How to find your niche as a forex broker

1. What makes you different?

The simplest way to identify your niche is to think about something unique you offer. Think about finding clients who are like you in a specific way or would see something appealing in working with you.

For example, if you are an American expatriate, you might be naturally more appealing to other Americans who live in your adopted country. You would likely share their native language as well as cultural references that other brokers in your country wouldn’t. Americans living abroad might have questions about investing and regulations around capital gains that other brokers might not be as readily able to answer. In this case, your niche would be American forex traders living in your country. 

2. What needs aren’t being met?

After you’ve identified things that make you stand out to a few groups of clients, consider whether any of those groups have investing needs that aren’t being met. How can you serve clients in a way other brokers aren’t? 

Again, think about how an expat financial advisor could help other Americans living abroad. Those clients might have all kinds of questions about the tax implications of earning money with forex investments when they pay taxes for multiple nations. Although you might not be qualified to answer their specific questions, you could partner with a tax advisor for referrals. You could also create content marketing materials, like blog posts or YouTube videos, that address some of the most common questions they would have. 

3. Where is your business network?

It may be easier to find forex clients if you can connect with other finance professionals. Think about where you know people in the finance industry, and how that network can help you reach specific groups. 

If you have a large network in a specific location, think about whether you’d like to target people who live there. You can use your network for introductions to clients and potential introducing brokers. 

4. Which services will you focus on? 

Consider what kinds of investment products the clients in your niche would be most interested in. Some groups may be more interested in CFDs, commodities, or cryptocurrencies than others. If you’re targeting a niche that’s likely to be interested in alternative investments, you need to consider how you will handle their interest. 

For example, if you’re marketing to a younger niche that is especially interested in technology, they’ll likely want to trade cryptocurrency. Although clients can trade crypto on MT4/5, many other exchanges are more popular. You will need to become familiar with other options and decide whether to offer alternatives. You’ll also need to make sure your marketing materials don’t indicate you have a lot of cryptocurrency knowledge if you don’t. 

5. What is your marketing budget?

Your marketing budget can affect the success of your niche marketing campaign. Do you have the time and resources to invest in content marketing? Social media marketing 

If you want to target a professional group, LinkedIn might be the best social media platform, but LinkedIn’s advertising costs are higher than other social media sites. You’ll also need a larger budget to advertise with Google Ads, if you’re located in a country where that is allowed. 

If you’re choosing between two different niche groups, research which one will be more expensive to reach with digital advertising. Then use that information to inform your final decision. 

6. What is your regulatory status?

Whether or not your brokerage is licensed with a regulatory agency, like FCA or CySEC, will determine your niche. If you do have a license, your niche should overlap with people who live in the areas your license permits you to operate. If you’re not licensed, then target a group that is likely to be open to investing with an unlicensed forex broker. 

Your regulatory status will also impact whether or not you can use Google Ads, so you will need to find alternative advertising options. Similarly, LinkedIn and Facebook have tighter restrictions around advertising finance services that will be easier to overcome if your firm is licensed. 

7. Which clients do you like working with the most? 

If you’re already operating a successful forex business and you simply want to market to a new group, then you can use your existing client list to find a new niche. 

Look through a list of all of your clients, and highlight the ones that are easiest to work with or those that are most active. Then, think about what those clients have in common. Perhaps they’re all in the same age range, from the same country, or were acquired through the same channel.  A forex CRM is particularly handy for this, as you can create lists of your clients based on these attributes.

Use their similarities to create a buyer persona that will help you market to similar individuals.