Beer for Nerds – Niche Marketing at its best!
Some brilliant niche marketing is demonstrated in this image. A beer marketed to “nerds” aka those of us who enjoy the occasional RPG.
Niche (Nerd) Marketing
This particular bottle of beer, known as “Critical Hit” and produced by Ninkasi Brewing in Eugene Oregon, was designed for the “nerd” and in fact is marketed as such!
The label you see is a “stats sheet”, similar to what you would find in an RPG (role playing game) like Dungeons, Final Fantasy or Skyrim.
It gives you all of the “vital stats” of the beverage itself. A wonderfully niche and fun bit of marketing!
Apparently this beverage will up your strength, wisdom and character, but lower your intelligence… well that sounds about right!
With this “liquid courage” let’s hope the drinker gets a +1 to personality and helps you avoid trolls! 
Jokes aside one has to admire the ingenuity behind this product. They are locating a very specific demographic and (successfully) appealing to their personality and taste. This company has clearly done their homework and found a target market that is often missed.
Will they make a lot of sales off of this product? That will take time to see, however they have tapped (no pun intended) an otherwise overlooked market by presenting a unique product with distinct appeal.
The original poster of this content, whom we were able to take this shot from, had purchased the beverage for their boyfriend. That alone is enough to indicate that the market exists for this product as a gift.
It may be a small market and the profit margins would need to be looked at, but this is a prime example of Niche Marketing.
5 Steps Small Business Owners Must Follow
How well do you know the people you are attempting to sell to?
1. Understanding Your Customers
It’s simple logic really. Business Success requires Sales, Sales require Customers and Customers require a reason.
The first and most crucial step to starting or growing a small business, is understanding the customers that one relies on. Without a clear understanding of the audience one is selling to, one is operating blindly. The clearer and more accurately one knows their customers needs and desires, the more accurately one can meet them with products or services. Harness every piece of information available on your customers to meet their needs in a thorough and informed manner.
Here are a few suggestions for things one should get acquainted with:
1. Their behavior.
2. Their needs or wants.
3. Where they are currently going for products or services.
4. Demographics including in some instances: age, sex, race, location.
5. Where they are currently being reached by advertising (Billboards, Radio, Television, Social Media, News/Printed Advertising).
The information found here should be a driving force behind all of one primary business decisions and spending.
2. Know What Is Going On Around You.
It is highly beneficial for us to keep up to date with the changing economical and technological environment around us. Even slight changes to the economy, politics or tech available can present monumental opportunities or decimating decline.
Consider the following:
1. What is the first thing that occurs during a recession? People begin reducing spending and look for less expensive alternatives. Suddenly ones choices in entertainment may go from musical performances or nights out on the town, to renting a movie or grabbing some cheap snacks and playing a board game.
2. Their choices in groceries may also adjust, going for the less expensive products or purchasing less goods at one time.
3. New technologies allow for new products or services – and therefore, new niches to explore and new profits to be found (or lost).
4. New or changing legislation can have a broad impact also. What happens when a product is suddenly subject to an increased tax, or more stringent environmental laws impact the flow of a specific good or service.
Likewise changes can also create peaks in spending that offer small businesses opportunities to line their pockets a little bit before the next decline. Business simply is goods and money changing hands and anything that impacts that process is worth taking note of.
We must always keep a wary eye out for opportunities or threats to our livelihood.
Thorough and efficient operations reduce financial waste and improve customer experiences.
3. Just Because You Build It, Doesn’t Mean They Will Come.
Don’t make a product and don’t develop a service just because you want to sell it. The worst business plan one can have, is to attempt to coerce customers into purchasing a product or service that they do not need.
Yes it can be done, but it requires great effort and a weak moral compass. Not a good plan.
Instead develop products and services that meet a need or desire within the marketplace. Meet the need and you will succeed (we did not mean to make that rhyme, but we will run with it). Quality products and services will actually sell themselves to a point, reducing the need for marketing dollars and easing the strain in ones budget.
Tailor it all for your customer base, from the product itself, to its packaging, to the means with which you promote it. This is where knowing your customers will be an asset. The more you can customize toward their wants, the easier the sale will be.
Sales are not difficult if you know who you are selling to. Know that and you will know what and how to sell. Tailor your products and services and eventually they will begin to sell themselves.
4. Be Smooth, Be Efficient.
How one conducts their business is nearly as crucial as the products and services that they sell. One can have an excellent products but quickly fail in business of their service and follow through lacks efficiency.
