In the past year, we’ve seen how larger companies are embracing niche media and turning to their customer community for insight. We’re seeing a major shift away from mass marketing to more niche campaigns. From the Pepsi Refresh project to Ford’s Fiesta movement, larger corporations understand that direct niche marketing will lead to direct sales and more word of mouth buzz about their brand.

We can all agree that commercials don’t have the same effect as they once did. And why would they? We have the option of ignoring them with DVR and Hulu. When the message is no longer getting across, companies need to find a new way to send it. Enter Niche Social Media Marketing. What are your customers saying about you? About your competition? By joining the conversation you’re not only giving a voice to your brand; you’re also creating a presence online that is transparent and real.

Why is it important to focus on your niche market? The answer may be obvious, but we still see plenty of companies ignore their faithful clientele. This is not only a concern for brand loyalty, but potential sales as well. In a recent survey, conducted by Nielsen on global online consumer behavior, they found that 90% of buyers ask for recommendations from friends before making their purchase. 70% look at online reviews and customer opinions before they buy as well. Granted this survey only asked about 25,000 people, these statistics prove that word of mouth marketing matters.

Influencing potential customers through niche social media is the future of marketing and has ultimately replaced mass media promotion. It’s only a matter of time before we start seeing tailored campaigns speaking directly to individuals (i.e Facebook sidebar ads). Small is definitely the new big and embracing niche media marketing is definitely the way to go.

1) Market Research

Who’s consuming your brand? Who is your target demographic? What are you competitors doing different than you? Each of these questions can be answered utilizing the social web. For instance, let’s say you own a clothing line and would like to drive more potential customers to your website. You already have a Twitter account and Facebook fan page, but you don’t feel like they’re growing fast enough. You look at your competitors and notice that they’re fan pages and Twitter activity are growing exponentially. Why is this the case? I don’t the answer, but I can give you the solution. Do a competitive analysis between your pages/accounts and the others. Now, look at how your competitors fare against even larger brands. I guarantee you’ll notice similarities (contests, games, fan interaction etc…) that will give you insight on how to improve your social brand. I’m not saying blatantly copy your competitors Social Media strategy, but utilize these networks to discover untapped research.

2) Social Marketing

So the real reason businesses are so intrigued by social media is the marketing aspect. Being able to talk directly to your customers (and potential consumers) instantly is amazing. Companies are literally shifting their marketing dollars from traditional to new media marketing relying heavily on Social Media. Often times, the amount of spend is lower and more efficient than traditional billboards, magazine ads and TV commercials. When designing Social Media Marketing strategies, it’s important to keep in mind the process is ongoing and won’t without interaction. Simply setting up a Facebook and Twitter account doesn’t mean you’ve embraced Web 2.0.

3) Customer Relations

We’ve all heard that “Content is King,” but I’d like to add that “Conversation is Queen.” At the end of the day, we’re basically just talking to our customers. The worst thing you can do is ignore your customers. It’s almost the equivalent to asking them not to buy your brand. When companies reward their consumers and acknowledge their loyalty, we start to see brand allegiance. Consumers will then start to go out of their way to make purchases with your company. Amazon.com has proven this theory successful in their attempts to socialize the online shopping experience. Offering solid recommendations and rewarding frequent users has become a staple to their success. Jeffery Gitomer put it best in his book: Customer Service Is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless.

4) Reputation Management

Social Media makes every company accountable for their transparency, therefore it’s imperative that you start thinking about reputation management. What are people saying about your company online? How are you perceived by your customers? How do I get rid of that negative stuff about my company on Google? Each of these are valid questions that exist when thinking about reputation management. Social Media Monitoring is one of the most important tools when dealing with reputation management (Lucky for you I made a list of 7 superb monitoring tools) They alert you whenever your company or brand is mentioned online. Staying on the pulse of your online presence will allow you to be the first to respond to your brand. Rapper Kanye West has managed his personal brand effectively this way. Most of his fans turn to his blog to get the real answers, instead of listening to whats reported about him on the news. The fact that he’s built up this authentic rapport online has allowed him to be his own publicist.

My initial reaction to the story was shock, in finding out how successful varying facets of marketing can be in a short period of time. From the celebrity endorsements to 24 hour news coverage, the combination of effective media influences created an overwhelming response and incredible humanitarian effort.

As for the author, Dan Polatta, and his belief in the importance of awareness for Non-Profits, I completely agree. Polatta emphasized that if we replicate the response for Haiti in marketing and advertising for all human tragedies, we’ll see impeccable growth in the non-profit sector. After a recent interview on MTV about the aftermath of Haiti, Rapper Lil Wayne said “It’s amazing what’s been done for Haiti, but it’s amazing what hasn’t been done for New Orleans.” This made me question the theme of Polatta’s article and whether Wayne was referring to the lack of media coverage and it’s effect on the rebuilding of New Orleans. It’s hard to compare the two natural disasters since one took out a whole country and another a U.S. city. But I do think the correlation between media coverage and government assistance exists and was made poignantly in Wayne’s comment.

In regards to the overall Haiti relief effort, it’s pretty amazing how far we’ve come in terms of donating money and the technologies available to us. The fact that organizations such as Red Cross and Wyclef’s YELE Haiti Foundation allowed individuals to text their donations was huge. Hopefully this trend continues and we’re able to give even more back to the organizations that need it.