A Lesson In Niche Marketing From A Funeral Home

by Bonnie Boots

Some of the email newsletters I get come from people who seem to think internet marketers invented the concept of "niche marketing." In fact, niche marketing is an old concept that's the cornerstone of many businesses. It's particularly prominent in the professional I came from -writing and publishing.

There are a few-very few-massive publishing houses that publish huge lists of new titles each year on all sorts of topics. But the average publisher is much more likely to be a small house that puts out just a few titles a year. These publishers survive by specializing in niches. Their niche may be nutrition or animals or hobbies. Whatever it is, that's their area of expertise. That's the market they know. And that's what their customers know them for.

The same is true of magazines. A magazine's niche may be current news (Newsweek) or doll collecting (Doll Collector) or Animals (Dog Fancy.). Whatever their niche is, that's what they are experts in and that's what their customers know them for.

I made my living as freelance writer by making myself an indispensable source of information to several niche publishers. That's why, when teaching people to be freelance writers, I always stressed that being an expert in a niche was the key to getting published.

Explaining niche marketing is easy. But getting writers to see what niche they were already positioned to take advantage of-that was the hard part.

Now that I work with people who want to market on the internet, I hear the same questions. "I get what you're saying about targeting a niche. What I don't get is-- how do I find the niche that's right for me?"

The perfect answer to that question is an example that arrived in my mailbox today.

(I love direct mail advertising. It brings the best lessons in marketing direct to my door, all for free!)

Today's lesson came from a funeral home. They sent me a lovely, full-color print newsletter designed to inform me that they are my friendly, neighborhood burial service.

Ordinarily the owner of a funeral home would be the most likely person in a class to raise his hand and say "But how can I possibly market to a niche? Sooner or later, everyone needs a funeral home. My niche is everyone."

But the owner of the funeral home that sent me the newsletter doesn't need my class. I have nothing to teach him. He totally gets niche marketing.

His newsletter opens with a large, full-color photograph of his Harley Davidson-powered hearse. It's comprised of a huge, three-wheel Harley Davidson "trike" pulling a glass-sided wagon similar to the hearse wagons you see being used in movies about the Old West.

The Harley and wagon are both painted black with gold trim and fittings. Very classy. Very cool, if you're into hearses and motorcycles. And of course, the niche this funeral home is targeting is just that-people who are into motorcycles.

"The families we serve view funerals as a celebration of life and a way to honor what their loved ones enjoyed," the newsletter states. "We hear a lot of people say to their spouses "That's how I want to go" when they see the Harley hearse out at an event."

What sort of event? Motorcycle events, naturally, where this funeral home's target niche can see the unique hearse.

The article on the Harley hearse was followed by another article about a special service the funeral home provides for pet owners. The article says, "We understand how important saying goodbye is after the loss of a beloved pet," then goes on to explain the services it can provide, including pet cremation and memorialization.

While every other funeral home in my city is going after the all-inclusive market-i.e. dead people--this funeral home is setting t itself apart by making itself the "go-to guys" for two distinct niches, motorcycle riders and pet owners. Both are huge targets unto themselves. And both are niches whose members often feel their grief is minimalized or misunderstood when there is a death.

Could any funeral home in my city offer these same services? Yes. But did they think to target a niche and get their message out to it? No. That means the funeral home that targeted these niches and is getting the word out will, by virtue of being first, own the niche.

As a writer, I was often amazed at how easy it was for me to "own" a niche simply by going the extra mile, making myself a semi-expert by interviewing a few accredited experts before I approached a published. When publishers shouted with glee and whipped out contracts, I'd be thinking, "Wait a minute-isn't this too easy? Why doesn't everyone do this?"

I wouldn't be surprised if the funeral home that sent me the newsletter is in wonder at how easy it is to "own" the niches it has targeted. They probably ask themselves. "Why aren't our competitors aren't doing this? It's too easy!"

But my experience has been that most don't do it. They look at their broad market only. Then they stand among everyone else targeted that broad market and beg to be noticed. Many die trying.

Meanwhile, the people that target the niches clean up.

Everyone who is in business has a broad target. That main target can always be broken down into smaller niches. When you look for the niches that naturally exist within your main target and individualize your message for them, you, too, will start asking yourself, "Wait a minute. Is making money supposed to be this easy?"
 

 
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