Posts Tagged ‘niche marketing’

Hot Market: Indie Women

March 25th, 2013 :: Rieva Lesonsky

By Rieva Lesonsky

When you think of marketing to women, do you think of moms? Then you’re missing out on a huge and profitable target market of “indie women.” Age 27 and up, these single women are living without partners or kids, and pack a disproportionate amount of spending wallop, as MediaPost reports.

Currently, indie women account for 31 million or about one-third of all U.S. women over 18, and their numbers are increasing: There will be a projected 50 million indie women by 2035. What do you need to know about this powerful market?

Indie women have higher incomes than the average woman and spend $1 trillion each year, including:

$22 billion on vehicles (that’s five times more than “indie men” spend)
$20 billion on entertainment
$50 billion on food

Indie women watch more television than average women and are multi-screen users, meaning they frequently accompany TV-watching with a “second screen” such as the tablet, laptop or smartphone.

Indie woman are highly socially engaged online. They are 6 percent more likely than average women to rely on online ratings and reviews, 12 percent more likely to report that friends and family routinely ask them for advice on health and nutrition advice, and 10 percent more likely to say they are frequently the first among their friends to purchase from a new brand or store.

Indie women are professional: They hold 59 percent of masters’ degrees and 52 percent of managerial positions.

What should you do to reach indie women?

Use social media. These women are key influencers and brand advocates, so engaging with them on social media can drive your success.
Treat them with respect. Indie women are successful on their own terms, so make sure your marketing reflects the fact that they’re happy with their lives and making their own decisions.
Know where they’re spending. Indie women are more likely to dine out, entertain at home and spend money on home décor and apparel than the average woman, making these potentially lucrative areas for your business to focus on.

NBCUniversal Integrated Media began studying the indie woman because this group does a lot of discretionary spending, but is not yet widely researched in demographic studies, making it an undiscovered marketing opportunity. You can learn more about this demographic by watching NBCUniversal’s Integrated Media group’s film about indie women here.

Image by Flickr user EpSos.de (Creative Commons)

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Tags: Marketing, marketing to women, niche marketing, sales process, small business, social media
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How Can You Get Affluent Consumers to Spend?

March 20th, 2013 :: Rieva Lesonsky

By Rieva Lesonsky

Unity Marketing’s latest Luxury Consumption Index, which measures the spending plans of affluent Americans, shows that after a surge of optimism in October leading up to the November 2012 election, wealthy consumers are getting cautious again. The LCI lost 19.4 points in January–its second biggest loss since the first quarter of 2008.

The LCI measures the optimism that affluent consumers feel about the state of the economy in general as well as their personal financial situation. Affluent consumers are defined as the top 20 percent of U.S. households based upon income; this demographic accounts for more than 40 percent of all consumer spending, so their plans are crucial to business growth.

“Affluent consumers are starting 2013 with a dismal view of the overall economy and their personal financial situation,” says Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing. Here’s a closer look:

Skeptical About Economy: Before the election, 37 percent of affluents felt the U.S. economy was improving, but in January, just 29 percent did. Although this is still higher than the 25 percent average throughout 2012, it’s not exactly a vote of confidence in the nation’s future.
Pulling in the Purse Strings: More than one-quarter (28 percent) of affluents say their spending on luxury will decline over the next 12 months; in October, just 18 percent said they planned to cut back.
Personally Pessimistic: The largest share of affluents since the recession believe they will be worse off financially 12 months from now. “Typically affluents are an optimistic bunch,” Danziger says. “However, in the latest survey nearly one-fourth (22 percent) predict that they will be worse off in the next 12 months as compared to today.” This is the highest this measure has been since the depths of the recession in 2008.

What does the poor outlook mean for your business? Tom Bodenberg, Unity Marketing’s chief consumer economist, offers this advice: Reposition luxury goods as a value proposition.

“That means to keep the luxury image and connotations (advertising creative, packaging, media and service), but communicate (in a very implied, almost one-to-one way) affordable pricing,” he explains.

Your goal, Bodenberg says, should be an “almost subliminal” positioning of value. “The current cultural climate can’t support showy displays of luxury,” Bodenberg warns. Affluents still want brands that offer quality and value, but they don’t want to trumpet the luxury factor—instead, they want to feel that they’re making smart buying decisions.

Image by Flickr user (Creative Commons)

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Tags: Marketing, niche marketing, sales process, small business
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Target Market: How to Reach African-American Consumers

March 4th, 2013 :: Rieva Lesonsky

By Rieva Lesonsky

With Black History Month just behind us, multicultural marketing agency Ameredia took a look at the buying power of the African-American consumer in America. Here are some of the interesting statistics they cite regarding the power of black consumers.

The total African American population is 42.6 million, or 14,468,417 households.
Cities with a large proportion of African Americans include New York City (the leader, with a population of 3.2 million African Americans), Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Memphis, Detroit and Houston.
The median household income of African American families is $33,460.
Some 24 million African Americans age 25 and up are pursuing higher education. 18.3 percent African Americans have a bachelor’s degree or higher; 32.6 percent have an associate’s degree or have attended some college.

African Americans make more shopping trips than the average consumer. They are more likely than average to buy beauty and ethnic products, children’s cologne, toiletries for both men and women, frozen meats, and fresh vegetables and grains.

As shoppers, African Americans are influencers and trendsetters whose purchasing habits affect others. They set trends in their purchase of apparel, autos and food and in their use of social media.
Speaking of social media, nearly three-fourths (72 percent) of African American adults have a profile on more than one social media network. Twitter is extremely popular with African Americans.

When they are using social media, African Americans are likely to be doing it on a mobile device. More than 54 percent own smartphones, and these consumers are heavy users of mobile data—they’re likely to be texting, emailing and surfing the Web, along with downloading music, videos and photos to their devices.

How can you reach this important niche market?

Be positive. Ameredia cites Nielsen research that 51 percent of African Americans say they are more likely to buy a product if its advertising portrays the black community in a positive manner.
Use niche media. A whopping 91 percent of African Americans in the Nielsen study say that black media is more relevant to them than generic media outlets. Advertise with cable TV shows, radio shows, blogs, websites and publications targeting the black community.
Don’t “lump” all African Americans into one category. As Ameredia points out, the black community in the U.S. comes from many different backgrounds, including Africans, African Americans, Afro-Latin Americans and Afro-Caribbeans. “Each distinct group contributes their unique diverse cultural experience, language, identity and migratory journey to the mix,” Ameredia cautions.
Know your market. Depending on where your business is located, you may have many different subcategories of African American consumers in your market, and you will need to understand how each group wants to be communicated with, sold to and marketed to.

Image by Flickr user Abode of Chaos (Creative Commons)

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Tags: Business Development, Marketing, niche marketing, sales process, small business, trends
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