0.2Choose your niche & target audience
The essentials in 30 seconds
- A clear niche brings together a loyal audience and helps the algorithm recommend; “talking about everything” doesn’t grab anyone’s attention.
- Good niche = intersection of passion + competence/legitimacy + demand for an audience.
- Precisely define the target audience (level, problems, desires) and the promise.
Fil Lina — Choose your niche & your target audience
Lina hesitates between sewing, decoration and vlogs. She must choose a niche specific enough to be found, while maintaining an audience and subjects that she can sustain over time.
Continuation of the common thread: Lina builds “Lina Atelier” step by step, a channel of sewing and DIY tutorials.
1. Understand
The most structuring decision before creating is the choice of the niche: the precise theme around which your channel will be built. A common mistake made by beginners is wanting to “talk about everything”: a channel that is too general doesn't attract anyone and loses the algorithm, which no longer knows who to recommend it to. Conversely, a clear niche (a subject, an angle) makes it possible to bring together a loyal audience, to become a reference and to be well recommended.
A good niche is located at the intersection of three circles: what you are passionate (you will last over time), what you are competent/legitimate (you bring value), and what interests an audience (there is demand). You must also define your target audience (who you are speaking to: their level, their problems, their desires) and your promise (what the viewer gains from watching you). This framing — niche + audience + promise — is the compass of the entire channel: it guides the subjects, the tone, the format. A channel that lasts is almost always a channel that knows precisely who it is aimed at and why.
2. Key points
A clear niche brings together a loyal audience and helps the algorithm recommend; “talking about everything” doesn’t grab anyone’s attention.
Good niche = intersection of passion + competence/legitimacy + demand for an audience.
Precisely define the target audience (level, problems, desires) and the promise.
Niche + audience + promise = the compass that guides the entire channel.
🔎 Concrete example — Concrete example — Choosing your niche & target audience
Cross three circles: your passion, your competence/legitimacy, and the interest of an audience (demand).
Specify your niche: a theme and an angle, rather than an overly broad or “everything” topic.
Define your target audience: who are they, what is their level, what problems/desires does they have?
Formulate your promise in one sentence: what the viewer gains from watching you.You have a clear direction (niche + audience + promise) which will guide your topics, your tone and your format: the channel's compass.
Section vocabulary
- Niche
- Precise and coherent theme around which a channel is built, to target a defined audience.
Simple example: Lina mobilizes “Niche” in her channel project: choosing your niche & your target audience.
What it is not: Reduce “Niche” to a single recipe or setting unrelated to the audience.
Reflex: Does it clarify the promise, format, or value to the audience?
- Target audience
- Specific audience to which the channel is aimed (its level, its problems, its expectations).
Simple example: Lina mobilizes “Target Audience” in her channel project: choosing your niche & your target audience.
What it is not: Reduce “Target Audience” to a single recipe or setting unrelated to the audience.
Reflex: Does it clarify the promise, format, or value to the audience?
- Promise
- Clear benefit that the viewer gets from watching the channel (what they learn, feel or gain).
Simple example: Lina mobilizes “Promesse” in her channel project: choosing your niche & your target audience.
What it is not: Reduce “Promise” to a single recipe or setting unrelated to the audience.
Reflex: Does it clarify the promise, format, or value to the audience?
- Positioning
- Distinctive angle and personality that sets the channel apart from others on the same theme.
Simple example: Lina mobilizes “Positioning” in her channel project: choosing your niche & your target audience.
What it is not: Reduce “Positioning” to a single recipe or setting unrelated to the audience.
Reflex: Does it clarify the promise, format, or value to the audience?
- Editorial line
- Consistency of topics, tone and format of a channel, arising from its niche and audience.
Simple example: Lina mobilizes “Editorial Line” in her channel project: choosing your niche & your target audience.
What it is not: Reduce “Editorial Line” to a single recipe or setting unrelated to the audience.
Reflex: Does it clarify the promise, format, or value to the audience?
In practice — Define your niche, your audience and your promise
- Cross three circles: your passion, your competence/legitimacy, and the interest of an audience (demand).
- Specify your niche: a theme and an angle, rather than an overly broad or “everything” topic.
