Marketing has continued to evolve as technology and customer preferences have changed. Marketers have seen the effectiveness of narrowing down a mass target audience. Two marketing strategies that have come from this are niche marketing and micro marketing. Although they are linked, these two marketing strategies are not the same.
In this article, we will try and clear some of the ambiguity between niche marketing and micromarketing. We will define both, provide some key advantages and disadvantages, and compare the main differences between the two.
What is Niche Marketing?
Niche marketing is a strategy that involves targeting a well-defined segment of the market. This segment shares common characteristics, needs, and preferences. Niche marketing aims for the business to become a specialist within the defined niche and their customers’ go-to brand. It is a more focused type of marketing than mass marketing.
An example of niche marketing would be a bakery that only sells gluten-free products. Instead of targeting everyone who loves baked goods, they are focused on serving a smaller niche group within the overall market. Their target niche is customers who are gluten-free and may not have many options when going to a regular bakery.
Key Advantages and Disadvantages of Niche Marketing
Being able to narrow down a large market to a distinct group allows businesses to focus their marketing efforts. This is great for smaller businesses as they may not have as many resources and funds to mass market and produce their products. Niche businesses become experts and build trust within a specific community.
If someone is trying to break into a highly competitive market, they typically niche down to have a better chance at carving out their own audience. However, some niche markets come and go. Niche companies can be vulnerable to market demand and customer preferences.
What is Micro Marketing?
Micromarketing is marketing at an individual level or an even more defined group than niche marketing. It allows businesses to tailor their marketing to provide personalized messaging to consumers. This type of marketing has become easier with the collection and use of consumer data. Micromarketing provides consumers with products and services exactly how they like them.
Continuing with our bakery example from niche marketing, with micro marketing this would look like a baker who personalizes each baked good to the customer who is buying it. The baker is customizing the baked goods to the individual preferences and needs of the customer.
Key Advantages & Disadvantages of Micro Marketing
As you can imagine, a business that personalizes each product, service, or even email to a specific individual takes a lot of time and effort in order to do so. It can be difficult to reach wide-scale success with micro-marketing, but it can be done. Take Build-A-Bear for example.
They allow each individual who buys their product to make it their own. Customers can customize each step of the creation process. This provides customers with the autonomy to get exactly what they want. Micro marketing is a powerful relationship builder.
Read: The Concentrated Marketing Strategy Explained
Comparing Niche Marketing and Micromarketing
Audience Size and Scope
The biggest difference between niche marketing and micromarketing is going to be the audience size and scope. While niche marketing segments the larger market into smaller groups, micro marketing is on a much more individualistic scale.
Niche marketing is about specializing in the needs of a smaller distinct group within the broader audience. Micromarketing focuses on individuals or smaller, highly-defined groups to provide hyper-personalized messaging. Niche marketing is on a smaller scale than mass marketing, but is not as targeted as micro marketing.
Message Goals
Because of the difference in size between the two strategies, they also have different goals for their marketing communication. Niche marketing aims to provide expertly crafted content and products related to the needs of a specific segment.
They want to come across as specialists in their field. On the other hand, the goal of micromarketing is to provide personalized and unique messaging to individuals. They are more focused on building a one-on-one relationship. While niche marketing specializes in serving a specific group within a broader audience, micro marketing provides even more tailored content at the individual level.
Customization
The level of customization is another difference between these two marketing strategies. Niche marketing tailors the products and services to a specific group, but the offers are still generalized based on the niche group. Micro marketing though is highly customizable. The products and services can be tailored to unique individual needs. The needs and preferences of the customer are accounted for in creating the product or service.
Market Research
Researching is an important step when it comes to marketing. For niche marketing, marketers will need to develop a well-defined niche segment and consider the distinct characteristics of the audience. In order to provide expert and specialized messaging, marketers must research to fully understand the niche audience.
For micromarketing, this research process is even more intensive as marketers need to be able to define individuals’ habits and preferences. Micro marketing demands a higher level of research, but each benefits by being able to effectively tailor messaging to the audiences’ needs.
Conclusion
Although niche marketing and micromarketing are both targeted marketing strategies, they both serve different purposes and each has its own strengths and weaknesses. Businesses should carefully evaluate their goals, resources, and the nature of their target audience to determine whether niche marketing, micro marketing, or even a combination of both works best for them.
Also read:
What is Undifferentiated Marketing? Advantages and Disadvantages of This Strategy
Primary and Secondary Target Markets: Definitions, Differences and Examples
