Marketing Plans for Niche Markets

Marketing a Water Transportation Business

The key to success in marketing a water transportation business is to combine time-tested marketing techniques with the most cutting edge strategies in today's marketplace.

Marketing is the bridge between an organization and its customer base. Build your bridge poorly and you'll quickly find your water transportation business cut off from the marketplace.

In a growth-oriented business, marketing has to be seen as a core business activity. The good news is that good marketing is achievable by any water transportation business with a strong value proposition and a desire to achieve a visible market presence.

Social Media Monitoring

The use of social media as a marketing tool is the latest wave to overtake the small business community. Combined with a functional company website, social media attracts new customers and converts them to brand advocates. Social media can quickly go negative, turning brand advocacy into "badvocacy", a scenario in which consumers and users create content deriding your company and your products. Most water transportation businesses have too much at stake to ignore derogatory social media mentions. To counter negative social media, you'll need to monitor your brand's online presence and enter the conversation, redirecting negative discussions toward more positive topics.

Technological Expertise

The PR and marketing community has embraced technology with open arms, transforming basic marketing concepts into sophisticated, tech-driven systems and solutions. One of the things that needs to be considered by water transportation businesses is the use of technological solutions to connect with customers, boost visibility and exploit weaknesses in the marketplace. Despite the initial cost associated with many technological solutions, the long-term payoff for the right technologies almost always outweighs the upfront expense.

Niche Marketing

Niche marketing is strategy that focuses on a subsection of the larger market. This can be especially useful for water transportation businesses that need to be profitable in a small slice of the market. Niche marketing isn't new. It's been around for years and has proven to be most effective for firms that understand their key strengths and core audience.

Furthermore, niche marketing means tailoring resource acquisitions to the needs of your market segment. For example, top providers can focus mailing lists to the specific requirements of your market niche.

Share this article


Additional Resources for Entrepreneurs

Lists of Venture Capital and Private Equity Firms

Franchise Opportunities

Contributors

Business Glossary