Niche Social Networks
Jackie Peters | Brand Immersion, Branding, General, Interactive Marketing, Marketing, Social Media, Viral Marketing, WOM | Tuesday March 4 2008A big trend in marketing at the moment is targeting niche audiences. The idea is that rather than casting a wide net to an audience who may or may not be interested in what we have to say, we cast a very narrow one, to people we know are interested. We are able to refine our messaging to communicate as efficiently as possible to this audience, thereby increasing conversion rates and ROI. Another trend: Word of Mouth Marketing, a strategy for which social networks is an amazing tool. Social networks provide automated WOM. Our friends and peers are our biggest influencers. If I see an ad for a film and it looks interesting, it’s possible I will go and see it. If a trusted friend tells me it’s an amazing film and I have to see it, well, I’m there. Enter: niche social networks. A way to spread word of mouth while appealing to a highly target group who are likely to be interested in what you have to say. Yay!
Some examples:
Buzznet.com – an entertainment network
SoberCircle.com – a social network for people in recovery
Mashable.com – a news and social network site for everything Web 2.0
Zynga – a social netowork for parents
MyBlogLog – a social network for bloggers and blog readers
