Last editedJun 20212 min read
When it comes to marketing to customers, surely the golden rule is to reach as many as possible? Not so with micromarketing.
Micromarketing definition
Micromarketing is, as the name implies, marketing on a micro scale. It’s also a type of target marketing. That means you don’t put out adverts and content in the hope of being all things to all men, rather, you carefully craft content that will directly speak to your chosen customer segment. A simple micromarketing definition would be “targeted marketing to a niche or specific group”, giving it a much narrower scope than traditional marketing.
Micromarketing examples
When a brand uses micromarketing, they first have to decide what customer range they are looking to target. This can be based on a range of attributes, including age, gender, or affluence. Some micromarketing examples include:
Red Bull
The popular energy drink may have started life as a beverage, but after targeting the young, extreme sports crowd who are always in need of extra energy, it’s now become a huge name in sports, too. After selecting young, extreme sport enthusiasts, Red Bull marketed to them directly by sponsoring the events they were most likely to attend, affiliating itself with everything from skateboarding to rock climbing.
Coca-Cola
You can’t get much more specific than the “Share a Coke” campaign. With individual names printed on every bottle, Coke’s micromarketing campaign not only targeted extremely specific customers per bottle – i.e., people called Chris – it also generated a real sense of exclusivity with every purchase. Plus, Coke didn’t damage its broader appeal, as everyone had a chance of finding their name.
Nike
Not every micromarketing technique has to be an expensive one-off ad campaign. When Nike started using plus-size mannequins in its stores, it did so to target customers that fit into this demographic, something competitors were not doing.
Micromarketing advantages and disadvantages
There are plenty of pros and cons of micromarketing, and you will have to consider all of them before deciding if this marketing method suits your business.
Micromarketing advantages
Highly targeted customer groups mean you can create very specific briefs and actions
As you are running smaller campaigns, the overall costs are also smaller
Assists with brand awareness through user-generated growth, i.e., if you appeal to your targeted group in a meaningful way, they will spread the word
Micromarketing disadvantages
It can take time to define your targeted group and research their needs
Despite being cheaper in general, it can be a pricier option overall considering fewer people are being targeted
Limited exposure – if you only target under 30s, for example, that’s several generations worth of customers you’re neglecting
Should my small business use micromarketing?
Micromarketing might be an excellent compromise if you don’t have a big enough budget to target a wider group of customers or if your offering is more likely to appeal to a niche group, e.g., vegan clean beauty. As a small business, you may also appreciate the structure this can give you. For example, rather than a ‘spray and pray’ approach where you target everyone and hope it sticks, knowing precisely who you’re targeting can help your team be more creative within a brief, which can help create a richer marketing campaign than striving towards universality.
We can help
GoCardless helps you automate payment collection, cutting down on the amount of admin your team needs to deal with when chasing invoices. Find out how GoCardless can help you with ad hoc payments or recurring payments.
