By Brad Shorr on August 13, 2008 11:50 AM
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Online or offline, it is extremely difficult to market effectively to everyone. To appeal to a mass audience, a firm must dilute its message to the point it barely appeals to anyone. A more effective approach, especially for Web-based marketing, is to find a niche (or series of niches), develop products and services that respond to the important needs of that niche, and then market with laser beam focus to the niche.
Reading Recommendations
For an overview of niche marketing on the Web, The Long Tail, by Chris Anderson
To learn why you must develop the offering first, then the marketing, Meatball Sundae, by Seth Godin
So what are some good niches to explore? You may find you have natural segments of the market right in front of you, that already fit into your current offering.
The green market is growing stronger in numbers and enthusiasm by the day. If your products and services have real environmental benefit, people in this group are ready to listen.
Single parents and recently divorced couples are underserved. They need help across a wide range of services - legal, financial, estate planning, real estate, insurance, and perhaps a service you offer.
Seniors are another underserved market, and one that is growing rapidly as the Baby Boomers go gray. Can your product or service be adapted for senior appeal? Something as simple as a smaller serving, larger print, or lighter weight could be enough.
Senior women, a subset of the above group, are not only underserved, they are not necessarily thought of as a niche outside the not-for-profit world. This is surprising, because in the U.S., this group controls an enormous - and growing - amount of purchasing power. If you are in the travel industry, operate a resort, or manufacture a luxury product, do you have special appeal for senior women?
Technophobes, folks who are overwhelmed by the pace and complexity of the Web and technology in general, seem to be growing in number as the pace of innovation accelerates. How do your products and services make life simpler, easier, quieter? These people desperately want to know.
Technophiles are the technophobes' opposite number. They'll take the latest, greatest, coolest, fastest, and loudest, and ask questions later. "New and improved" means something to them - but only if it's really, truly new and improved.
When in Doubt, Ask
One good way to find out if your offering has niche appeal is to get to know your current customers, as well as people who inquired but did not buy. A simple telephone or online survey can reveal unexpected buying motivations. For instance you may assume your product is being purchased because it is inexpensive, whereas in reality people are buying it because it can be recycled.
It's a big search world out there, and if you are in a business with broad market appeal, you may find it hard to stand out from the crowd on Google and other major search engines. You're not alone. Getting on the first page of Google SERPs is exceedingly difficult, and if paid search is your strategy, bring your checkbook - bidding on popular, general search terms can get very expensive.
On the other hand, if you have a niche in the market you can capitalize on it to raise your search profile and make paid search affordable.
Suppose your company provides personal financial services. You will have a hard time standing out in organic or paid search on a term like, "financial services" (107 million returns on Google). "financial services chicago" is better, but still returns more than 25,000 matches.
But by narrowing your focus to a part of the market you especially cater to, you'll see a dramatic difference.
"financial planners chicago" - 4,700 matches
"financial planners divorce" - 428 matches
"financial planners retirement" -5,100 matches
"financial planners generation x" - 2 matches
A careful keyword analysis (which Whoast can provide) may alert you to wonderful marketing opportunities that are there for the taking. Whatever your total search marketing budget is, you may find it more productive to split it up across a few niches, rather than spend it all on one broad campaign.
In an upcoming post I'll offer a few ideas on niches you may find attractive and/or have not fully considered.
In a recent post, I looked at a few examples of meta descriptions from actual Google SERPs. Writing effective meta descriptions is tricky and challenging, especially since you have a very limited number of characters to work with -- Google display about 150 characters when I checked this morning. Here are ways to make your meta descriptinons stand out in the crowd.
1. Be descriptive. "ten minute response time" is stronger than "fast response time".
2. Use complete keywords phrases. "corrugated boxes" is better than "boxes".
3. Avoid sales hype. Searchers want information and facts. Don't overstate or over promise.
4. Focus on benefits. Still, searchers want to know what's in it for them. Meta descriptions are a good place to highlight guarantees, warranties, money back guarantees, percentages of savings, labor savings, convenience, no hassles, easy ordering, close outs, sale prices, simpler, faster, easier, safer, etc.
