Niche, schmiche! Get a message.
Insurance is one of the most commoditized industries on earth. Who stands out? Geico’s Cavemen, maybe? The Gecko? If a small business doesn’t have 550 million dollars to spend promoting its image, it’s going to have to rely on providing something Geico doesn’t.
Serving a niche market won’t make it. A niche simply limits the number of people a small company is willing to serve.
They should consider advertising in mass media. Newspapers, radio, television. Media the ‘experts’ tell them they can’t afford. Proven media that reaches people. They should quit trying all the ways of limiting their marketing to people who searched for them…or opted-in six vendors back…or fit some profile they think wants to hear from them. Instead, they should put their message in front of as many people as they can afford and let the market tell them how it wants to be served.
Small businesses have an advantage that no large company enjoys…they’re nimble. When their market tells them what’s important, they serve them that way. They can change their message on a daily basis if they need to do so. They can zig and zag in and out of service areas in less time than Geico would take to send emails to the various vice presidents needed to appoint a steering committee.
Their way through the clutter is to make their message timely. Make it useful to the reader, viewer, listener. Make it interesting.
By the way, the people who respond to such advertising are calling because the small company is offering what they want, when they want it, in the way they want it. Such respondents make much better customers and clients than folks who call to find the lowest price.
A small business’s carefully-crafted message can make it stand out in the right way.