1. Customers must be dealt with professionally, in a friendly and thorough manner.
2. Answers to questions or concerns must be supplied quickly and courteously.
3. Customers must be made to feel as kings of the world. Greeted with smiles and genuine pleasure.
4. Supply and delivery needs to be prompt and accurate.
5. Returns, refunds or feedback should be accepted without grief and with apologies.
6. The successful small business sees customers leave happier then when they entered.
7. Go above, go beyond and shock them with service.
The common thread between happy customers and unhappy customers is that BOTH talk. Make sure that the customer has no reason to speak negatively of their experience with you and EVERY reason to share their great experience.
A customer with a mouthful asked for a “Mapkin”. This is what the clever employee provided. As a result it got great, positive exposure to 60 million users on a social networking site. Good employees are worth investing in.
5. Know Your Employees & Work With Their Gifts.
Do not let the hidden talents and skills of your employees go to waste. 9 times out of 10 employers are shocked to discover what their employees are actually capable of.
I knew a young man who worked on the production floor of a busy manufacturing facility. It took him two years (and some brazen attempts) to get management to see his design and content work, but they gave him a chance and it paid off. After nine years with the company he was producing both the layout and the text of much of their marketing literature, installation guides and advertising.
Ensure they get the proper training, equip them with the tool and resources required, look after their needs and be mindful of their situations. Offer minor upgrades to their education through local courses, provide the occasional perk and give them reason to stay motivated. One does not lead by forcing consensus but by molding it. Lead by example.
Your staff likely harbor many skills that can benefit you and your business. How do you find out? Get to know them and allow them some flexibility in their day-to-day activities. Listen to them, work with them and develop trust. When they can trust you, they will begin to share ideas and skills, when you can trust them, you can begin to use some of those ideas and trust them to see them through.
This doesn’t mean being their best friends and there are boundaries that must exist between the employer and the employee, however they are the face of your business and therefore an invaluable part of your success. Make sure they understand their role they play in the success of the business and give them reason to push for that success.
Happy employees make happy customers.
Transition Marketing Services is a small business marketing firm in the Okanagan. Our passion Small Business Marketing. Educating and equipping small business owners with the tools and strategies to succeed. We have made it our priority to know Specialized Marketing. We keep up to date on what is new, what is available and what makes the most sense for businesses of all sizes and backgrounds. We recognize that every Small Business is unique, and their Marketing needs to be as well. Visit us at our website and let us know how were doing or if you have any questions.
Are all of your eggs in one basket?
In the past three years there has been a whirlwind of marketing activity surrounding social media. Marketing Agencies across the globe have been embracing it, Brands have been utilizing it to create “Brand Advocates”, and small businesses everywhere have been flocking to it.
Social Media has to some degree turned marketing on its head and yet while many of the same core principles remain, Social Media, as any other marketing tool, has its own peculiarities and specifics.
It is an excellent tool for brands and businesses of all make, model and size and we have vouched for it innumerable times on this blog alone.
- 5 Pieces Of Social Media Advice
- 10 Social Media Tips
- Three Social Media Marketing Avenues For Small Business
- Three MORE Social Media Marketing Avenues For Small Business
- 6 Facebook Pages Blunders To AVOID
- When Social Media Backfires
- Small Business: Why You Need To Be On Twitter
- 9 Twitter Tips For Small Business
- 20 Tips For Pinterest
- 20 MORE Tips For Pinterest
Social Media, however, it is not the end all be all and it is not a stand-alone method for your business. Every business needs to marketed in a manner that is specific to their industry and their customer base. This is especially true for SMALL BUSINESS.
This type of marketing has a couple of different faces and a names, but for sake of simplicity we will refer to it here as “NICHE MARKETING“
Work Smarter not Harder
Anyone operating a small business can tell you that profit margins can be tight and as such, marketing budgets can be even tighter. The small business owner must market smarter, not harder. They cannot afford to waste even nickles on anything that won’t generate sales leads and potential.
“The small business owner must market smarter, not harder”
Niche Marketing.
Niche Marketing is not simple, but it is also not as complicated as many fear. What it really boils down to is knowing who to market to. What is interesting is that many times the audience you should be targeting is not necessarily the one you would first assume.
Here is an example from our own personal experience at Transition Marketing last year.
“A Surprising Local Demographic”
We sat down with a real estate agent locally to asses their situation. They were doing well, but were ready to make the next big leap in market share. Living in the Okanagan, there is a large amount of vacation property available. Many would assume between that and local young families, that the dominant target market would be obvious.
It turned out that in the specific region we were dealing with, the most untapped market was in fact a split between older retiring citizens (65+) and elderly population looking to downsize.
