Micromarketing is a type of marketing strategy that has to do with targeting specific customers within a niche market. The approach will often use many of the strategies that are employed in target marketing in general, in that the marketer will take into account specific attributes that set the targeted customer apart from other types of clients. One of the key differences is that target or niche marketing seeks to focus on reaching a particular group of consumers within that market, while micromarketing requires personalizing marketing methods to reach a specific client.
With micromarketing, the approach calls for getting to know the client’s needs, likes, and dislikes very well. This makes it easier to match that consumer with the goods or services that are being offered. The approach is often successful because the client receives a sense of being important to the marketer and sees the efforts to connect as being on a more personal level rather than a general one.
Small businesses often use micromarketing as a means of establishing and growing a client base with a defined geographical area. For example, a small grocery store chain with outlets in three different cities could go with the more common approach of carrying the same produce in each store. With a micromarketing approach, each store would carry a core group of fresh produce, but would augment it with other produce that is of particular interest to consumers who frequent those individual stores.
Another example of micromarketing is found within the real estate industry. A local realtor who develops a reputation for working with properties within a specific price range typically also understand the needs and wants of potential buyers who can afford homes within that price range. From there, the realtor will look at the individual needs and wants of a specific client within that larger demographic and seek to help that client find a home that fulfills the needs and as many of the wants as possible, while still focusing on homes that the client can afford.
Of all marketing approaches, micromarketing is possibly the most personal of all approaches. Moving beyond the tighter focus of niche marketing, this strategy goes all the way to the individual consumer within that niche market, and establishes a working relationship that is likely to work when other less personal approaches fall short. While small businesses have used this basic technique long before the term was ever coined, many larger companies now also try to utilize this approach to build stronger connections with their clients that ultimately benefit everyone concerned.
