Target Online Marketing To Shoot Your Enemy In The Long Tail

It’s been nearly 4 years since Chris Anderson wrote one of my favorite business books called “The Long Tail”.  Still, I find his premise to be one of the absolute truths that most companies can follow right away to target online marketing and become the expert authorities in their field.

It’s all about niche marketing.

Just yesterday I was advising one of my clients, we’ll call him Paul, on positioning his business.  He’s in a pretty small industry of about $100 million.

“Who are the gorillas in your business?” I asked.

Paul named four companies that accounted for over $70 million dollars.  Sure enough, Pareto’s principle, aka the 80-20 rule governs this small market.

Paul was working on a new product and marketing strategy that put him head to head with the gorillas… a very dangerous place to go.  We estimated that those companies spend more money every month on advertising than Paul takes in per year in revenues.

The Long Tail says that there is $20 million in this market which Paul can target to become a niche expert.  This is perfect for Paul because he has a very specialized product that is not for the masses.  Also, Paul’s company is still fairly small.  There is plenty of room for him to grow and greatly increase his revenues and profits within The Long Tail.

A lot has been written about Chris Anderson’s great book.  In fact here is a great summary on Wikipedia.  Still, you should pick up a copy.  The 30,000 foot view says that most companies will do better by finding their niche and becoming the expert.  The internet is the perfect instrument to accomplish this because it allows you to get your message out to so many people, at such a low cost.  Social networking allows you to do this even more.

To be successful in The Long Tail, answer these questions:

• What are you the best at?
• Who needs these skills?
• Where are these people?
• What pain are they in?
• How can you fix their pain?

What are you doing to find success in The Long Tail?  Please comment and tell me.