365 Killer, Sure Fire, Down – and – Dirty Marketing Strategies; Tactics For Indy Publishers and Comic Shop Owners…PART 18
The Power Of Niche Marketing.
These days marketing is all about social networking. However, there are other subtle (grass-roots) more effective modes of marketing, niche marketing (1 person at a time). This sounds crazy I Know, have you ever heard the saying that “20 percent of people do 80 percent of the work?” This is called the 80/20 rule. If you grasp the concept behind that rule, the you will understand that the same goes for your customers and fans as well. In fact the number can even be smaller than 20%. For example, let’s say you have a current audience base of 10,000 customers. By using an effective marketing strategy(lets say direct mail), you should reap 3% (300 purchases/people)in sales. In the business world a 3% response rate is considered phenomenal…
How to create tons of Raving Fans!
A 3% response doesn’t sound like much does it? The trick then is to add some muscle to that 3%. Here’s how you do it. Place the 3% group in a new category.We will call them your “A team.” They will become your prime purchasing group. Devise a way to reach out to this group( using various method, surveys, questionnaires, raffles, bribes etc… be creative…I can’t think of everything for you). Find out who’s bought what, how many, when it occurred, and the average price…the more info the better.
Once you’ve dissected everything about this group, you’ll need to create additional smaller groups, from the most active to the least active.This will give you the ability to better focus your marketing efforts to specific groups. Create a place (it can be a website exclusively for the faithful or it can be a day you dedicate to them at the shop, where they meet and reaffirm their bonds for your products) uniquely for them interact and navigate. Take notice of the customers that are most active in the site or during the events hosted at the shop. Then approach them as “propaganda affiliates,” fans that can help promote you to their family and friends. If they’re Facebook experts, twitter tweets, or myspacers… have them market you as if you were campaigning for president promising to lower taxes.
COMIC PRIVY 