What Exactly Is Niche Marketing?

So many people ask the question - What is niche marketing? It's something that is vitally important to the life of any business.

I've been teaching an advertising class that covers the subject of niche marketing for several years now. And it still amazes me how few people are aware of this important concept. Niche marketing seems obvious to me, but I've been an advertising executive and an academic for the past 10 years.

Nevertheless, I think that most people should be familiar with all the common definitions of marketing. Many people think that advertising and marketing are not important topics, but I don't see it this way. Whether we like it or not, advertising and marketing are a huge part of our everyday lives.

From the television shows we watch, to the movies we see, to the music we listen to, knowing about niche marketing is key to knowing why our culture is the way it is today.

If you want an example of niche marketing, you don't need to look at marketing case studies, you only need to look around you. For example, look at high school students.

The groups will be fairly similar in most geographic areas. The students will all fit into one of a couple or three different groups. Groups defined by the music they listen to, the fashion styles they wear, and the books they read.

So what is niche marketing? It helps determine adolescent identity. All of them buy into a certain manufactured image of what they are supposed to be. It might be rebelling through music, it might be showing off with fancy jewelry and hip-hop clothing, or it could be a preppy look that shows they have money to spare and are headed for bigger things.

Whatever it is, niche marketing is responsible. These images were sold to them by big corporations, although few of them see it this way.

While an understanding of niche marketing is important to the average consumer, it is crucial to businesses. Our society is so individualistic that no one business can hope to market to everyone. This is why businesses have different brand names for different products.

Without an understanding of niche marketing, each would try to be the biggest and the best. Instead of focusing on a certain subgroup, they would try to market to everyone. Companies that attempt this end up pleasing no one. Their customers won't be very loyal, and will leave whenever something better comes around.