Rules Vary For Niche Players In Social Media

The more specialized the target group, the higher the likelihood of engaged customers – and the more opportunities for social media marketing.

For niche-focused organizations, social media can be an effective marketing vehicle, which is why players in this arena need to know the rules and best practices, according to Amy Binder, founder and CEO of communications management agency RF | Binder Partners.

As it happens, niche markets may have a leg up on their larger compatriots when it comes to using social media. “Large corporations today are used to the [preexisting] media world,” Binder told Direct Newsline. “They want to listen without responding. They now understand that within social media, it is important for them to listen, but they are grappling with how to respond.”

Choosing an appropriate tone is important when engaging consumers online, but even this is tricky. Neither tone nor content can necessarily be repurposed across social media channels, Binder cautioned. Material presented a forum or social networking site such as Facebook might not be appropriate for Twitter.

“Facebook is like going for a drink with a bunch of people,” she said. “[Participants] are used to posting things and sharing. It’s about being part of a community.

“With Twitter, people follow people who have advice or expert opinions. If they are taking the time to follow you, you have to give them some form of information, or something useful.”

“The dynamics of niche markets are different depending on what the markets are,” Binder said. “The differences are on the margins, but the margins do matter. When you get into the food category, people look for experts. In travel, all you have to have is an experience. In healthcare, people aren’t passionate but they are committed. Disease-oriented sites reach a much more focused audience because they have all gone through a problem, and they want to help each other.”

Niche marketers are also more likely to instinctively understand the value of speaking to fewer, yet more highly focused, followers, as opposed to a mass audience. Years ago, a professor at M.I.T. found a problem with the Intel computer chip and alerted fellow academics through his user group—a precursor to blogs, Binder noted. The audience was small, but those were the people Intel needed to speak with initially.

To help determine which groups are most influential in maximizing social media efforts, Binder suggests using a variety resources including: Alltop.com, which lists top bloggers by category and provides headlines from popular topics around the Web; Mashable, a social media news blog which covers new Web sites and networks; MuckRack, which monitors media and reaches journalists active on Twitter; and Technorati, which not only serves up a comprehensive blog directory but also offers real-time search for user-generated media by tag or keyword.

Binder also offers 11 rules of social media engagement that apply to organizations of all sizes. They are:

* Listen first
* Establish a voice that matches the brand character
* Social media is about conversations, not presentations
* Focus on building relationships, not followers
* Be authentic and transparent
* Accept that brands do not control the message
* Invite participation and feedback
* Seek out and engage in communities and conversations already taking place
* Provide useful, interesting content
* Remember that social media is largely a public forum; only post content and opinions that should be shared in that space
* Become familiar with FTC’s Disclosure Guidelines and develop messaging to share with bloggers