A horizontal focus means you specialize in a particular type of service.
A web developer with a horizontal focus could offer a customized solution for appointment bookings to doctors, lawyers, stylists, and accountants. Even to the local fortune teller.
These clients work in unrelated industries, but they all need to accept appointments on their websites. A horizontal focus is a service-driven model.
The key thing is that you offer a specialized service. Otherwise, you just become another jack-of-all-trades.
Business Example
Lemonly: Design Agency
Lemonly focuses 100% on infographics.
This Sioux Falls design agency started back in 2009, and in the beginning, they designed websites and a little bit of everything.
Infographics started as a side project. But in 2011, the Lemonheads (that's how they describe themselves) went all-in on infographics: static infographics ("classic" infographics, microcontent, reports), animated infographics (GIFs, videos,) and interactive infographics (websites, embeds).
The Lemonheads work with several industries. Most of their current clients come from tourism (Marriot,) tech (Samsung,) healthcare (Johnson & Johnson,) or finance.
Smaller projects take 2-3 weeks to complete, and bigger projects can take 3 months.
Read more about how Lemonly found their niche: When Life Gives You Lemons, Make an Infographic.
Check out their best work in their portfolio.
How the Lemonheads Position Their Design Agency
Market positioning refers to the manner in which you present and market yourself to potential clients.
You create a positioning statement as inspiration for persuasive language in all your marketing. The positioning statement is the DNA of your brand. It's invisible but controls how you appear to the world.
When you're consistent in your messaging, it makes it possible for your potential clients to perceive the qualities (or identity) of your brand or services correctly.
John Meyer, CEO of Lemonly, could have written a positioning statement sounding something like this (write your own statement using this template):
My name is |
John Meyer |
I am the |
CEO |
of |
Lemonly |
My firm creates |
infographics |
for |
internal communications, corporate communications, public affairs, HR, and brand managers |
that allows them to |
generate leads, inform stakeholders, and simplify complexities. |
Unlike |
general web or advertising agencies |
We |
only do infographics |
We |
have done thousands of infographics |
We are |
fast and responsive |
"We make infographics" (tagline)
"We help develop / animate / explain / design your story"
(animated hero image)
"We tell stories, turning your lemons into lemonade with infographics, videos, microsites, and more. We turn abstract to actionable, boring to brilliant, and complex to concise."
"We work with internal communications, corporate communications, public affairs, HR, and brand managers."
Did the Lemonheads' marketing pique your interest? Follow them on social media:
