Niche Marketing

Maybe marketing executives really do have a point when they talk about the importance of ‘niche marketing’ (focusing all one’s product development and marketing activities around a single clearly defined target market)……and maybe, just maybe, this is particularly appropriate in the online dating industry………


I guess many of you, like me have sat through expensive presentations, made by the latest marketing guru, hoping to pick up on a thought or an idea that could have real applicability to our own company or business…..and that could maybe transform our company’s performance in a positive manner.

We’ve heard all the talk about the importance of a company striving to achieve a position of “competitive advantage”, and how we must all seek a clear “competitive edge”. But then we’ve also heard how hoping to achieve this by having the smartest, cleverest product in our industry, isn’t going to be enough….. because in this modern technological world, as fast as we bring out the latest shiniest version of our products, you bet your life someone is going to bring out something newer, and shinier – and it isn’t far away!

So when the marketing experts talk about the way to overcome this is to focus on becoming number 1 in a particular clearly defined target market area, and consequently design our products and services, and our marketing and sales activities specifically for that defined target area, it sounds pretty sensible. What they’re saying is that the days of the generalist are over, and I think I agree.

When I relate it to our industry, and indeed to me, I think it makes sense. I know that if I thought there was a dating site out there that appeared to be very specific in its target group, and that group really appealed to me, I’d be much more likely to join that site than others that are more general in their approach. Let me explain this better with an example.
I like wind-surfing, in fact I like all water-based sports that are physically active. My dream girl would also like windsurfing. She’d also live not a million miles from me in Blackpool. Obviously there are other criteria involved in meeting my dream girl, but the above would be a good start. (There is also the issue that she’d need to like men with a rapidly receding hairline and the beginnings of a middle-age paunch, but that’s another story….).
Let me give you another example. A good friend of mine is gay, of Indian origin, and like me, lives in Lancashire. He wants to meet a man from a similar background, but he is dreadfully shy. Gay bars and clubs are not for him. A dating site that targeted homosexuals, in Lancashire, with a focus (and therefore an awareness of cultural issues) on men of Indian origin is exactly what he needs.

My belief is - and this has been proven - that dating sites that focus on a clearly defined target group have infinitely better conversion rates and retention rates than the norm. One objection to this could be, if the target group is so clearly defined, it is bound to be small, and as such the opportunity to grow the site (and make money) is limited, but I would challenge this. I’d also say, if that really is a problem, the answer is keep that small(?) site going, and create others that address other, clearly defined target groups. I would bet that a portfolio of good targeted dating sites will always outperform one generalist site.

And the beauty of this whole argument is that with the evolution of dating service provider companies, who will set up a whole range of sites for you, in return for a reasonable share of the proceeds, there is nothing to stop you doing any of the above…..only the limit of your imagination. The other beauty of working with dating service providers, is that they normally use the concept of a shared database of members (normally very large) who’s interests, desires, wants etc are tightly defined…..so you have a ready-made pool of potential members to access.