I like it when people make me think

Here I go and post about suffering from Writer's Block on BMA, then I immediately go to HorsePigCow and see this post from Tara.

Here's the response from the guy that can't think of anything to write about:
"Another good post Tara. And you are right that it is usually just as productive to go after a niche market as it is a sliver of a large market. Also, as you move down the long-tail, your marketing becomes less about the product, and more about the people.

And I think it's much more difficult to successfully reach the niche markets, which is why many companies don't bother. The market is much more fragmented, and their wants and needs are much more tightly defined. Learning their wants and needs means surrendering some control, joining them in their community, so that their wants and needs become yours. Very scary stuff for many marketers.

It reminds me of something else Erin Kinghorn told me when I talked to her, I asked her why other record labels weren't looking at the success that Nettwerk was having with marketing 'female rockers', and saying 'we need to be doing that too'. She said "I think that they are trying to find female artists and develop them, but really they’d need to change all aspects of their company from the top down, and most labels aren’t able to do that right now....they would have to change their corporate culture".

I think that's the key. Once you find a way to marry your wants and needs to those of the community that you are marketing to, then you've created a terribly powerful barrier to entry for the competition. Not only because you are able to satisfy the community's wants and needs much more efficiently than the competition(because the community's wants and needs are also now your's), but doing so means taking what is basically a blind leap of faith in the community. And that's not something that many companies are comfortable in doing.

But those few that are, will reap big-time rewards."

And if Tara is reading this, I actually misread part of what you were saying. On one of your charts, you said it was EASIER to reach the niche markets. I said it was more difficult. Technically you are correct, it IS easier to reach them, because there is less competition. What I should have said was that it is harder to meet their wants and needs, because they are more tightly defined, and correctly identifying them requires a greater degree of interaction with the customer (community member?), than most companies are comfortable committing to. Yeesh....even my comments on my comments are long-winded.

But that's a good thing. And as you can see from her other comments, a lot of people had plenty to say about her posts.

Good stuff as always from Miss Rogue. Check it out!