The Algorithm Doesn’t Care About You

Navigating a Niche: Marketing a Small Business by Attracting an Audience, Not Gaming the Algorithm

Marketing is my love language. My brain is tickled with possibilities, but in my 30+ years in the insurance field, I was faced with one of the most boring topics to be creative about.

As an insurance agency owner, I wrote many different lines of insurance, from auto to homeowners to life, health, financial planning, and commercial lines.

The focus was on volume?—?more clients, more policies, more commissions. So, of course, I thought more marketing?—?everywhere!

But with that volume came a marketing approach that felt scattershot, even addictive at times. I found myself posting content everywhere, splashing our message and our brand across multiple platforms in a bid to capture the attention of a broad audience.

It was exhausting, and I often felt like I was trying to game the system, feeding the algorithm rather than engaging with people.

Fast forward to my current venture in disaster loan consulting, a hyper-niche service business, and my marketing approach has radically transformed. This shift in focus has taught me valuable lessons about speaking with and attracting a dedicated audience rather than playing to the whims of ever-changing algorithms.

It’s been a long and winding journey of refinement?—?paring down the tools and tactics that no longer serve our goals and honing in on the ones that do.

Finding the Right Audience

In the insurance space, my audience was everyone, or at least that’s how it felt. Potential clients included homeowners, car owners, business owners, and anyone needing insurance.

That’s a terrible marketing strategy.

The marketing approach was to be everywhere at once. Are you as exhausted hearing this as I was doing it?

This approach often led to boredom and burnout.

Constantly churning out quality content to feed the algorithm became a relentless cycle. And the quality became questionable. This leaves little to no time to engage meaningfully with those who matter most?—?future clients.

Now, as a Disaster Loan Consultant, I’ve embraced the hyper-niche market with open arms. My audience is no longer a faceless mass but a defined group facing specific challenges.

This shift has allowed me to tailor my marketing efforts to cater to their needs rather than trying to be all things to all people. It’s like moving from a crowded public square where everyone is shouting to a small, intimate room where meaningful conversations can happen.

Quality Over Quantity: Strategic Marketing in the Right Arenas

One of the most significant changes in my marketing approach has been the channels I focus on. I don’t feel dopamine hits quite as hard when trying to be on every social platform.

Instead, I’ve narrowed my focus to the areas where I feel most comfortable and where my audience is most engaged.

Email marketing has always been the cornerstone of our efforts and strategy. It allows us to communicate directly with clients and future clients, which helps us to be more thoughtful about insights, updates, and advice we deliver.

There’s no algorithm to game?—?just a direct line of communication that fosters trust and builds relationships over time.

YouTube has also been a game-changer since 2020, and how we pivoted from being everywhere to focusing on being more present in our approach.

We discovered that creating video content that addresses the unique concerns of a niche audience is how someone can establish their authority in the field.

Video allows us to connect in ways written content alone can’t match. Oh, and my guilty pleasure is TikTok, so we can cross-market our videos there.?

Don’t judge me.

LinkedIn is another platform I focus on, albeit for the least amount of time for the platforms I focus on. It doesn’t bring the same results as YouTube and Google. But, it’s where professionals and business owners play, and I like that. It’s a valuable venue for sharing content that positions us if and when someone is seeking disaster loan advice.

The Death of Twitter and the Liberation of Focused Marketing

One of the most liberating changes in my marketing strategy has been stepping back from platforms that no longer serve our strategy.?

Instagram is no longer on my phone, and while I’m still mourning Twitter now “X,” I’ve consciously decided to move away from its frenetic pace since it’s served no purpose other than a bit of screaming therapy into a void.

By focusing on the platforms that matter most to my goals, I’ve freed myself from the pressure to be everywhere at once.

I’m not a Gamer.

My career from a broad insurance market to a hyper-niche service business has taught me the value of catering to an audience rather than catering to the algorithm.

By focusing on quality over quantity and strategically choosing the right platforms, I’ve created a marketing approach that feels both sustainable and sustainable.

For small business owners, please free yourself of the platform shackles and stop feeding the algorithm. It doesn’t care about you.

That’s it. I’m not selling anything.

If you’d like to find out more about Aurora Consulting and if anyone you know has suffered a natural disaster or is having a nervous breakdown about the dysfunction of how SBA is handling the COVID-19 EIDL program, you can find us at EIDLConsulting.com.?