Now of course. one does not necessarily want to rely solely on Social Media to chase down a target market such as this. Greater success was made using the medium most accessible to them – printed advertising. Newspapers, buy & sells, coffee shop readers and so on. Quaint, archaic perhaps, but effective and by utilizing this relatively inexpensive medium, we were able to address an often overlooked demographic to great success.
Niche Marketing is all about specific, focused efforts to reach a specific audience. To do so, one cannot rely on “blanket strategies” or “mass marketing“. Likewise Social Media is an excellent tool, but it cannot stand-alone. It is a resource best used in conjunction with other efforts. This may include more traditional avenues such as print, radio and video, or networking events such as trades and sales shows.
There is one area that all Niche Marketing has in common. One that in this day and age cannot be overlooked… a website.
A website is a necessity, not a suggestion.
Fishing for leads is great… if you have a place to land them. That is where a website comes in.
It is the 21st century, the year 2013 and businesses that want to success need to recognize the importance of an online presence.
Online searches are the primary means of locating businesses, products and services and online searches while on the move (mobile) are quickly becoming the norm.
Consider these recent statistics:
- By 2015, mobile internet usage is projected to overtake desktop usage. (Microsoft Tag)
- Mobile traffic increased to over 16% of overall web traffic. Mobile web traffic increased 27% in 2012. (Marketingland)
- Mobile data traffic globally in 2011 was 8 times greater than in 2010. (Econsultancy)
- At time of report, there were 6.8 billion people on the planet. 5.1 billion of them owned a cell phone. (Search Engine Watch)
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70% of all mobile searches result in action within 1 hour (Social Media Today)
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Use of mobile search has grown by 500% over the past two years.(Econsultancy)
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Average smart phone usage almost tripled in 2011. (Econsultancy)
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50% of all local searches are performed on mobile devices. (Microsoft tag)
If your business does not have a website, how many sales leads are you missing out on? Search engines do index some social media material, but these search results do not come close to touching what the indexing and results that a good website will provide. Here is an example:
I am on a lovely vacation to the south Okanagan Valley with my family. The Okanagan is considered a bit of a tourist hot-spot and many of the local Okanagan businesses benefit from the summer tourism surge.
I have a little spending money and I am looking to sit down and enjoy a nice meal locally with my family. After that I think I will take in some of the local entertainment and maybe do a little shopping.
But where do I go? I suppose I could use a Yellow Pages directory… if PayPhones were still a thing. Let’s face it, I have my smart phone so I am going to just pop in a Google search and see what comes up.
Will it be your business?
Social media has been proven to increase SEO (Search Engine Results) for websites. By using a combination of Social Media WITH a website, you are increasing you websites opportunity to be viewed and (if you are using Social Media properly) you are also engaging your customer base.
Social Media is in itself not a stand-alone marketing strategy. It is a tool to be used in conjunction with more foundational marketing. Its use in online marketing is only truly effective if you have a website.
“Fishing for leads is great… if you have a place to land them. That is where a website comes in.”
If marketing is fishing than consider Social Media to be the fishing line and your website to be the boat. Social Media can reel in leads, but where will you direct them for further information?
Websites are a home base. A place where customers (should) be able to get everything they need to take action immediately. Whether they get there by search engine, referral, social media engagement or other… the website is where they need to land.
Transition Marketing Services is a small business marketing firm in the Okanagan. Our passion Small Business Marketing. Educating and equipping small business owners with the tools and strategies to succeed. We have made it our priority to know Specialized Marketing. We keep up to date on what is new, what is available and what makes the most sense for businesses of all sizes and backgrounds. We recognize that every Small Business is unique, and their Marketing needs to be as well. Visit us at our website and let us know how were doing or if you have any questions.
Product Shots VS The Real Thing
When the photo and the real thing just don’t add up.
We all laugh when the picture clearly doesn’t match the real thing. Yet with the advent of mobile technology and its increasing availability, one is left asking how much damage this type of false advertising will begin to cause brands over the long-term?
We all laugh when the picture clearly doesn’t match the real thing.
This has always been an issue for big brands, especially those in the food service industry. They hype up their products with images that simply are not true. In fact we have come to expect it from certain brands and industries…*cough-Fast-Food-cough*.
The flip side of course is showing photos of the actual products but let’s face it, for many brands, that would not be a good idea. Have you ever seen an ACTUAL McDonald’s Cheeseburger? Would YOU purchase the “oatmeal” pictured above?
No. That is why product shots always look better than the real thing.
What these brands need to learn is that nowadays anyone can post a photo comparison like this… online… to be seen my millions, and besides being good for a chuckle, it is highly negative PR.
This was the case with the photo above and it was not alone. It sparked several more similar photos and a number of online discussions regarding the rather lacking fulfillment of the promised product.
