Niche publications: Find a gap and own it
Everyone talks about niche markets, but few have a concrete idea of how to find and profit from them.
Candy Hodson, vice-president of sales and marketing for Black Press, offered insights on niche marketing at Ink & Beyond on Friday in a session titled “Creating niche publications.”
“Find a gap and open it,” she told the crowd. “The key is to have a team dedicated to making it succeed and community resources that can continue to make it succeed.”
Hodson said the four fundamentals of niche marketing are finding a unique segment of the population, offering a distinct product, appropriate distribution and audience.
For example, Hodson said she had collaborated with local real estate organizations in British Columbia to target a niche of 350,000 homebuying readers. Together, Black Press and the organizations created NewLocalHome.com, which invited both developers and consumers to post blogs and videos detailing current and future projects.
“The key element is to include real people and inclusive dialogue from a trusted peer group,” Hodson said.
Traci Folkins shares this sentiment. As director of sales and business development for ShopTV Canada, she’s worked to inspire a genuine feel at three community-focused sites. First, mississauganewsauction.com, a weekly online auction boasting continuous business-to-consumer interaction, has racked up over 7,000 registered bidders and significant revenue. Speaking at Ink & Beyond before Hodson, she sang the praises of social networking sites that tap niche markets in a talk titled “Innovative advertising models.”
“With the online auction, it’s about keeping the focus on the bidder, rather than on the advertisers,” Folkins said. “How active your bidder base is and how many items they buy depends on your ability to keep them coming back every week.”
Perfectcouple.ca, a web-to-print initiative that eventually evolved in a TV show, The Perfect Wedding Show, targets engaged couples who compete to win the title of Mississauga’s favourite couple. Local retailers provide a $5,000 honeymoon vacation package, and in exchange, they promote their annual bridal show. ”
Finally, babynamegame.ca is another web-to-print contest that connects with young families, another important niche. Entrants were asked to submit their baby’s photo along with the story of how they chose its name. The public voted on the best story and the winner took home a calendar bearing the child’s photo. This audience-driven initiative drew on the interactive model to generate revenue and win followers.
Finding a niche to exploit starts with devising a roadmap, Hodson said. This means doing loads of research, finding a new approach, not just creating “an extension of a pre-existing product,” and having a “core group of champions” with the talent and conviction needed to connect with the niche audience. “You can’t have a baby and let it raise itself,” Hodson said. “You need to know how to collaborate and sell, so the whole staff is rowing the boat at the same time.”
