Marketing Ideas From Cheri Cowell
Niche marketing is identifying and reaching out directly to groups of potential readers. It’s also about finding an angle in your book that is unique and attractive to a smaller market than the broad market of some books. So the question is–is your book a good candidate for niche marketing and if so how do you use this to your advantage?
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First, identify if your book is better served by speaking directly to s smaller niche market, or if it is best served by a broad marketing approach. For instance, if your book is a parenting book, is is best to try to market to all parents of elementary age children (still a broad market, although you may think this is narrow), or is is better to focus on parents of elementary age children in home schools (a niche market). A book for those who grieve is a broad audience. A book for those who grieve the loss of a child is a niche market.
You might have heard from publishers that your market is too small, but the flip side of this is you will serve a niche market and therefore will be able to target market. Target or niche marketing means you know a smaller market very well and can speak directly to their needs. So how do you use this type of marketing to your advantage?
- Begin by making a list of your niche markets. You can have more than one, but make them as narrow and as focused as you can. The more specific you get the easier it is to reach your target readers.
- Next, make a list of the needs of the person in your niche. List that person’s worries, fears, and hope and dreams.
- Now, answer the question–how does my book address those needs, fears, worries, hopes, and dreams.
- Make a list of where your person shops, what radio stations does he/she listen to, where do they play and pray.
- Finally, spend some time thinking outside the box. How might you reach this person with your message if you spent the day walking in his/her shoes? How do they hear new messages? Who do they listen to when seeking support?
Niche marketing is in many ways the opposite of what we are often taught. Often we are told to go for the biggest market and make the broadest pitch we can. Niche marketing is all about narrowing our pitch to a small and specific target, thereby making our marketing very personal and possibly more powerful and profitable.
Cheri Cowell is the author of a new devotional book, 365 Devotions for Peace, released in December from Zondervan, is marketed to those who would not step foot into a church, but are searching for peace in a world devoid of peace (my niche market). Her Bible study Parables and Word Pictures in the AMG Following God Bible study series is a favorite in bookstores everywhere.
Connect with Cheri Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and you can read her blogs on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month Cheri’s Blog
