[Tip #1] Penetrate a hyper-competitive market by being known for “one thing” first

The problem with marketing that targets every man and his dog, is that just about everyone ignores it! Of course, your products could be beneficial to a broad spectrum of potential customers, but when your budget is limited and you are trying to build a brand you need to narrow your focus. Especially if you are operating in a hyper-competitive market like Frank Body were.

Not only did Frank Body target a demographic niche (Millennials and Generation Z) from the very beginning, but they made a name for themselves in a super-specific vertical – coffee-based skin products.

Your target demographic and initial value proposition can’t be thought about in isolation. They go hand-in-hand. For example, Frank knew that the coffee-based body scrub they could manufacture was cruelty-free and avoided the use of toxic synthetics. These are two things that their target audience care about, so they emphasized them in all of their content:

Now, Frank Body has a range of different beauty products. They were able to expand their product line once they had traction. But they are still “the coffee scrub” company. And that’s how people recognize and associate with the Frank Body brand. Through quality production and great customer service, they have earned permission to sell other products to the same customer group.

If they had released all of these products at once from the beginning, before truly getting to know and understand their Frankfurts, there would be no memorable association with what they do. People would bundle them up with every other beauty product provider on the market. Penetration would’ve been much harder and cost a lot more to achieve.

This is hardly a new concept but it’s a refreshing reminder. Apple were the computer guys. Google mastered search. Amazon sold books. Frank gave us coffee scrub.