More than just printing…

Niche marketing strategies are replacing the days of mass marketing and the shotgun approach of spray and pray marketing. With the ever escalating cost and sometimes limited rate of success for television, radio and national publications, these mass marketing approaches seem to be going by the wayside. Many national brands that still have a significant mass marketing presence are now choosing to market certain products to a very targeted, smaller demographic by nontraditional means, using a niche marketing strategy.

Niche Marketing Example:
How Toyota Did It

Toyota chose a very direct niche marketing strategy, focusing solely on environmentally-conscious consumers to promote the Toyota Prius. Their integrated marketing approach focused heavily around public relations efforts, articles in green publications, endorsements by the Sierra Club and National Wildlife Foundation, and celebrity appearances organized by the Environmental Media Association. In addition, this “green” push by Toyota has been rendered in the car’s dashboard design, which tells the driver the number of miles per gallon, further supporting the positive environmental benefits of the Prius.
Toyota had such incredible success with this niche marketing strategy that it directly correlated to the sales of the Prius, earning it a #4 ranking for midsize cars in overall car sales, not just for hybrid cars category. That said, not every product is a Toyota with a million dollar promotional budget.

Taking A Page From Toyota’s Niche Marketing Strategy

As marketers we can take a page out of Toyota’s book, which has proven to be quite successful. By knowing your primary target market so well, it allows you to understand who they are, what their interests are and how it all relates to your products/services. Once there is clarity, you typically proceed to promote heavily to this group.

However, if your business takes that same group, carefully segments data and really take a look at who else beyond their primary target market buys these products/services, patterns should emerge. These customers will have certain characteristics in common, allowing for customer profiles to be created. By isolating the common characteristics of a specific niche market, it allows a business to be able to develop and expand a new already proven group of prospects and this can be easily done by creating customer profiles and segmenting by niche markets.

How to Make a Niche Marketing Strategy Work Without A Toyota Sized Budget

Even if you don’t have an endless marketing budget like Toyota’s, a bit of creativity can help put a great integrated marketing campaign in place and still successfully achieve your business goals. Depending on the characteristics of your niche market, your business can appeal to them in the media they already use.

Be it social media or a QR code on a billboard or sign driving traffic to your web site or via PURLS on a mailer designed to capture more information about this market segment by getting these prospects to a landing page where you capture data, set an appointment or make a sale. These are just a few of very many options you can employ. None of these options cost a million dollars yet with a careful examination of your niche market and the right strategy this niche market can be a relatively inexpensive way to grow your customer base and profits.

Have you implemented a niche marketing strategy?

Check out CRWconenct to learn more.