Your Niche Marketing - Internet Tactics

Today’s businesses are focussed on niche marketing - Internet “specialists” have mushroomed everywhere.

Decades ago, you would have your general store, and these sold all manner of items.  Today, competition has forced these broad markets to split into sub-markets or niches, with each niche or sub-market becoming specialized.

Internet niche marketing - narrow pie slice

Customers also are now more focussed and educated – they want specialists.  If they need footwear for skiing they find a ski shop instead of a shoe store.

For both offline and online shoppers, specialist stores offer greater advantages:

• There is a far bigger range of products in just the items the customer wants.
  
  
• A specialist has greater knowledge and expertise relating to the particular product or service in question and is therefore better qualified to give advice.
  
  
• As a result, people prefer to seek out the services of a specialist instead of “Jack of all trades”.
  
  
• In affiliate marketing you are far better off catering to those seeking these kinds of services.  This is why you focus on niche marketing.  Internet searchers expect it.

It’s a narrow slice of the pie but it’s specialized, tightly focussed on a small section of the market with far less competition.  For example, you could start with accessories for small, shorthaired terriers – dog collars, leads, bedding etc.

Or you might go into downloadable e-books on a specific breed – raising and caring for shorthaired terriers.

You could then develop another website on another breed, and continue to do so until your one, narrow slice of the market becomes several.  Before you know it, you’ve cornered the market.

But whatever you do, do not try to be all things to all people.

Customers ... finicky

Online customers are also more selective and impatient.

If your website offers information that’s easily accessed elsewhere, they will quickly disappear and never come back.

Bargain barrel

There’s nothing more annoying than being forced to read the same old, commonly-known stuff over and over again when you're trying to find that one piece of elusive information buried deep down the bottom of the barrel.

So give quality, focussed information, and avoid generalized markets. 

Visit forums and chat rooms.  Identify what it is that people are wanting or are having problems with.  The real gold is in the nooks and crannies – your best strategy for niche marketing.  Internet gurus are far ahead because of it.

Shotgun approach?

Having done your homework, identify your niche – your small section of the market.  In doing so, you will be also identifying your target audience and not shooting in the dark with a shotgun.

You will then need to study your audience carefully, and market to them exclusively – again, do not try to be all things to all people.

In this way you can be sure that your audience will be genuinely interested in what you have to offer.

For example, there’s a broad spectrum of people interested in the generalized and competitive weight loss market.  Each person has a different need for weight loss and a different set of reasons for wanting to lose weight.

Bait to match fish

It’s no good offering a “one size fits all” weight-loss web page.  You need to “tune in” to the thoughts that are going on round and round in each person’s head and answer those thoughts.

There are children who want to play sports better, moms who want to be able to keep up with toddlers, older people whose doctors have ordered them to lose weight for health reasons, and teenagers who want to look good at the beach.

Your “one size fits all” weight-loss web page won’t appeal to all.  It’s better to have several web pages that are speaking to, and targeting each group separately, and using different keywords.  This is where a quality keyword tool is invaluable.

Finally, see to it that what you offer answers a genuine need or “want” and is not something vague, otherwise no one’s attention will be caught.

After you have identified your niche and target audience, you will need to know how to reach them.  You need to be able to talk their lingo and relate to them.

Keyword research goes hand in hand with your online marketing research.  Both are needed for successful niche marketing - internet sales depend on this.