Rainbow Roxy left a comment on one of the previous posts that got me thinking. She said,
“….Do you think that concept applies equally across all market segments, even niche ones?”
And this is really interesting, please keep comments and replies coming in, I’d be using them as prompts for subsequent days.
Now on distribution in niche markets, I think it works just as well, and I’ll share a few examples.
I’ve been living in Redeem Camp for a while now, and it’s a fascinating example of how a contained market ecosystem forms. It’s technically its own small city with stable electricity, shops, and salons, all built around a consistent population. You’ll find businesses that exist only to serve this space. The way distribution works here is hyper-local.
If I were launching, say, a new kind of fruit juice designed just for this community, it wouldn’t make sense to go wide. My “distribution strategy” would probably mean getting it stocked in every small supermarket and kiosk within Redeem Camp. That’s not national visibility, but it’s complete local penetration. In other words, I’ve achieved distribution fit for a niche.
And that’s the thing, distribution isn’t about being everywhere. It’s about being present where it matters most.
When I was an undergrad, I tried running a small fashion brand targeted at students. Our version of distribution wasn’t fancy. We stocked items in a few campus stores and gave free pieces to student influencers who had visibility on campus. It worked. The products were seen in the same places students hung out. Marketing and distribution were practically the same motion.
Because on the surface, we like to imagine “distribution” as this big, expansive thing like you’re trying to be everywhere at once, in every channel, on every platform, inside every possible customer’s head.
But that’s not actually the game, especially not for niche markets.
See, in niche markets, distribution becomes less about volume and more about context.
It’s not about being everywhere; it’s about being in the places that truly matter to your tribe, the spaces where they already spend time, the tools they already use, the circles they already trust.
If you’re selling a B2B SaaS for product marketers, you don’t need a billboard; you need visibility in the Slack communities, Notion templates, and newsletters that those marketers read.
Suppose you’re a DTC brand targeting skincare enthusiasts. In that case, you don’t need to sponsor every influencer; you just need to be discoverable in the micro-communities where real skincare routines are discussed.
That’s what I mean when I say: marketing builds the noise, distribution builds the moment. When both align, even a small audience can convert like a large one.
Think about a product like Flo, the period tracking app. It’s not trying to reach everyone. Its niche is clear: women who actively track their health data. But distribution for Flo doesn’t end at app stores. It integrates directly with Apple Health and Health Connect on Android. That’s embedded distribution, the product sits where its users already live digitally.
This is gold. Flo is distributing through ecosystems, not ads. Instead of spending all their energy shouting louder in crowded channels, they’ve built a technical bridge into existing user environments. That’s not just visibility, that’s accessibility by design.
For marketers in niche segments, that’s a principle worth studying. You don’t need to reach everyone. You just need to engineer your way into the workflows, communities, or platforms your segment already trusts.
That’s what distribution looks like when it’s intentional.
Cheers,
See you tomorrow!
Thank you for sharing this 🙏🏾