Image Source: gabrielutasi.com
Will this increase in transparency via online sharing adjust how brands act? Can it? Should it?
What do YOU think?
Transition Marketing Services is a small business marketing firm in the Okanagan. Our passion Small Business Marketing. Educating and equipping small business owners with the tools and strategies to succeed. We have made it our priority to know Specialized Marketing. We keep up to date on what is new, what is available and what makes the most sense for businesses of all sizes and backgrounds. We recognize that every Small Business is unique, and their Marketing needs to be as well. Visit us at our website and let us know how were doing or if you have any questions.
Employees Engaging Customers – A Look At Customer Service
When Employees Can Be Themselves.
Here is a question. How well do you inspire your employees? Are they happy? Are they comfortable? Are they permitted to be human or to engage on your businesses behalf?
Many brands spend a fortune attempting to “humanize” their brands, but spend little money on developing the front lines of their brand – their service employees.
Customer accidentally asked for a “Mapkin” and this is what he got.
The story behind this photo: A customer accidentally asked for a “Mapkin” (probably had a mouthful of food). The waiter brought this back.
Almost every customer appreciates this type of extra effort from their service providers.
It’s humourous, engaging and human. In fact this customer enjoyed this so much it made it to one of the largest online content sites available!
Free exposure and advertising simply because the minimum wage worker took the time to enjoy their job.
What can we all learn from this?
Transition Marketing Services is a small business marketing firm in the Okanagan. Our passion Small Business Marketing. Educating and equipping small business owners with the tools and strategies to succeed. At Transition Marketing, we have made it our priority to know specialized marketing. We keep up to date on what is new, what is available and what makes the most sense for businesses of all sizes and backgrounds. We recognize that every Small Business is unique, and their Marketing needs to be as well. Visit us at our website and let us know how were doing or if you have any questions.
5 Pieces Of Social Media Advice You Should Ignore
Hint: If they use the term “guru”, they aren’t.
Social Media Advice You Should Ignore.
The following are five REAL pieces of social media advice from supposed “Social Media Guru’s”. We highly recommend familiarizing yourself with and then IGNORING these suggestions.
1) Your Target Market Isn’t On Social Media, So Don’t Bother.
This is one of the tallest tales and longest lies out there. YES YOUR PROSPECTS ARE USING SOCIAL MEDIA.
In a recent study by the Pew Research Center, an estimated 69% of the adult population was found to be using social media. That 69% includes your targets. If statistics don’t do it for you then we challenge you step onto ANY SOCIAL NETWORK and test drive their targeted advertising programs (trying out is free). You will quickly see just how large an audience exists for your business.
Setting aside the obvious sales benefits and lead prospects, there are a number of other reasons to get on board.
- Communicating with other members of your industry.
- Monitoring competitors actions and communications.
- Researching new developments within your business sector.
- Discovering advertising, Public relations, press release or other marketing opportunities.
- Connecting with influencers & industry leaders.
Social Media presents an unprecedented opportunity for businesses of all sizes. A responsible business owner owes it to themselves and to their employees, to research it properly before choosing to accept or reject it.
2) Utilize Trending Hashtags To Gain Exposure (Twitter).
Hashtags were at one time the means to organize tweets. They are still a common tool used to organize specific campaigns or events. Hashtags can be promoted to gain exposure, and they are designed in such a way as to enable tracking, sharing and monitoring content related to specific events.
Pro Tip Note: The key for organizing around hashtags is to understand which hashtags work. Generic hashtags (IE #marketing #advertising #tuna etc) are seldom monitored and therefore seldom reaches anyone new. Attempting to use these can result in being labelled a rookie.
You can view top trending hashtags in the “Discover” section, these are tweets that are being promoted, being used to organize, or are otherwise hitting the “viral hotspot” on twitter. Attempting to become involved in these hashtags to gain exposure is a dicey proposition and often fails miserably.
Consider this example from last year. Kenneth Cole, a brand that should have known better, attempted to hijack the trending #Cairo hashtag. The hashtag was trending during the massive tumult that was occurring in the middle east. Perhaps you remember, when an Egyptian citizen enacted self-immolation and lit himself on fire in protest against the government. This sparked an upheaval throughout the entire middle east and quickly became a trend on Twitter.
Kenneth Cole coldly and ignorantly attempted to jump on board with this little tweet:
People were not pleased and it quickly became a PR nightmare. All because of a haphazard attempt to gain a little quick exposure off of a trend. Source
This doesn’t necessarily mean that taking part in a trending hashtag is bad, it just means do so with caution.
3) Outsource Your Social Media.
