In the spectrum of personalized marketing, where general marketing sits at one and Account-Based Marketing (ABM) on the other, vertical marketing strategies position themselves somewhere around the middle. They are significantly more focused than widespread marketing techniques, yet not as customized as ABM approaches.
Rather than directing your marketing initiatives towards specific target accounts, you conduct research on a particular industry segment and orient your marketing strategy towards engaging and securing businesses from that sector.
What Constitutes a Vertical Marketing Strategy?
A vertical marketing strategy entails tailoring your content creation and delivery specifically towards the most suitable buyer segment for your business. This approach aims to draw these high-potential buyers into your marketing and sales pipeline, ultimately converting them into customers.
Rather than adopting a broad, horizontal marketing approach, vertical marketing strategies zero in on a specific, well-defined niche audience.
But, what exactly does 'vertical' mean?
'Industry' refers to a general category like healthcare, software, retail, or hospitality. 'Verticals' bring an additional layer of detail to these industry categories, providing more insights about the companies' operations, their target clientele, and their stage of development. (Vertical markets often closely resemble ideal customer profiles.) For instance, within the software sector, a possible vertical to target could be enterprise marketing technology.
Sharpening your focus on the types of companies you wish to address their challenges for can guide you towards these verticals. Your solution might be broadly applicable across an entire industry, but your primary target will be the subset with the most pressing need for your offering – making them the most straightforward group to sell to.
For example, if a company offering accounting software were to employ a horizontal marketing strategy, they might aim at in-house accountants in general. In contrast, a vertical marketing approach would see them targeting specifically accountants at mid-sized manufacturing firms in the United States, especially since their software offers unique features beneficial for managing the financial aspects of manufacturing supply chains.
Identifying Ideal Vertical Markets
To determine which verticals to focus on, it's essential to conduct a thorough investigation of your existing clients and the overall market you can address.
In case you already have a solid customer foundation, pinpointing the right verticals can be achieved by scrutinizing your existing customer information.
- Which kinds of businesses are your primary buyers?
- What similarities do these businesses share in aspects like sector, earnings, and scale?
- Among these business types, which ones find your offerings most appealing?
- Which categories of companies find your services most manageable?
However, for newer businesses lacking substantial historical data, building this definition isn't feasible by examining current clientele. In such cases, conducting market research is essential to identify who faces the issues your product or service addresses.
This investigation is vital not just for pinpointing the verticals to aim for, but also for gathering necessary insights to craft and share content with these groups.
- What topics are they looking up?
- What style of communication will strike a chord with them?
- Which platforms do they frequent?
- Which types of content do they favor?
Key Insights
Regardless of your company's size, resources for marketing and sales are always finite. Implementing a vertical marketing approach allows you to strategically allocate your efforts where they will yield the most significant results.
Moreover, by concentrating your marketing strategy on a specific vertical, you gain a deeper comprehension of the unique requirements of such businesses. This insight enables you to craft content that truly connects with these companies.
