Wednesday, 28 January 2015

Narrowing Down an Already-Specific Market

For the past several years, online marketing has narrowed down the massive global market into smaller local markets. Can they still get smaller?

That's easy for vertical marketing, the act of endorsing goods and services to a severely-limited niche. You aren't just looking at a business catering to a certain city but also to a certain target market. For example, vertical marketers may only deal with one plumbing company per city or town to help increase brand awareness even more.

It's the polar opposite of horizontal marketing, in which the problem is that it tries to please even people who don't need the goods or services. People won't call a plumber to fix faulty wiring at home or install a brand new roof. Vertical marketing narrows it down to the ideal few to prevent as many marketing misses as it can.

How can vertical marketing be a viable strategy when it doesn't span as wide as its horizontal cousin? It doesn't have to; the few who have enjoyed a business's goods and services will soon spread word about it. Due to the narrowed nature of vertical marketing, competition is less likely. A business can dominate the niche unchallenged and work its way from there.

With a smaller audience, however, it's more important to work harder to give them a satisfying experience. Unlike horizontal target audiences, vertical ones are harder to replace or replenish once a member leaves. 

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