We all know that diversification is the key to success, it bolsters companies making them more resistant to hard times. Where one income stream may be struggling, another can pick up the slack. What might come as news to some business owners though is that diversification shouldn’t just apply to products and services, it should be applied to all areas of a business, in particular the marketing strategy. It’s great to have a clear marketing strategy that’s well targeted to the group that you’re trying to reach, but if something happens within that group, then your marketing efforts could be jeopardised. These companies are finding clever new marketing initiatives to ensure that if their main client base is effected, that the smaller subsections of consumers can pick up the slack.
Identifying Niche Client Groups
The best place to start when diversifying your marketing strategy is by looking into the client groups that you might not have paid particular attention to before. This requires some real data crunching but can be an incredibly enlightening process. It might be that as a personal training company you presume that your most profitable client base is those in a high income bracket aged 25-35, but on closer inspection your most loyal clients are high earners that are aged 45+ when you make realisations like this you can identify this client group and advertise to them more effectively.
An example of a sector that’s been having great success with this sort of niche group targeting is the online gaming industry. Casino websites often target casual players with offers for deposit matching bonuses up to $50, an amount that a person of average income could quite easily afford, but also an amount that would make a big difference. This group will likely make up the majority of a casino’s customers, but there’s potential in other groups too. For example, Vegas Slots Online has compiled a list of casinos offering high-roller bonuses, that is offers that will appeal to those who spend a good deal of money on casino sites. These people tend to belong to a higher earnings bracket, but could be a considerable source of income for the online casino. When taking a look at your figures look for those clients in the niches and work out a way to target them specifically.
Working on Greener Credentials
Another way that you can achieve great results is by looking at the image your company wants to portray. Of course every brand should have a strong identity, but that’s not to say that you shouldn’t be multi-faceted. At Netherlands News Live we pride ourselves on bringing up to date and important news that’s highly relevant to our readers, but that doesn’t stop us from publishing human interest stories, that might not have the same clout, but could bring a smile to our readers all the same. Thinking about how you’d like to be portrayed is important, but also thinking about the state of affairs is important to. At the moment, sustainability has never been more essential. All companies should be thinking about the impact that they make on the planet, largely because we all need to work together in order to save it, but also because it makes for great publicity.
All sorts of businesses have announced green initiatives, from huge hotel brands installing green roofs on all of their buildings, to plane companies committing to becoming carbon neutral. It’s unlikely that your business will be having the same kind of environmental impact as the hotel and air travel giants, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do some good and reap the rewards as well. Toilet paper company What the Crap were nothing more than a startup just a few years ago, but they’re now one of the biggest players in their industry because they had a clear green strategy, using only recycled paper and bamboo to produce toilet paper. Consumers buy into brands with morals, so it’s time to find yours. Whilst being greener and cleaner is popular at the moment, it might be that there’s something else that aligns more closely with your brand values. Perhaps your restaurant business could divert surplus food to homeless shelters. Perhaps your beauty salon could offer free treatments to those struggling with hair loss. Whatever angle you can push, it’s nice to be nice and it doesn’t hurt if your business is portrayed positively alongside that.
