NICHE
What’s Our Mission? Niche As A Second Language “My Ad Didn’t Work, You Suck” NICHE.indd 1
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Wes Bennett Creative Director & photographer for life@home Magazine, HealthyLife & EXPLORE Magazines. Former niche market publisher of Qnortheast Magazine and owner, ArtSpace Studios.
To pursue my passion for publishing, I learned to sell advertising the same year the World Trade Centers fell. Lack of experience made it difficult and “wearing all hats” made it that much harder. Prior to working at Times Union, I’d been wishing for a few years to get to work with a professional sales team who knew the business, were dedicated, and could achieve great things. That wish came true.
all growing and evolving toward bigger and better things We’re seeing a unique time in history with our current state of economy so turbulent, a disastrous housing market, the airline industries stumbling, uncontrollable gas prices and a staggering loss of jobs in the publishing industry. Now, more than ever before, small (and big) businesses need help to stay afloat. Working in the publishing industry, we have the power to help by providing advertising and PR that helps get people out, even spening a little bit here & there. It’s not just our jobs to sell advertising that works, it’s a great opportunity to help the communities and cities we live in to stay afloat. Ideally, by takiing a new perspective on the power of advertising and putting our customers first - we can help them attain their goals to be successful and set an example of how to survive in spite of the market.
the pen is still mightier than the sword
Anyone who knows me well, can tell you that my wishes frequently become reality. If it weren’t for 100’s of times that it’s happened, maybe I’d believe otherwise. Most of what happens in our lives is what we’ve focused on, wished, prayed, or dreamed of...and eventually created for ourselves. Most people never see that because they’re overwhelmed with responsibilities and life changes that came packaged along with their wish. So wish/pray/dream carefully – but don’t stop – it’s what keeps us
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content
people first
customer loyalty & the “Golden Rule”
“my ad didn’t work, you suck” ensuring return business means managed expectations and programs that deliver joanna pettas foliomag.com
speaking “niche” as a 2nd language
what’s our mission? are we there yet, are we there yet, are we there yet?
Wikipedia Says:
Niche marketing is the process of finding and serving profitable market segments and designing custom-made products or services for them. For big companies those market segments are often too small in order to serve them profitably as they often lack economies of scale. Niche marketers are often reliant on the loyalty business model to maintain a profitable volume of sales. Online niche marketing often used technique for “affiliate” marketers. Building websites that “speak” to different groups or smaller segments of larger markets. Working with a familiar audience gives the affiliate a small but regular income stream. This technique is then repeated across several other niche websites (or magazines) until a desired income level is achieved. (Source: Wikipedia)
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peoplefirst customer loyalty & the “Golden Rule”
Most of us were taught the “Golden Rule” when we were kids. Basically, it says treat other people the way you want to be treated.
Building client relationships on trust and integrity is approached with far more successful “sales tactics”, a wall goes up...but is in the long run... someone approaches with a helping hand, For everyone. it’s a lot easier for them
I posed the question in my survey “do you get butterflies about ad sales?”. I was never able to sell with that feeling in my stomach and it’s got to be hard for the 95% of you that said “yes”. Before I was able to sell ads, I had to overcome that feeling of fear. What’s the worst thing that could happen.. they could say no? Once I realized that their fears were basically the same as mine, I started to see the power of publishing. If it helps you in meeting with your next potential client, try asking how they’re doing in the current economy. Empathize with their struggle and listen to their needs. Usually, when I’m
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to become a friend.
Effective advertising has the power to help them survive and grow their business. Just like the businesses we support, were an integral part of the community. If they don’t stay in business and grow – neither do we. For an artist without sales training or publishing experience, I had to produce $4000 - $6000 each month in ad sales. With the combined experience & talent at the Times Union – it’s exciting to think of what’s possible. My secret weapon was empathy and understanding, as well as an honest effort to make a difference in their success.
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Do they see you as a “salesperson” or someone who’s there to help? You can be an “unexpected hero” in the new economy!
