{"id":34843,"date":"2014-08-10t00:56:25","date_gmt":"2014-08-10t04:56:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/48e130086c.nxcli.net\/?p=34843"},"modified":"2024-09-01t14:48:51","modified_gmt":"2024-09-01t18:48:51","slug":"why-niche-marketing-should-be-superseded-by-total-context-marketing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/2014\/08\/10\/why-niche-marketing-should-be-superseded-by-total-context-marketing\/","title":{"rendered":"a real-world approach for the smaller firm"},"content":{"rendered":"
the myth of “niche marketing.”<\/strong><\/p>\n by bruce w. marcus<\/em><\/p>\n there is much ado, these days, about niche marketing and target marketing and using mailing lists and knowledge management.<\/p>\n how does it all come together to make sense for the smaller accounting firm, particularly when there’s a limited marketing budget, and a limited opportunity to reach out to the marketplace?<\/p>\n more for 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 pro members: <\/strong>who\u2019s better at marketing? <\/a> \u2022 lawyers or cpas?<\/a> \u2022 even a random disaster can be controlled with risk management<\/a> \u2022 managing risk in client relations<\/a> \u2022 your clients love you? what if you\u2019re wrong?<\/a> \u2022 the three degrees of risk<\/a> \u2022 four essential habits for building client trust<\/a> \u2022 the nine hallmarks of a marketing culture<\/a> \u2022 the four cornerstones to building a marketing culture<\/a> \u2022 getting the client is only half the battle<\/a> \u2022 practice development: it\u2019s not rocket science<\/a> \u2022 nine fundamentals for a healthy marketing culture in an accounting firm<\/a> \u2022<\/p>\n in this report:<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n niche marketing is a valid concept, unfortunately inflated and distorted by suppliers of niche marketing materials. marketing niche marketing material doesn’t make the concept any less valid, although certainly a distinction should be made between the products of different suppliers. some are clearly better and more relevant than others.<\/p>\n what it means, simply, is that you find a segment of the market you could or do serve, and market your experience and capabilities to that segment. the segment can be defined in several ways. it could be a geographic segment\u00a0\u2013 say, a 50-mile radius of your office. it could be an industry segment, such as health care, labor or the construction industry. it could be a skill or specialized practice, such as litigation support, valuations for divorce, cash management or immigration processes.<\/p>\n as often happens with buzz words, they tend to stray from their original meanings, and so niche marketing is now used to mean industry segment. too bad. there are so many other useful ways to segment and address a market. and so many other ways to do it.<\/p>\n niche marketing generally implies a form of mass marketing, at least in the sense that the same appeal (advertising, public relations, newsletters, direct mail, etc.) is made to a large group\u00a0\u2013 a niche. litigation support services are sold to lawyers. estate planning is sold to wealthy individuals. but the appeal is singular. it’s usually buckshot. a newsletter to all litigators in a market area, for example. you buy a list.<\/p>\n there’s no question that this has value. but that value is limited by the fact that, in the final analysis, there are still a great many variables\u00a0\u2013 and variables have a way of diluting, not enhancing, any effort.<\/p>\n the variables in niche marketing, for example, include:<\/p>\n this is not to say that there aren’t genuine values in niche marketing, under the right circumstances. if you have a specialty or a skill honed by experience and success with several clients, it’s certainly valuable to market that skill and success to others who need that service. if you’ve got a lot of clients in the construction field, and have learned a lot about the industry\u00a0\u2013 its practices, its rules and regulations, its charts of accounts\u00a0\u2013 then marketing what you know to other construction firms is a good thing to do.<\/p>\n but the little secret about niche marketing is still this:<\/p>\n it always comes down to selling the individual clients\u00a0\u2013 one by one.<\/em><\/p>\n well… if you’re going to have to do that anyway, why not start with target marketing to begin with?<\/p>\n or better yet, why not use mass marketing techniques as a background to target marketing?<\/p>\n we can even give it a name. how about, total context marketing<\/em>?<\/p>\n what does it mean? it means identifying and choosing your prospective client by name, and going after him or her with a broad spectrum of target marketing techniques, supported by a mass market campaign.<\/p>\n let’s take it step by step.<\/p>\n there’s a large element of networking in targeted marketing, as there is in any professional services marketing. it can’t be done from a distance, in the abstract, like product marketing. somebody has got to get out there and meet and court the prospect, in order to make it happen.<\/p>\n there is one more important factor in target marketing, one that’s perhaps the most important of all, especially for a growing firm.<\/p>\n a manufacturing company is defined by its products. a professional firm is defined by its client base, and the services the firm offers those clients.<\/p>\n target marketing\u00a0\u2013 choosing your clients and then going after them with whatever it takes to win them\u00a0\u2013 defines your practice and defines your firm. if you are what you serve, and to whom you serve it, then you’re better off hand-picking your clients than you are firing a load of buckshot and eating whatever it is that you hit. that’s why target marketing is better than mass marketing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" the myth of “niche marketing.” by bruce w. marcus there is much ado, these days, about niche marketing and target marketing and using mailing lists and knowledge management. how does it all come together to make sense for the smaller … continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1340,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2271,5,2295],"tags":[79,114],"class_list":["post-34843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marketing","category-outlook","category-solo","tag-marketing","tag-small-firm"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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