you’re solving. Here, I’ll focus on why adopting an “inch wide, mile deep” approach accelerates the journey to product-market fit.
“First, forget about the solution you think you should build. Instead, become obsessed with the problem you’re solving. Fast forward a few months; you’ve validated a large, yet niche market that faces this problem, tested your hypothesis with prototypes, and estimated the feasibility and cost of launching. Now, your primary goal is to get customers using your product and relying on it.
“Since your product will initially serve a niche segment within your target market, their feedback becomes invaluable. This customer input will shape iterations, helping you refine and adapt the product while staying aligned with your broader vision.
“Focusing on a niche allows for efficient development because your customers share common pain points and behaviors. It also strengthens your go-to-market strategy, as your product will serve a clearly defined audience with a well-defined Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). With a deep understanding of customer needs, you’ll build a more valuable, high-retention product, making product-market fit achievable faster.”
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We asked the experts: Broad or niche? Get the inside scoop on the pros and cons of each, and discover the winning strategy for your product launch. Featured, Let’s Talk, Launch Dynamic Business
