Session Market Niches

Topic Outline Niche Markets Keyword Search Niche Finders Search Counts Domain Names

This Session Weekly Activity: CRM Policies Research (3) three organisations that claim to have Client Relationship Management (CRM) policies in place. Briefly analyse this organisation in relation to how well they meet the six dimensions of Relationship marketing. Think about the type of business it is when drawing your conclusions. Word Count: 200 – 300 words

Basic segmentation strategies Three alternative strategies for market segmentation; undifferentiated (mass) marketing concentrated segmentation (product variety marketing) multiple segmentation (target marketing).

Concentrated segmentation The firm focuses on one segment - niche marketing In this case there is intense specialisation. This strategy suits small firms or new entrants into a market.

Niche Marketing A form of target marketing in which companies tailor their marketing programs to the needs and wants of narrowly defined geographic, demographic, psychographic or behavioural segments.

Topic Example Video The following video is an example of how to find a hot niche market. Take note of the key points. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn-SWujWKk4

Keyword Searches Simple way to find a niche is to look at the keyword searches Use keyword search software tools to check out whether there is an online market or not Look at using organic traffic and longtail keyword phrases as its FREE. Look for individual keyword phrases local Search Counts above 1000. The idea is to find keyword phrases that have “low advertiser competition”.

Keyword Research Search volume Competition Propensity to convert How many searchers are using that phrase to find what they want? Competition How many other web sites out there are targeting that same phrase? Propensity to convert What is the likelihood that the searcher using that key phrase is going to convert on your site? Value per conversion What is the average value per prospect attracted by the keyword?

Keyword Research Brainstorm Think about words to describe the business, customer questions or needs to be fulfilled. Think also of synonyms and misspellings as well. How might other people describe the products and services, ie rather than “herbal infusions”, people would ask for “herbal teas”. Survey customers and web site referral logs Look to see what terms customers are already using to find website. If they are already sending traffic, see how this traffic can be increased.

Keyword Research Tools Some tools will scan your web site and suggest keywords based on your current content. Most will let you enter keywords, and will then return suggestions based on past research data with: Similar keywords Common keywords used with that keyword Common misspellings Frequency of the keywords in search queries Industry related keywords Keywords that are sending traffic to your competitors How many other sites are targeting your keywords.

Keyword Searching Using the keyword phrases identified from your magazine research, find out how many searches are being undertaken using these keywords. Use the free Google Easy Search (www.googleeasysearch.com) or other keyword search software to calculate the amount of searches (traffic) undertaken per month locally and globally. Try: (https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal) for monthly global search groups with between 30,000 – 70,000 hits for specific headings.

Refining Keyword Searches If it is difficult to achieve the global search volumes, look for 4 - 6 keyword phrases where their combined total will achieve the same volume of hits. Alternatively, you could refine your keyword phrases to reflect a total amount traffic of 6000 searches “locally” per month. Again, you will need to have at least 4 keyword phrases as a minimum. Save these keyword phrases in notepad or word for quick reference.

Good Keyword Factors Need to aim for the right mix of keywords. Low volume terms, with low levels of competition may be a good way to get traffic in the short term, but high-value, high-volume, high-level competition is good revenue long term Create a keyword spreadsheet list, storing information relevant to that keyword. This will help you to choose the right keywords to target. These lists should be created for the whole web site, and then can be broken down for each page want to optimise.

Keyword Research Also look at the corresponding level on the advertiser competition bar to determine if the level of competition is low, average or high. Only target those that have low competitors, no more than 3. If they have products “for sale”, buy a sample of them to see the benefits they are and are not promoting. The words you have identified are those ones people are most likely to come up with and use to search by. Use those words that should give you a suitable number of hits for your Google Advertisement.

Activity: Keyword Searches Using the keyword phrases identified from your magazine research, find out how many searches are being undertaken using these keywords. Use the free Google Easy Search (www.googleeasysearch.com) to calculate the amount of searches (traffic) undertaken per month locally and globally. Refine your keyword phrases to reflect a total amount traffic of 6000 searches locally per month. You need to have at least 4 keyword phrases as a minimum at this point. Save these keyword phrases in notepad or word for quick reference.

Keyword Phrase Check When you think you have found a suitable 3 word keyword phrase, go to www.amazon.com and search under that keyword phrase for product reviews. If there are several product reviews for that specific keyword phrase then you know it is an appropriate keyword phrase. Check to see if the product keyword phrase has a product category to fall into by going to www.shopping.com and looking at the categories. Don’t use keyword phrases with “and” in it to link words.

Topic Example Video The following video is an example of how to use Amazon to search for buyer keywords. Take note of the key points. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do5IGzhIvdM

Latent Semantic Indexing LSI – Latent Semantic Indexing Websites that use a wide range of related keyword phrases (not the same phrase) tend to have more stable page rankings for their core keyword phrase and also rank for a wider net of keywords.

Topic Example Video The following video is an explantion of what is latent semantic indexing and how it can be applied for better search engine results. Take note of the key points. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOPY1hPcZEM

Related Keyword Phrases To determine the related keyword phrases, do a Google search using “~” in front of your core keyword phrase. For example, if you wanted to search for related keywords to goal setting, you’d type in “~goal+setting”. Also use a lexical database such as wordnet to source for keyword phrases that are semantically linked.

Micro Niche Finder Using micro niche finder: Look for searches around 1000, OCI around 40% or better and a green tick for SOC. Need at least 4 keyword phrases as these will be used to find a domain name.

Micro Niche Finder Search Count Exact Phrase Count Anything from 250 onwards is good, ideally 2,000 and above is what you should be aiming for. Exact Phrase Count Obviously the lower the better is the ideal, however anything less than 10,000 is good. OCI (Online Commercial Intent) A good OCI index of 0.5 or better would mean that there is a good chance of a sale. SOC (Strength of Competition) Ideally a green tick or yellow exclamation if the count is under 100.

Micro Niche Finder So why the 4 areas? The important point here is that by comparing the “Search Count” with the “Exact Word Count”, “OCI” and “SOC” you are looking for a potential market niche you could exploit. For example, you may find a keyword phrase that has a relatively high “Exact Phrase Count”, however it may have a green tick in SOC which means that even though there is a bit of competition, it is weak or of very little strength.

Micro Niche Finder Below is some videos to explain keyword searching using Micro Niche Finder: Video 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlCcLlXPpsY&feature=related Video 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9Y_sYaWiM4&feature=related Micro Niche Finder Link http://www.paragon-marketing.org/micro_niche_finder.htm Copy and paste the links into your web browser to view the videos or Micro Niche Finder information.

Next Session Weekly Activity: Hot Niche Market Find a hot niche market by looking for stories or articles in magazines, newspapers, social media or the television that relate to: Health Wealth Self-improvement. Focus on stories or articles where people are highlighting issues, needs or problems. For this niche market, list down 4-6 keyword phrases.