Many people seem to be confused about the difference between mass marketing and niche marketing. Perhaps because even the largest mass markets are niches. for example, something like milk is a mass market but not everyone drinks it. Within the milk market, you have niches like low-fat, soy, and many others. So, no pun intended, that actually gives you a quick idea of the difference between mass markets and niche markets.
The main difference between the two is the size of the potential market.
There is no reliable definition of a mass market that I have come across, although the closest description might be that a mass market would be something that could have been advertised on primetime television when only a few channels existed. The number of people watching the shows, and thus the size of the ticket price, was such that only the biggest brands with the most appeal could afford to buy ads at peak times.
Compare that to today’s technology where TV channels cater to small (niche) groups that wouldn’t even have had their own shows 20 years ago let alone an entire channel dedicated to them.
It is this division of markets that has caused an explosion of interest in niche marketing.
The Internet has further reduced segmentation.
It costs a handful of dollars a year to run a website and if even that small amount is too much, there are websites that allow you to post your own content for free. And maybe even get a cut of the ad revenue your pages generate!
In many ways, mass marketing is becoming even more expensive than before.
To reach the majority of the population, you need to buy more advertising.
Gone are the days when half of the UK was guaranteed to be watching one of the most popular shows and its ads could reliably reach people.
Now, with the time change and on-demand shows, there’s no guarantee that people will see your ad, let alone pay attention to it.
The same goes for the Internet.
Banner blindness (disconnecting from whatever banner is on the site you are visiting) is on the rise.
In fact, niche marketing has an advantage in this regard.
By definition, a niche market is smaller than a mass market. Which means the ads, and the sites they appear on, can be scaled down so that only the most likely potential customers see your message.
In turn, that means that within a niche market you can have the same or even greater impact than the big brands for a fraction of the budget.
For traditional sellers, this is a topsy-turvy time.
But for nimble internet marketers, it presents a fantastic opportunity.
You can get lower advertising costs on sites like Facebook, and yet only show your ad to people who are likely to be interested in what you have to offer.
Which is the biggest leveling of the playing fields that I have found on the web in a great number of years. Take advantage of it while you can!
