Do you have a narrow community served in your strategy?
What community do you belong to? Here are some groups or communities that I belong to.
Male. Married. Husband. Son. Sibling. Uncle. Great Uncle. Father. Grandfather. Jewish. Over 60. From New Jersey. Marketing professional. Loves photography. Enjoys cooking. Meditates. Enjoys Jazz. Watches movies from the ’40s and ’50s. Don’t go to the movies. Rarely eats at restaurants. Listens to a lot of podcasts. Walks. Consultant. Advisor. Coach. Networker. Helper. Shares a car that uses gas with my wife. Loves ice cream.
I am a member of each of those communities. At times, I don’t feel as solid a longing to be part of each group. Some of these groups, I don’t think about that often. And sometimes, I feel more connected to one of those groups than others due to current events or some changing circumstance.
A Narrow Focus
Brands and businesses that grab my attention are often because they know something about me and may share some commonality with me and my interests. These segments aren’t equal, and sometimes, one is more important to me than another. Some companies know my interests but aren’t pushing to sell me – but they know me and may share things of interest.
When you think about marketing your business or product, starting by understanding who you will serve can help focus your efforts. Who are you there to support, what are their needs, and when do these needs happen?
The narrower the segment, the better you can do at understanding who you serve.
- A company that sells SaaS-based productivity technology for small to mid-sized food companies with 500 people or less is different than one that sells to every manufacturer. They aren’t for Fortune 100 manufacturers or companies in pharmaceuticals. They know who they serve and what their unique pain points are that need help. Whenever possible, they surround themselves with this community to make sure they are relevant and understand shifts or changes in attitudes.
- A vegan restaurant that only makes dinners four nights a week knows the community they serve. They don’t have any animal products in their kitchen and don’t care if they aren’t serving meat lovers craving steak. The owners are part of the community they serve – so they deeply understand their needs. They serve dinner four nights a week so their staff can get time off. They know who matters and are glad to ignore those who don’t fit with their world ethos.
- The company that sells electricity and recharging delivered to your EV is parked knows that it can’t serve people who run out of gas. Companies like SPARKCHARGE have narrow, specific communities they serve. The team who built this company wanted to serve a niche – that is growing. Why doesn’t a company like SPARKCHARGE try to serve a broader community of people who need fuel, not just electricity, for their homes or office?
One Word: Segmentation.
SPARKCHARGE serves a community of EV owners who have a specific problem. They aren’t for everyone. Their market is a narrow sliver of car owners who have a strong, reoccurring need to recharge their batteries.
I don’t own an EV, so I’m not a potential customer today for SPARKCHARGE – the door dash of electric car charging.
SPARKCHARGE is like a subscription service like AAA, although people need it more often then AAA. Only 3% of apartment complexes have charging stations and most homes with EVs don’t have chargers too. Think of SPARKCHARGE as building a mobile charging network or “gas stations” on wheels. Imagine the loyalty a company like this will bring to their community.
Solving narrow, specific problems for consumers expands the opportunity for a brand and makes who you serve easy to identify.
Advice – go narrow, be specific and if possible, find markets where a problem reoccurs like needing to recharge a battery.
Double AA Battery Powered Car
Speaking of EVs and charging car batteries, I hope this Julia Louis Dreyfus video makes you laugh. HT to my friend Bill Harper from whHarper for sharing it. This new Mercedes will give SPARKCHARGE a run for their money.
You can set up a time to chat with me about your marketing challenges using my calendar. Email me jeffslater@themarketingsage.com Call me. 919 720 0995. The conversation is free, and we can explore if working together makes sense. Watch a short video about working with me.
Photo by Michael Marais on Unsplash
