I used to think the obvious choice for marketing was to target the largest possible audience.
Why limit yourself when you can cast a wide net and reach more people?
Although I realized this intuition is often wrong many years ago, I often find myself getting pulled back towards the allure of marketing to larger, less specialized niche.
Despite all the platitudes like "niche down" or "be more specific with messaging", the why isn't always so obvious.
Let me use an example to illustrate this point…
The Waffle Paradox
Imagine you're selling a new brand of healthy frozen waffles online. You have the opportunity to advertise in one of two different newsletters:
- A larger newsletter about breakfast recipes, with 10,000 subscribers
- A smaller newsletter about healthy waffle recipes, with 1,000 subscribers
The ad slots in both newsletters cost the same.
Where will you choose to advertise?
Okay, before you answer that, let's make this thought exercise even more interesting.
Let's say that every single subscriber in the smaller newsletter is also subscribed to the larger newsletter. Now where you advertise?
This may seem like a rhetorical question. If both ads cost the same, and the larger audience is a superset of the smaller one, why wouldn't you pay for an ad slot in the bigger newsletter?
But I'd argue that there's a strong chance that you'll have more success advertising to the smaller newsletter.
This paradox highlights the difficulty of accounting for psychological elements when making "logical" marketing decisions.
The Psychology of Niche Audiences
There are several key psychological factors make niche marketing so powerful.
Many of these factors are difficult, albeit impossible, to represent logically.
Relevance
Subscribers to the waffle-focused newsletter are actively seeking content about that specific topic.
They've self-selected into that community because they have a deep interest in waffles. This makes them far more likely to engage with a message about a new waffle product.
In contrast, the 10,000 breakfast enthusiasts may only have a passing interest in waffles, causing your message to get lost in the broader context.
In other words, the potency of your message may be much lower in the larger newsletter.
Exclusivity
Niche audiences often perceive specialized, targeted content as more exclusive and valuable. This sense of exclusivity enhances the desirability of your product or message.
Subscribers to the healthy waffle newsletter will feel like they are part of a select group that is privy to insider information about the best waffle products and recipes.
This heightened sense of value and exclusivity can lead to stronger engagement with your marketing message and a greater likelihood of converting into customers.
Identity
People like to align themselves with brands that reflect their values and lifestyle.
Positioning your product as an expert solution within the healthy waffle space will foster a stronger sense of community and belonging among the audience.
Subscribers to the healthy waffle newsletter are more likely to be deeply engaged with the content and take the newsletter ads more seriously because the topic is closely aligned with their beliefs that waffles are tasty and good health is important.
By advertising in this space, you tap into a community of individuals who strongly identify with these values, making your message resonate on a deeper level.
Word-of-Mouth
Ideas and recommendations spread more easily within tight-knit niche communities. A group of like-minded waffle enthusiasts is more likely to discuss and share a product that is highly relevant to their shared interests.
In the book "Crossing the Chasm," Geoffrey Moore defines a market as a group of people who can talk to each other and share ideas.
A tighter market is more likely to have higher quality and quantity of inter-market social activities.
This can be a powerful propellant for brands that are adopted in these markets, as word-of-mouth recommendations carry significant weight and can lead to exponential growth within the niche (network effects).
It's easy to think that marketing is pure science and logic, but as the above example illustrates, human psychology plays an important that is hard to capture in formulas and equations. Ignoring these elements can cause issues and lead to suboptimal results.
While it may seem counterintuitive, you'll often get better results by narrowing your focus and honing in on a smaller, more specialized audience.
Understand the nuances of how people engage with niche content, and you can craft a marketing strategy that resonates far more effectively than broad-based advertising.