5. Describe your target audience if it is a niche. If you've got a supermarket and you are after every person who eats food, no sense in mentioning that in the meta description. However, if your supermarket caters to vegetarians or people with food allergies, by all means do mention it. For these folks, those phrases will stand out like neon signs.
6. Mention geography if relevant. The most common search term for business is service plus location. I think it makes a lot of sense to mention your target geography (if you have one) because it reinforces the idea that your business is local, and that you focus on your local market. "Chicago's first ...", "Chicago's highest rated ...", "proudly serving Chicago ..." are appealing.
7. Establish credibility. We are all afraid of the unknown. Searchers are skeptical enough when they physically walk into a store for the first time - how are they going to feel when they see your meta description for the first time? "founded in 1960 ...", "designing web sites since 1992 ...", ...BBB approved ...", "bonded and insured ...", "supplier to IBM since 1990 ...", are phrases that establish your credibility as a legitimate, stable, reliable, going concern. Again, supportable facts trump vague sales speak.
Can you do all this in 150 characters? Probably not, but depending on your business, one or two of these points will most likely be far more important than the others. See what your competitors are doing. If they are all highlighting the same thing - say, geography - perhaps you should stress credibility in order to stand out.
The good news is, meta descriptions aren't written in stone. You can always experiment by changing meta descriptions and look for changes in your site traffic.
Google recently shook the Web design and SEO worlds when it announced it is now spidering and indexing Adobe Flash text files. Heretofore, Flash was frowned on widely in Web design world and universally in SEO. It will be interesting to see if there will now be a surge in Flash infested Web sites. I hope not.
First off, Google's new indexing will not have a major impact on SEO (see links below). But even if it did, there are even more important reasons to use Flash with care.
Flash is excellent seasoning for a Web site, but unappetizing as the main course. There are two assumptions it's very safe to make for a business Web site. First, visitors come for information, not entertainment. Second, visitors are in a hurry. If the site's home page is a clutter of animation, it will frustrate the visitor's attempt to find information and find it quickly. The best way to dazzle today's online audience is to provide easily searchable and easily digestible information.
Employing Flash to provide visitors with a multi-media experience is sensible, but even here, a company has more engaging options at its disposal, such as videocasts, screencasts, and podcasts. The time for Flash may yet come, but not today.
There may be no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, but I think there are a few elements of content that belong on just about any Web site's home page. Yet - how often do you not see them? Here they are.
A concise value statement that answers the question, "What's in it for me?"
A concise description of the products and services the company offers
Images that speak to the pain or gain a visitor will experience after doing business with the company
Too often, companies get wrapped up in the details of the products and services they offer. We solve problems. We innovate. We create. We deliver. We do this. We do that. Visitors come to Web sites to find out what how companies can help them. Try approaching content this way ...
You're feeling pain. Here's what it feels like. Here's how we make it go away.
Images are crucially important. They carry more impact than words alone, and stick in the mind longer.
Say you have a bowling alley Web site. A picture of a bowling ball or a sterile interior shot is a waste of space. But how about a group of young adults (or whatever the target audience is) laughing it up, having a great time on the lanes? It follows the formula ...
The pain. You're working your tail off trying to make ends meet. How it feels. You need some relief or you don't think you'll be able to go back to work tomorrow. How we fix it. Coming to our bowling alley with a group of friends will recharge your batteries. We're not happy unless you are! We're all about fun, friends, and family - and an evening here won't break the bank, either.
You can talk about your alley's sophisticated score keeping technology, your well maintained, state of the art lanes, etc., to your heart's content. Just not on the home page. Once readers are engaged, they'll explore your site to the extent they crave details. But if the home page doesn't engage them, all the information in the world won't persuade them to do much of anything.
Few question the allure of free shipping, especially these days. But Holly Buchanan asks, Do Women Respond to "Free Shipping" More than Men? Must read post and conversation for consumer products marketers.
From Traffikd, A Small Blogger's Guide to Social Media Marketing. I don't think you have to be a blogger to enjoy this simple explanation of these new and still somewhat mysterious online marketing tools.