This CAN BE quite a ridiculous suggestion once you understand the purpose of social media. Social media is the means for you to communicate with your audience (aka customers). How can this be accurately done if someone else is doing the speaking for you?
- The “voice” of your social media efforts needs to be your own.
- The conversation’s content has to be based on you and your knowledge and experience.
- The answers, comments and reactions to interactions have to come from you.
- This pertains especially to small businesses or niche markets.
You are the one best suited to represent your business, whether in person, on the phone or online. If not you, then someone within your business that is qualified to accurately respond and with the customer care necessary. That doesn’t mean hiring out is entirely out of the question, but it must be done with great caution and with an understanding of what is at stake.
There are MANY “professional social media guru’s” that will fight to represent your business online. If you are going to hire someone outside of your organization, we recommend reading either (or both) of these articles:
4) Hire An Intern or Otherwise Temporary & Inexpensive Employee To Rep Your Social Media.
This really just echoes what was said above. At least a social media specialist might know what they are doing. Why anyone would trust their brands image and communications to someone so unqualified is beyond us. At best you get someone who cares about their job, but lacks experience. At worst you get someone who could care less about their job, about your brand and about your customers.
Image source: incedogroup.com
This actually only acts to magnify the root of the problem, which is the idea that social media is just a throw-away marketing strategy with little value.
Social media is in fact a highly intense and in-depth field on which to market ones brand. To trust this marketing to non-qualified individuals is on par with hiring a middle-school media class to produce your commercial. Don’t do it.
Rule of thumb, would you let this individual represent you in a television interview? No? Then don’t put them on the social media channels.
5) Don’t Get All Personal, This Is Business.
Yes it is business, however one cannot forget the “SOCIAL” in social media. That means talking, sharing, conversing and otherwise relating to your audience. Social media marketing is different in that respect from many other marketing avenues. Social media requires the brand to talk directly TO their audience as opposed talking AT them.
“People don’t fall in love with hex colors and logos — they fall in love with people,” - Erika Napoletano (@RedHeadWriting)
Social media give one the unique opportunity to share some of their “colour” or personality. One gets to share a little bit of what makes their brand unique, the people. When you take to the social media air waves, don’t shy away from being personal, embrace it. Engage and converse as a business owner and not a corporate automaton.
Transition Marketing Services is a small business marketing firm in the Okanagan. Our passion Small Business Marketing. Educating and equipping small business owners with the tools and strategies to succeed. We have made it our priority to know Specialized Marketing. We keep up to date on what is new, what is available and what makes the most sense for businesses of all sizes and backgrounds. We recognize that every Small Business is unique, and their Marketing needs to be as well. Visit us at our website and let us know how were doing or if you have any questions.
The Bold Look Of Kohler – The Power Of Print
Printed advertising is only as limited as your imagination
We love printed advertising…
It was where we first cut our teeth, developing, designing and printing advertising and layouts. Our respect for it and its impact is enormous.
We have such a love for print, graphic design and typography, that we host profiles on both Pinterest and Facebook to help curate all of the incredible works from across the marketing and advertising world.
There have been numerous agencies and clients throughout the last century that have defined and redefined printed advertising. One of the big standouts throughout the last 50 years has without a double been Kohler. We first came into contact with Kohler’s advertising many years ago and each year since, we have been floored by their bold, beautiful and engaging designs.
“An interesting anecdote, we came into contact with one individual who has more than once attempted to PURCHASE prints of their ads for framing, to be hung in their home.”
KOHLER was the first to boldly introduce colour into the plumbing world.
Kohler was the first brand to introduce bathroom fixtures, sinks, bathtubs etc. in colours other than white. This seems normal to many of us now, but at the time, it was considered revolutionary. Many of their competitors felt they would fail in the endeavor, but as we know now, they introduced an entirely new way of thinking into the interior design world.
Kohler has attempted to develop their brand as one that thinks boldly, that thinks progressively and that incorporates artistic elements whenever possible. As such, they have spared no expense in many of their advertising campaigns. Their print ad’s attempt to bridge a gap between industry and art.
Here we will share some of the outstanding Kohler print ad’s that have spanned the last half century. Do they succeed in bridging this gap? is this a good use of marketing fund?
We’ll let you be the judge.
Transition Marketing Services is a small business marketing firm in the Okanagan. Our passion Small Business Marketing. Educating and equipping small business owners with the tools and strategies to succeed. We have made it our priority to know Specialized Marketing. We keep up to date on what is new, what is available and what makes the most sense for businesses of all sizes and backgrounds. We recognize that every Small Business is unique, and their Marketing needs to be as well. Visit us at our website and let us know how were doing or if you have any questions.
