Finding Your Expertise and Niche

​​Once you've decided to try creating content, it’s helpful to start by identifying your niche. A niche is your specialty, or an area in which you have extensive or unique knowledge or expertise.

For content creators, taking the time to find this niche is especially important. Your niche is what distinguishes you from other creators and gives you a creative and competitive advantage. A niche can also help you figure out which platforms you'll use for promotion or what kind of content you'll produce.

Read on for a step-by-step guide on how to find your niche and develop your approach to content. 

Getting started with content creation

Content creation can be divided into several broad areas, including writing, videography, graphic design, and photography. These segments can be divided further into more specialized areas. For example, writing might be personal and memoir-like, or it could be informed by research while aiming to position yourself as a thought leader.

Some examples of content creation include:

• Writing blog posts about a certain topic

• Working on social media copy for yourself or on behalf of clients

• Launching an email newsletter

• Creating a video course about a specific topic

• Taking photographs of special events, such as weddings or family photos

• Working with clients to create pieces of writing

• Filming videos related to your niche

• Crafting video scripts for others to produce

• Creating graphics or templates for social media

Identifying your content niche and expertise

Once you've zeroed in on what kinds of content you'd like to create, the next step is figuring out your niche, or what your creative work will be about.

Your expertise in one specific area is your niche. Think of it like the difference between being a journalist who covers many different topics and being a journalist who specializes in one topic, like music or healthcare. 

You might also have a niche within a niche. For example, you could be a marketing writer with a knack for creating social media content, which tends to be short and sometimes has a promotional tone. Or you could be a marketing writer who becomes an expert in crafting research-heavy, longer-form content, such as blogs or whitepapers.

To identify your niche, it can help to ask yourself some pointed questions, like:

• What are your strengths? Maybe you are extremely organized, so putting together content calendars for other clients could be in your wheelhouse. Or you are comfortable in front of a camera, so you excel at filming videos.

• What are your passions? You want to enjoy creating content, so it helps to focus on a topic that you’re passionate about. That topic could be as straightforward as a hobby or interest that you’re knowledgeable about and enjoy discussing.

• Do you have any special skills? Perhaps you enjoy doing interviews with subject matter experts (SMEs) or have a knack for explaining complicated topics in a simple way. These skills are easily transferable to creating engaging content, such as blogs or online courses.

• Do you have any specialized knowledge? Distinguishing yourself in content creation is easier if you have unique knowledge to share. For example, maybe you studied a particular subject in college or have an advanced degree in a specialized area of study. Or maybe you've focused on a specific industry in your career, such as manufacturing or healthcare, which gives you an edge.

• Is there something within your niche not being covered? Maybe you’re passionate about a specific topic that's not written about very often, or you see a gap in existing content. If you're qualified to fill that gap, your content has a better chance of standing out. 

Choosing your content approach

Determining a content approach that's right for you takes time. One way to find your focus is by analyzing the content that already exists in your content niche.

Niche research can include looking at competitors in your area of expertise and tracking:

• What kind of content is being created

• What existing content looks like (e.g., the average length of videos or word count for blog posts)

• Posting frequency

• Platforms used by other content creators

Based on this research, you might conclude that you're most comfortable focusing on only one content type, such as writing or video. This could be because your time is limited or you know that you are a stronger writer.

However, content creation doesn't necessarily have to be an either-or situation. In some cases, you might conclude that multiple types of content make sense for your niche. You might be able to use videos to promote your writing work and vice versa. In other cases, you might be able to repurpose content in different forms, such as creating an infographic from blog research or using a short segment of a longer video for promotion.

Above all, you don't necessarily have to have your content approach locked in right away. It's okay to test out the mix of content you produce and determine what works best with your schedule, area of expertise, and audience.

Learn more about how to create a content calendar