- Define your target audience: who are they, what is their level, what problems/desires does they have?
- Formulate your promise in one sentence: what the viewer gains from watching you.
Ready-to-say script — Choosing your niche & target audience (25 s)
“Defining a clear theme, promise and audience — the key to any long-lasting channel. I rely on this benchmark: a clear niche brings together a loyal audience and helps the algorithm to recommend; “talking about everything” doesn’t grab anyone’s attention.”
Short formulation, to be adapted to the recipient and the context.
Copy and paste model — “Choose your niche & target audience” checklist
CHECKLIST — Choose your niche & your target audience
1. A clear niche brings together a loyal audience and helps the algorithm recommend; “talking about everything” doesn’t grab anyone’s attention.
2. Good niche = intersection of passion + competence/legitimacy + demand for an audience.
3. Precisely define the target audience (level, problems, desires) and the promise.
4. Niche + audience + promise = the compass that guides the entire channel.
EXPECTED RESULT: You have a clear direction (niche + audience + promise) which will guide your topics, your tone and your format: the channel's compass.Express version
A clear niche brings together a loyal audience and helps the algorithm recommend; “talking about everything” doesn’t grab anyone’s attention.
As a team
Good niche = intersection of passion + competence/legitimacy + demand for an audience.
Point of vigilance
Precisely define the target audience (level, problems, desires) and the promise.
Control before distribution
You have a clear direction (niche + audience + promise) which will guide your topics, your tone and your format: the channel's compass.
✓ Best practices
- A clear niche brings together a loyal audience and helps the algorithm recommend; “talking about everything” doesn’t grab anyone’s attention.
- Good niche = intersection of passion + competence/legitimacy + demand for an audience.
- Precisely define the target audience (level, problems, desires) and the promise.
✗ Common pitfalls
- Treat “Choose your niche & target audience” by feeling without defining the objective or the audience.
- Copying a viral recipe without checking that it serves your topic and format.
- Publish without proofreading the title, thumbnail, sound and rights before distribution.
Key takeaways
- A clear niche brings together a loyal audience and helps the algorithm recommend; “talking about everything” doesn’t grab anyone’s attention.
- Good niche = intersection of passion + competence/legitimacy + demand for an audience.
- Precisely define the target audience (level, problems, desires) and the promise.
- Niche + audience + promise = the compass that guides the entire channel.
48 hour challenge — apply tomorrow
Put “Defining your niche, your audience and your promise” into practice in a real case of Lina: Cross three circles: your passion, your competence/legitimacy, and the interest of an audience (demand). Time it for 20 minutes, publish or test the result, then note what changed.
- I can explain and apply: A clear niche brings together a loyal audience and helps the algorithm recommend; “talking about everything” doesn’t grab anyone’s attention.
- I can explain and apply: Good niche = intersection of passion + competence/legitimacy + demand from an audience.
- I can explain and apply: Precisely define the target audience (level, problems, desires) and the promise.
Frequently asked questions
Doesn’t a niche that is too specific limit my audience?
This is the classic worry, but the effect is usually the opposite. A specific niche makes you identifiable and recommendable: the viewer knows exactly what they find in you, and the algorithm knows who to recommend you to. A “quick vegetarian cooking for students” channel will catch on much better than a “cooking” channel buried among millions. Paradoxically, specializing often makes you grow faster, because you dominate a niche instead of diluting yourself. And nothing prevents you from gradually expanding once a loyal audience has been established (many large channels started out very niche). Better to be the reference for a small subject than to be drowned in a big one. Precision is a strength, not a limitation.
Should I choose a “profitable” niche or a niche that excites me?
Ideally, the two intersect — that’s the whole point of crossing the three circles (passion, skill, demand). Betting solely on the profitability of a subject that bores you is risky: YouTube requires regularity in the long term, and without passion, you give up before the results (which take months to come). Relying solely on passion without any demands can lead to a channel that no one is looking for. The right approach: start from what motivates you and what you are legitimate for, then check that there is an audience (people who are looking for these topics) and refine the angle. Sustainable motivation comes from passion; viability comes from demand. Look for the intersection, not against each other.
What practice sums up “Choosing your niche & your target audience”?