The Marketing to One

Whether it is wearable tech or consumer electronics, are we entering a time of marketing to one?

The Verge has an article about the impact of Kickstarter on CES in Vegas this week. The most telling quote, “If Sony sold 85,000 watches, we’d call it a failure. When Pebble does it, it’s a rousing success.” Think about that.

For a billion dollar LEC, 20,000 customers is barely noticed. For a regional or niche player, 20K customers is Huge! For a Hosted UC company like M5 Networks, just two thousand customers was enough.

Call it niche marketing if you want. But smart companies realize that not everyone is their customer.

Today, you can market directly to your target audience via direct mail and online. With LinkedIn, recruiters are able to target the best candidates. With Facebook, companies can use pictures of your friends to get you to notice them. With platforms like Kickstarter, only those interested (and invested) get the messages.

Everything about marketing is changing. Google’s algorithm changes are making SEO more challenging. The costs of keyword advertising has risen for the most common tech and telco terms. But shifting from all to some, telling a story that resonates with a few instead of a lot – is the way of the future.

More telcos should try it.

Tags: marketing
Related tags: marketing, customers