There’s a publication for every niche
By Linda Forrest
At inmedia, we work within a pretty specific niche – we do media and analyst relations for business-to-business technology companies. Period. This does cover a wide spectrum of technologies working in a variety of sectors, but most of our clients have a very well defined business and tend to be focused propositions targeting a very particular customer, be it a voice application developer or a purchaser of x-ray sensor equipment for the veterinary market.
The challenge? How do we reach these niche audiences and get through to the tastemakers and influencers that help our clients’ customers make purchasing decisions?
The good news is that there is a media channel for everyone and everything. If you can imagine it as subject matter, it is almost guaranteed that there is a trade publication, web site, blog, newsletter, magazine, television show, radio show or other media channel that covers the topic, if not exclusively, then at the very least, on a sporadic basis. It has been our experience that more often than not, there is at least one media channel devoted to whatever specialized audience you must reach in order to sell your product or service.
Just as companies develop products for a known customer-base, so too do media develop channels for particular audiences. It’s safe to assume that if there’s a market for your product or service (and you had better hope that there is), there is a media channel that speaks directly to that market. Using our range of monitoring tools and directories, we ensure that we’re targeting those media outlets that truly have the potential to move your market, no matter how focused your offering is.
When it comes to speaking to your media marketplace, it’s quality, not quantity that matters. The readership of a niche publication may be only 3,000 people, but if those 3,000 readers are purchasing decision-makers in your market, then this is likely to be a very high-value media target for you. Do more people read the New York Times? Absolutely, but it’s unlikely that coverage in that publication will influence the purchasing decisions of your niche audience as much as these more focused publications are likely to.