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“my ad didn’t work, you suck” Ensuring return business means managed expectations and programs that deliver. Joanna Pettas, FolioMag.com
Second to hearing nothing at all, the last thing you want to hear from your client, as an ad sales person, is something along the line of “my ad didn’t work, you suck.” If you’re hear-
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ing this from your customers, then you need a new strategy fast. At that point, you need to pinpoint what broke down. “Post-launch, if there is a response issue, establish if it is on the customer side or yours,” says Marion Delaney, associate publisher/ad sales director for IEEE Media. “If it’s a performance issue on your end, consider changing the mix, timing, flow or target marketing of the package. If it’s on the customer side, is it due
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to no ‘call to action?’ The quality of the content? There are so many moving parts to an integrated sale that it just may be the fine tuning that makes it work.” Building a Package that Works When putting together a program, “innovative ad executions are key,” says Daniel Morris, general manager of Future US’ PC Gamer and Playstation: The Official Magazine. His company recently sold Burger King and Universal Pictures into an ad program on its recently-launched digital program called Qore, which is distributed on Playstation3. The program integrates high-definition rich-media ads like movie trailers and interstitials into each “episode,” which consists of game previews, demos, strategies and interviews. “You have to look at every possible way to get the brand in front of the target audience,” says Laurel Didier, vice president and group publisher of Vance Publishing’s Interiors Media group whose products include four Web sites, four tradeshows, three publications, e-databases, lead retrieval, videos and so on. “Today, you just have to help your customers solve their problems. If it has to do with media, we will do it.” But slapping together a slew of products isn’t the answer either if they’re not the right fit. For example, in a small, niche market or for high-end products, intimate solutions like live events and Webinars often work better than print.
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“You really have to build a package with tangible results in mind to have one leg up on the competition,” Didier says. “If you sell custom solutions, they can’t be shopped out. It’s time-consuming and certainly harder for the sales rep but it will ensure return business.” To encourage her staff to create longer-term, more comprehensive packages, Didier reminds them of the time saved from monthly calling. Also helpful are the compensatory benefits—every product is priced individually, which of course leads to a higher commission. In addition, her group works continuously with a sales trainer, an outside consultant, “to be a little more aggressive, to build programs that are going to deliver results, and also in managing expectations.” Stopping Trouble Before It Starts One of the most important things to do before firming up an ad program for launch is to manage clients’ expectations. “Until you know how they measure results, you can’t really deliver,” says Didier. Her approach is to speak in person or over the phone with the client in order to ask a series of questions and follow-ups. “If someone says they want to see tangible leads, I ask, ‘How do you see those leads? What action needs to be taken?’” Once goals are set, a way for publisher and client to measure the results—whether via tear-out cards, dedicated phone numbers or URLs, research panels, etc.—needs to be established.
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“excuse me
...do you speak niche?” Before starting at the Times Union -100% of my experience and knowledge base was niche market publishing. I wasn’t aware that selling ads for general (mass appeal) audience was any different. I sold and designed ads based on feedback during a design/sales mtg with the client.
er was exposed to as many as 5000 advertisements per day. Last year, I heard another statistic estimating that inner city dwellers (NYC?) were exposed to as many as 10,000 ads per days. The great majority of these ads get blocked out naturally by the “overload protection” mechanisms built into our brains.
My first question was usually something like, “who’s your ideal customer (target market)?“
To get past this and make advertising continue to work, it’s got to look more like art (in various definitions) and must work with the content around it to blend in and make people say “wow”. If it makes them say “ugh - another ad” or simply turn the page, then that ad is ineffecive.
If thier ideal customer didn’t fall within the scope of my readers - it wasn’t a match - unless I could find a way to market their product to my readers. Once we know who our readers are we can design ads to market to that population. The message of “buy me” in the ad designs must be re-formatted and “translated” for different target markets and “niche language” that’s best understood by that consumer.
People escape the daily barrage of marketing & stress in the privacy of their homes. Ideally, that’s where they’re reading and enjoying our niche market publication.
If we have the ability to see that an ad isn’t go- Picture this. You’re readan interesting article ing to work in a cer- ing Niche marketing is tarabout your favorite hobby geting a group of people in a niche market publicatain target market, tion based on common traits and the ads are all seem and might be easier to unforeign looking as if they’re derstand if we think of it in what should we speaking another language or terms of a language, culture dialect you don’t really get. and style that addresses just do? one particular audience or target A niche magazine builds reader market. Ads that speak to everyone in general terms are called mass appeal marketing. Mass appeal ads are most often found in newsprint media. Niche market advertising design is approached differently that Mass appeal ads. To be successful, a niche market ad must “sneak past” the reader’s “ad blocking” mechanism. Statistics in 2006 estimated the average city dwell-
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trust & loyalty by providing content that’s relative & useful to the reader. Content, for better or for worse, includes the ads which also need to speak the same language. If not, the reader feels less “in-tune” with the publication and moves on. A small business owner is usually not the best person and frequently not well qualified to design their own ads for a niche market publication. WIthout knowing the particular niche market they’re advertising to for, they could waste lots of money.
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our mission? Here’s one mission statement idea - would love to hear more! There’s two more magazines coming...
Your family & home depend on the success of your business. Find out how targeted advertising can help ensure your business growth and stability ...let our life@home support your life at home.
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niche ad awareness contest
September, October & November. The most improved ...most innovative ...or most effective NEW niche market ad in life@home magazine wins $100 on a pre-paid mastercard.
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