Like Me, Like Me Not, Repeat

I've jumped on some social band-wagons of late, signed up, and out of a handful just to gauge their Niche/Focus strategies and compare them to what experts are saying… and of course the word “expert” comes with disclaimers. I've also jumped off quite a few...

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Here’s a phenomena, like most, that didn't materialize out-of-thin-air…social networking emanates from the diary, journal, scrapbook, fridge door, bulletin board… sounding boards for our own personal thoughts, wants, to-dos, keeping family, friends, even acquaintances in the know: what we’re doing, what we’re all about, our interests.

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For me and lots of people the beginnings grew out of the more deeply personal, private diary, evolving into the current inanimate telling/exchanges that are supported in real-time via binary code, symbols from 0 to 127. We friend, unfriend, tweet, now X, unfollow and discover, and like us, hundreds, thousands of our friends/acquaintances and strangers are similarly inquisitive collectors of people, conversations, pictures and memorabilia.

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Though many of us are still betwixt and between the pull of connection and the aversion to encroachment, we are aware that real privacy today, for most of us, is illusive. We can embrace a particular niche on social network depending on one’s interest, whether it's to keep in touch, join-up, express how we feel, now very publicly, ultimately turning our lives into an open book as self-publishers on Facebook, Twitter, now X, others, Linkedin, Pinterest, Google+ , YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr, Vine, Snapshot, Reddit, Flickr, Swarm, TVTag and Pheed and more… some likely out-dated!

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What’s a Niche/Focus Social Network Strategy anyway?

A Niche/Focus strategy is a marketing strategy that caters to a narrow market or industry segment. Linkedin is probably one of the few social networking sites whose focus is solely attentive to entrepreneurs, employers, self-employed professionals and businesses. We should add artists, writers, creators of all kinds. There are sub-groups that further demonstrate the site’s uniqueness. Pinterest categorizes sub-groups of interest which endlessly bifurcate into sub-categories. This is true, to an extent, of most social networking sites. And if you use Facebook you can create sub-groups with a niche/focus back and forth.

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The Niche/Focus social network isn't just for cat and dog lovers, gamers or pad flippers; it’s a place where businesses can connect and engage customers

We’re all niche-ing on Linkedin because of a business interest in meeting people in similar professions in order to make connections and share ideas. The original intent of the niche/focus network was to help business owners and marketers develop targeted social campaigns focused on engagement strategies that invite nichers to become future customers, partners, consultants or even employees. Of course within the site there are niches-within-niches: unique groups/subgroups, member and public groups in order to concentrate on particular interests, with a 50 group limit. And keeping in mind, you’re one of millions.

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Facebook, Twitter, Google+, ( which is caput now) most social networks are not niche/focus networks, but many out there are. Probably thousands of less known networks for cat and dog lovers or people who read and review books, survivalists, knitters, travelers, patients, women, shoppers, gardeners only social networking sites exist, and the list is growing… You can find a niche/focus social network to meet your particular interests at Convert ( which still exists) or you can create your own.

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Niche/Focus networking sites are havens for businesses to create “targeted engagement” strategies that attract users to their products. So, unlike the general marketing strategies of most big retailers, according to SnapApp.com, the “conversion rates for niches are higher, although there’s a smaller pool of leads.” For smaller businesses the concept of "insider" marketing creates personal connections in ways big retailers can't. Snap App has some excellent suggestions to build upon your audience and future customers.

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Snap App suggests the use of "insider" terms for keywords in mobile messaging, blogs and social media posts. Your customers will use those words in searching, and give you "street cred" for using them correctly. An example of this could be the use of #hashtags. Allowing and encouraging, sharing, reposting, retweeting and inviting friends to join your mailing list is how Niche consumers bring others into the fold. If you offer general products, break them down into several niches. Set up a mobile marketing campaign for each that capitalizes on the individual fan bases. Create an "elite" list, offering exclusive deals or events to the most die-hard fans of your product. This is all a simplification of social networking and its use as a connector and ultimately as a kind of home-away-from-home for customers.

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But truthfully I’m still remindful of how it all got started for me: my pink princess phone, the lined pages of my diary hidden in a night-stand, my pink Schwinn, a hornet panther starlet, ladies girls’ tank bicycle, with pink tassels. From dawn till dusk I’d ride, a gadabout in pigtails, pedal-pushers and a cotton shirt with pearl buttons. In summer I sped through the damp air, as a kind of neighborhood emissary, with gooey handlebars in hand from the orange sugary syrup of Dreamsicles, just to connect with neighbors and invite them to a neighborhood sale. I'm still more at home in this scene, remembered and cherished.

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