Great Moments in Niche Marketing

The other day, I was over at the ARS Technica blog – reading about the latest iPhone news when a banner ad in the blog’s header caught my attention.

So much for “banner ad blindness” or the old “online banner ads don’t work” because this one did.

The banner ad that caught my eye and earned my click was for the new Schlage Link products – lock products for your home which you can control with your mobile phone.

Talk about great moments in niche marketing – this was it.

Notice, I wasn’t on Facebook chatting with friends when I saw this ad – I was reading a blog whose focus – whose NICHE – is cutting edge technology.

Because I’m reading this kind of blog post in my spare time, OF COURSE I’m going to “geek out” when I see that there’s a way for me to use my mobile phone to unlock my front door and raise my garage door!  In a matter of moments, I was watching a video on the product line.  (There’s even a model which not only opens your door but turns on your lights as well!  SWEEET!!)

But this isn’t a post about cutting edge technology – it’s a post about the joys of choosing a tightly targeted niche.

See, when the ad for the high tech lock appeared on a blog whose focus was also “high tech”  which are the ingredients for a niche marketing marriage made in heaven.

Like any marriage – it takes two to make magic.

On the one hand, you have the tightly targeted niche audience reading the ARS Techniqua blog – a blog definitely geared towards the “geekier”  web visitors.  In the article, the author was bemoaning the fact that the staff of the blog were all waiting in line to be the first to get the original iPhone and now they are effectively “locked out” of participating in the latest exciting new upgrade.

Then on the other you have the retailer – in this case Lowes – who understands who the target audience is for the new Schlage lock product.

For Lowes – choosing the blogs on which to advertise this product is literally a no brainer.

That same banner ad would definitely be less likely to draw squeals of delight from the readers of say a blog on starting your own business or one of the many “Mommy blogs”.

That’s not to say that there are not readers of those blogs who would indeed be interested in this product – but the click through rates would almost certainly be lower.

And that’s what great moments in Niche Marketing is all about – see it’s a lot more “cost effective” to advertise this new product line to an audience who have already shown a propensity towards being “early adopters” of technology.

Twenty years from now, I’m sure almost EVERYONE will be using their mobile phone to control their garage door and front door – but in the decision to spend TODAY’S ad dollars – Lowe’s took their message to an audience who have already “proven” themselves to be the leaders of the technological pack – iPhone users.

It’s often hard for small business owners to “embrace” the notion of tightly targeting a niche.  So many business owners with whom I’ve worked have feared tightly targeting their message for fear of alienating everyone else.

The Lowes/ARS blog marriage is a great illustration of how niche marketing works.  If you’re just learning of the new Schlage Link product line here – ask yourself, are you “offended” that Lowes didn’t place a banner ad on this blog?

The answer is, of course you’re not!  Meanwhile, I’m not offended that Lowes didn’t pay to place their banner ad here… after all, the content of this blog focuses upon how small business owners can use niche marketing strategies to stretch their advertising budget.  It’s hardly the place for an ad about a revolutionary lock system.

When you define the “niche market” for your product or service, it makes advertising not only easier – but more cost effective as well.  As a business owner – that should be music to your ears.

If you need help discovering your product or service’s “natural” niche audience, pick up a copy of my book, Beyond the Niche: Essential Tools You Need to Create Marketing Messages that Deliver Results.  In the book, I walk small business owners step by step through the process of identifying your niche audience and then creating marketing messages that connect with that audience – much like Lowes did with the ARS Techniqua blog.