Does niching down still matter for content?

Yes. Niching down has been the advice since 2011 and it hasn't changed. There's always a specific audience you can speak to, even one as small as a single city.

Quick Answer

• Niching down isn't a new trend. The advice goes back to VidCon in 2011.
• There's always a specific audience you can speak to, no matter how narrow.
• If a creator can build a niche around a single city of 100,000, your B2B audience qualifies too.

Why niching down still wins

Ben Hillman, director of production at Mostly Media, makes the case that niching down has never stopped working. When asked why a tightly targeted show is the right play right now, his answer was that it has always been the play.

"All the way back then, 15 years ago, they were talking about you want to find your niche, niche down, find a niche that you can speak to. And I don't think that is ever going to change." — Ben Hillman

His proof is wonderfully small-scale. In Burbank, California, a city of about 100,000 people, there's a creator whose entire niche is being the influencer for Burbank. If a single city can sustain a focused audience, almost any B2B segment can.

The practical takeaway: stop chasing a mass audience you'll never convert. Pick the specific group you can actually speak to, and serve them well. That focus is what builds trust and, eventually, pipeline.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is niching down outdated advice?

No. Ben Hillman points out the advice dates back to VidCon in 2011 and has held up for 15 years. There's always a specific audience you can speak to, so niching down remains the right play.

How narrow can a content niche be?

Very narrow. Ben cites a creator whose whole niche is one city of 100,000 people. If a single town can support a focused audience, a B2B segment almost certainly can.

Why does niching down matter for B2B?

Because a niche audience is one you can actually serve and earn trust with. Chasing viral, mass-market numbers usually fails for B2B, while speaking directly to a specific buyer builds credibility and pipeline.

Full Clip Transcript

I remember going to the second ever VidCon. I don't know if you're familiar with that conference, the YouTube conference back in 2011. All the way back then, 15 years ago, they were talking about, you want to find your niche, niche down, find a niche that you can speak to. And I don't think that is ever going to change. There's always going to be a specific audience that you can speak to. And we like to make up niches like carpenters in Indiana, but that's a real thing that people can do. I live in Burbank, California, and there's someone whose account I believe is Ashley in Burbank. We are a city of 100,000 people, and her niche is being the influencer for Burbank basically. And I know who she is, and I'm giving her this free publicity right now. I just follow her on Instagram. But there's always gonna be those niches.

Full Interview Transcript

Dane: Hi everybody, my name is Dane Frederiksen. I am a B2B video expert and I'm on a mission to help companies get visible, trusted, and build pipeline faster with video. And I'm joined today by Ben Hillman from Mostly Media. Welcome, Ben.

Ben: Hey, thanks for having me, Dane.

Dane: So we're gonna talk today about the mighty world of media and about distribution. I was so interested to talk to you about this because, as a video professional who's been in the industry for 30 years now, most of that time was spent creating the content. But now it's turned into a big thing, and I'm getting the sense that's your focus. So let's stop there and let you introduce yourself a little bit about what your role is in distribution right now.

Ben: Yeah, so I'm the director of production at Mostly Media. My primary role is being the executive producer of our podcast, Run the Numbers. It's a podcast for CFOs and aspiring CFOs, just trying to make it into the C-suite and understand what it takes to be a good CFO. And we put out episodes twice a week, for eight episodes a month. And along with that comes a lot of distribution troubles that, if you're watching this, you probably have some pains of your own that we share.

Dane: Yeah, let's get into that. Maybe for some context in the beginning, what is the biggest challenge about doing a show like that?

Ben: The biggest challenge is not living and dying by every single upload that happens. We'll have an episode where we interview CFOs and folks in the finance world. And sometimes we'll make episodes that are more topic-based. We just did one called the history of the stock exchanges. And it demonstrably performs better from a views perspective than some of the interview episodes. But the struggle is to contextualize it, to remember the TAM that we're addressing here, that it's not this massive audience. So just understanding the game we're playing and looking at it that way.

Dane: I wanna talk a little bit about the ecosystem of media right now. I think video's having a moment again. Everybody's realizing that slop didn't work and now we need to do the other thing, which is actually create real value. So why is a targeted show an important thing to do right now?

Ben: It's not to cheat here, but I think that's always been the play. I remember going to the second ever VidCon, the YouTube conference back in 2011. All the way back then, 15 years ago, they were talking about you want to find your niche, niche down, find a niche that you can speak to. And I don't think that is ever going to change. There's always going to be a specific audience that you can speak to. I live in Burbank, California, and there's someone whose account I believe is Ashley in Burbank. We're a city of 100,000 people, and her niche is being the influencer for Burbank, basically. But there's always gonna be those niches.

Dane: So let's get into the distribution part. Why is distribution so important now?

Ben: Yeah, it's just because it's easy as heck to distribute now. It's so easy to be everywhere. We had a discussion a couple weeks ago of, let's make a hundred pieces of content off of this one thing. And my pushback is, I liken what we do to playing a baseball game. I want quality at-bats. You don't just want as many times up to the plate as possible. You want to make sure that when you're up to bat, you're prepared, you know what's coming, you've done the research. And that comes into play with using these tools, whether that's ChatGPT, Claude, or any other AI software, to make sure the thing we're putting out there has the best possible chance at succeeding.

Dane: So let's equip a B2B audience. What do they need to know about distribution right now?

Ben: The age-old question around quality and quantity, it's kind of both. We're on YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter. But if you're going to distribute on these platforms, not falling prey to that spray and pray mentality, making sure the platforms you're performing on aren't just a dumping ground. This is an intentional piece of content that I'm trying to give the best possible chance to succeed on that specific platform.

Dane: What does good versus great look like in, say, a TikTok part of the plan, and how do you know if it's performing well?

Ben: This is the marketer's dream, where the hardest thing is attribution. We legitimately had someone comment on a YouTube video that said, I saw your clips on Instagram, this is great, happy to be here. We put out two shorts every day, and they get somewhere in the ballpark of one to three hundred views. We don't really know if that's legitimate. But that one comment tells me there are probably people who didn't comment who came from these different platforms. That legitimizes it.

Dane: So are you thinking about showing up in AI search, and is video content gonna actually help move the needle?

Ben: We've done really crude tests of going to ChatGPT or Claude and asking, what's the best podcast for CFOs? And our show will pop up. I don't have a lot of panic around showing up in them because we already do show up in them. It absolutely matters. I just know there are so many things I need to worry about, and the fact that we're showing up there is one less thing. So I come from a privileged perspective.

Dane: So as we wrap up, what's a takeaway for using video content for visibility and trust and building pipeline?

Ben: Don't assume that people have seen your stuff. My own dad is still trying to figure out how to subscribe to the things that I make. It's age-old advice, but it's still true: you have to tell people seven times before it registers. And that comes hand in hand with, take the piece of content, break it up into chunks. It stands alone. Show up where people are and remember they're not gonna necessarily know everything about you.

Dane: Bonus question. When people say CFOs aren't on TikTok, what's your comeback?

Ben: Yeah, they are. But maybe they aren't, and their kid might be, or their spouse, or their neighbor. The next best person you can get, other than a customer, is a friend of a customer. Maybe someone sees it who knows a CFO and says, have you heard of this guy? And it's a validation that this is a legitimate person I've reached outside of my nebulous area, and now I'm in play.

Dane: Okay, that's a good one. Well, this has been a great conversation. Thanks again, Ben.

Ben: Yeah, thanks for having me, Dane.

Dane: And we're wrapped.