Niche Marketing on the Web

by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson
Web Marketing Today, Issue 12, April 27, 1996
German Translation

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On how to reseach a niche, read Dr. Wilson's Research Guide to Online Niche-Finding (2005)

"Could your business use 40 million new customers?" This was the title of a brochure from some take-their-money-while-they're-blind company trying to sell Web sites to unsuspecting businesspeople. What utter hype! If even a small fraction of 40 million people did visit your Web site, your Internet Service Provider's computer would die of apoplexy (whatever that is!). And 40 million is probably a substantially inflated overestimate of Web surfers anyway.

The truth is that if you're the average business-to-business Web site, you'll probably have more like 200 to 1,000 visitors a week at the beginning. The key is to make sure you get the right kind of visitors, the ones who will purchase your goods or services.

Last week I looked at Price-Costco and Wal-Mart Web sites, which promise to bring discount prices to the Web. PriceOnline has 300 products for sale now, but soon will give you access to 9,000 products. They certainly believe in the economic power of the Web.

But how does the small business person compete with the Wal-Marts of this world. You don't have the capital to use the department-store approach. The key for small businesses is to master the art of niche marketing.

1. Profile Your Customers

First, profile who your customers are likely to be. Take an hour or two with a friend or business associate or spouse and describe in detail the characteristics they are likely to possess.

2. Where Do They Congregate?

Next, decide where those kinds of people are likely to congregate on the Internet. If you haven't discovered Internet mailing lists and news groups, there's no time like the present. You'll find many of your customers congregated into neat niches right here.

Both mailing lists and news groups are on-line discussion groups. Here's the difference between them:

• Mailing List. The discussion group's comments all land in your e-mail box either in single messages or, if you're not a glutton for punishment, in a daily digest form. Mailing lists tend to involve more serious discussion.

• News Group. This type of discussion group is found residing on your Internet Service Provider's computer (much like AOL and CompuServe forums). You look at the comments others have made and add your own. Caution: a lot of fluff and stupidity here. But who says your potential customers have to be highly intelligent?

Mailing lists and news groups are highly targeted since they focus on very specific topics. In each discussion group you may find as many as 1,000 to 10,000 regular readers with a special interest in that topic. There are discussion groups on marketing, doll collecting, auto racing, Celtic civilization, management development, cycling in the Himalayas. You name it: it's probably there somewhere. And if you don't find one you like, you can start your own.

3. Communicate Your Message Where They Congregate

Let's say you want to sell Civil War books (or are they "War-between-the-States books" in the South). I'd find a mailing list made up of Civil War reenactors and find some way to participate.

You don't come on strong: COME BUY MY BOOKS. You'll be hooted down (flamed) by half the members. You wait for your moment. Your great-great uncle was wounded in the Battle of Kenesaw Mountain, Georgia. When the discussion turns to Sherman's March to the Sea, you tell what you found in Uncle John's old letters you discovered among your grandmother's papers. At the end of your e-mail message, however, you'll include your e-mail "signature" which gives a mini-ad for your business.

------------------------------------------------------------
   THE SOUTH-SHALL-RISE-AGAIN ON-LINE CIVIL WAR BOOK NOOK
        Specializing in war heroes of the Old South 
May special: 10% off all books, free shipping within the USA
Johnny Reb, Proprietor             johnny@southshallrise.com
------------- http://www.southshallrise.com ----------------

Netiquette allows for signatures, but is offended by the straightforward give-your-sales-spiel approach. So have a very-carefully-thought-out signature. Maybe you could find a way to add a cutesy Springfield-rifle drawn completely with typewriter symbols, I don't know. (I have seen some credible bicycle pictures in signatures.)

Will your signature on a message produce hits on your Web page. You bet it will! The right kind of hits, too, from people who are highly interested in your topic.

You can target-market with Web ads, too. If you're selling Civil War books, you may not get much bang for your buck by purchasing a banner ad on Yahoo's first page. But if you purchased an ad that would appear every time someone entered the search terms "Civil War" or "Robert E. Lee" you'd be advertising to just the right people.

(Of course you know to use key words very carefully in advertising to the Web search engines so your Web site shows up when someone enters "Stonewall Jackson". That's target marketing, too.)

What about Wal-Mart? Wal-Mart doesn't sell Civil War books (except at Christmas when they go really fast). Neither will Wal-Mart take the time to participate in a Civil War reenactors Internet discussion group, but you will. I doubt that Wal-Mart will list their Civil War section on a Web search engine, either.

On how to reseach a niche, read Dr. Wilson's Research Guide to Online Niche-Finding (2005)

Will 40 million people surf to your store? In your dreams! But if 200 to 1,000 targeted people come and you have a quality product to offer at a good price with a convenient purchase and delivery system worked out, you may well be able to carve out a significant business from the Web. I've used the example of retail products for sale, but the strategy works well for services, too.

1. Create a profile of your potential customers.
2. Find out where they congregate on the Internet
3. Get your message out to them in a Net-acceptable manner.

Go do it! Non-aggressive marketers seldom do well on or off the Net.

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RESOURCES:

• Reference.com archives a number of newsgroups and mailing lists
• Deja News allows you to search recent postings from thousands of groups.
• List of news groups
• Index of mailing lists
• Our new "Using Web Ads on Other Sites" page, links to articles on using Web banner ads