To Niche or Not to Niche - That Is the Question

Niching is a topic that is seemingly always popular in the world of video production and recently it seems to have become more talked about than ever. Many professionals working in the industry are debating whether or not to focus on a specific field, what that field might be and if it’s something they actually want to do or are they simply contemplating it as a way of drumming up new business.

I’ve often thought about being more specific with the industries I want FOSTER Studios to be working within. Whenever I look at our portfolio of work there’s always that question of ‘is this is too much different stuff?’ And that’s been a genuine concern at times because whilst it’s great to have variety, it’s also important to have expertise in certain realms of production. For us, that would be story-led promotional films, employer branding pieces and events with a lot of social content thrown in there too!

Whenever that question has popped into my head though about niching I’ve always gone back to why I got into video in the first place and decided to setup my own business - plainly because I thrive on that varied nature of work. Getting to work in new industries and with new people is what keeps this job constantly interesting, exciting and full of momentum.

That’s not to say homing in on a particular industry is the wrong thing to do though. Many video professionals have gone down this road and found enormous success because they’re working with clients who want to bring someone in that’s a devout expert in their field. Very understandably, it can be of great appeal to clients if they find a video supplier specific to their sector because they should know exactly what works best and how to approach the job at hand. I’ve openly had clients admit that they’ve opted to go with a different supplier who’s specialised in their field and that’s the trade off you have to accept if you want to continue working in a diverse landscape.

But that doesn’t mean you have to be seen as a jack of all trades, master of none. Your niche could be your style, your way of working, the types of films you’re known for producing that can be replicated across different industries... You may also find over time that you do build up specialist areas over a period of years - in our case that has definitely been corporate events, hospitality, education and charity. If you are able to show prospects several relevant case studies linked to their industry or brief then that demonstrates you have a solid understanding of what is required.

All this said though, even if you are to focus on one industry then virtually every client will at some point have a different type of video requirement. They might want an event video, a case study or an employer branding piece produced. So whatever route you go down, the requirement and fundamental of any video professional needs to be to remain adaptable, be easy to work with and deliver on the requirement with a high standard of work. If you’re all of those things then you will have no problems finding success.