Flash animation used to be useless from an SEO standpoint, but that's all changing now that Google is crawling indexing Flash content, as reported by SearchEngineLand. This breakthrough has major implications for Web page design.
Meta descriptions are the page descriptions searchers see when looking at Google search engine return pages (SERPs).
They are important. Well written ones attract click-throughs. Poorly written ones, ahem, don't. Let's take a look at some examples, from a search for "auto repair chicago".
Some of these are pretty good, but Marvin's Auto Repair and Jerry's stand out, don't you think? The meta description is a customer endorsement - excellent idea. Not only are testimonials persuasive in and of themselves, but when your testimonial is the only one on the page, it's really, really going to draw attention. Yelp has hit on a very shrewd search technique using word for human readers, not search engines.
Here are a few more results -
Nothing quite as eye-popping here, but we still have a few rock solid techniques. Specific information about location and services are helpful. Sales copy, such as "the finest", may not stand out in pages full of meta descriptions making similar claims. However, I like Quality Towing and Repair's "... high quality and guaranteed," because it's more specific and because guarantees are always enticing, particularly in fields like automotive repair.
Replacing advertising fluff with relevant details about location and services draws attention. Something as simple as adding an obvious word like "guarantee" can make your site stand out from the crowd on the SERP. Quite often, companies pay scant attention to writing meta descriptions, or delegate the task completely to their Web developer. This is dangerous if the developer is unfamiliar with the industry and/or SEO. Bland, uninspiring meta descriptions just don't cut it anymore ... Getting to the top of Google is awesome, but you still need searchers to click through to your site.
Did you know the color scheme you select for your Web site or online ad is just as important as the content and design? Humans have a strong emotional response to color, so it's imperative to select colors that stimulate the response you're looking for.
This brief article, Welcome to the World of Colors, summarizes how various colors affect our state of mind. Red, for instance, stimulates anger and increases tension, and so is not a good choice for a luxury resort Web site.
For an in-depth analysis, here is an excellent article from Canright Design, Emotional Impact of Color. Read through the color descriptions and discover which color supports and enhances the message you're trying to send.
If you're looking for even more information, try Color: Messages & Meanings, a book designed to help you select the right Pantone color (and there are a lot of them) for print or online materials.
Are you color challenged, one of those people who has trouble picking a shirt that matches your pants? Several Web design tools are available to help you select a color scheme for your Web site or landing page. This Color Scheme Generator is easy to use - give it a try.
Readability is a crucial issue for Web design, and color plays a decisive role. Joe Dolson discusses in detail why light text on a dark background is a poor choice. Important information for those of us who tend to go overboard with color. This excellent article from Hooker & Perron with an historical theme is packed with examples of various text/color combinations. This blog post from 2006, Light text on dark background vs. readability, includes an extensive and instructive conversation on the topic. If nothing else, we see that color selection cannot be reduced to an exact science - too many variables.
A couple weeks ago I sat down to read the Sunday Chicago Tribune. It looked weird. Why? Because the front page was half covered by an advertising page wrapped around the first section. I couldn't start reading until I took the ad page off.
Then I go to the sports section - same thing! Scores and recaps covered by ads.
What are the newspapers thinking? Readership continues to decline, advertisers continue to drift away, and what do the papers do? They go out of their way to annoy the few remaining readers they have with the worst kind of interruption marketing. I don't get it.
In terms of online advertising, one thing everybody knows, whether they surf the Web or not, is that pop-up ads are universally hated. So what does the Tribune do? They come up with a print version of a pop-up ad. Well, I didn't bother to read it, but if I had, I wouldn't be much inclined to buy anything from any of the advertisers.
I wonder if newspapers ever ask readers what they'd like see in their publications. My view may be typical. I'd love to read a newspaper that was free of advertisements. If a paper listed its advertisers on a single page (page one for all I care), I would go out of my way to patronize each and every one of them. If that's not feasible, how about putting all ads in a single section dedicated to advertising?
Well, maybe the Tribune is listening after all. The wrap around ad pages have disappeared. But papers need to new more than maintain the status quo if they expect to hold on to their subscribers, let alone attract new ones. Fresh ideas are needed.
