Niche Marketing & PR
In light of an interview I have later with John Jackson, niche marketing expert and author of the “First, Best, or Different” blog, I thought it appropriate to define niche marketing and how the Internet has changed the rules.
A niche market can be defined as:” the subset of the market on which a specific product is focusing on; Therefore the market niche defines the specific product features aimed at satisfying specific market needs, as well as the price range, production quality and the demographics that is intended to impact.”
And, furthermore, niche marketing is a technique companies can use. “By seeking out smaller segments of larger markets, referred to as niches, a website can be developed and promoted quickly to uniquely serve a targeted and usually loyal customer base, giving the affiliate a small but regular income stream.” (source)
The Internet has made it amazingly easy to be a niche marketer and to reach niche markets. Moreover, it has made life as a consumer easier and more beneficial as smaller parts of a larger market can be acknowledged. We can now be targeted as a minority whereas advertising in the past made it illogical and ineffective for marketers and advertisers to target minority or niche markets. Now, with the lowered costs of production and even lower costs of running a website, companies can target the smallest markets. For example, forums and websites can be created for hobby enthusiasts. Communities can be created and companies can make products tailored at smaller markets, and it makes sense. Social media can help to propel these companies, and WOM (word of mouth) can help to make the company successful.
Niche marketing relies a lot on PR (though, as many agree, the lines between marketing and PR are blurring on the Internet), especially when companies are not large corporations and their efforts are not made solely for profit. People can follow their passions online with less risk and a better probability of reaching the people in their niche market, so long as the effort and time is put into making it work.
I’ll get more from John later on today, and I’ll be sure to share.
Any other thoughts on niche marketing? Have you tried niche marketing?
Related Business Training.com Resources
Tags: Brief Definition of Niche Marketing, Niche Marketing, Niche Marketing and PR, What is Niche Marketing
Awesome post! I think niche marketing will only get nicher. I agree, the Internet has definitely propelled niche marketing. Being able to target all 20-year-olds on Facebook who like skateboarding is niche. What's even cooler is that tools like this give you estimates on how large your niche is (specifically, Facebook can do this). This can be helpful when a startup is assessing the size of their niche market.
I have lately started building a niche community and I am using social media as the main tool. What I've learned is that things like Twitter and Facebook are *communication tools*. Very often companies ask what the ROI is on social media. Well, I'd ask them, "What's the ROI on your cell phone?" Sure, some homework can be done to figure out the ROI for different clients… but at the end of the day, the game is changing. The industry used to be PAY to PLAY. Now it's PLAY to PLAY. Companies need to understand that if they want to thrive in today's world.
Thank you for the great input, Matt. I appreciate your insights.
I agree that measuring the ROI of social media is difficult if not a complete estimate, but think the results are a bit easier to see and estimate than the ROI your phone may provide.
I think you put it really well that it is now the time to play to play; companies can't get far without first getting into the game.
-Ashley