It’s a Man Thing

Stand out from the crowd with the right marketing savvy.

When your company is part of an industry that’s saturated with businesses like yours, how do you get noticed? It’s all about targeting a specific audience-finding a client base with a need you can meet and then getting the word out about what you have to offer.

The wedding industry is a classic example. Most wedding shops focus on the bride. But not TheManRegistry.com. The Man Registry, based in Shawnee Mission, Kan., is the world’s first gift registry for the groom, and it’s a booming business.

“I started to see a lot of my friends getting married, and just couldn’t get excited about buying them linens or other traditional registry items,” says Jimmy Horner, co-founder of the site. “I wanted to be able to get something that they would both use, such as a barbecue grill or sporting equipment.”

And you won’t find linens on this site. Instead, participants can register for guy-friendly items such as a 6-drawer tool chest, a 2-person tent and digital video cameras. In addition to the registry, the site also offers “Groom 101,” a collection of informational articles that address topics including “Popping the Question: Tips and Tricks” and “De-Stressing Before the Big Day.”

Approximately 250 couples have registered since the site launched in March 2008. “People really seem to like the idea because there’s nothing out there like it,” Horner says.

Whether you’re starting small or expanding an established company, follow the lead of TheManRegistry.com in making your business stand out:

Find a unique niche. The guys behind TheManRegistry.com saw their opportunity to target the groom-a previously ignored audience-and ran with it. They demonstrate exactly why it’s important to think outside the box when analyzing your target market. Is there an untapped audience that you could be reaching out to? What about a service that can be offered in an innovative way?

Do your homework. Researching your market is one of the most essential things. Once they selected their target audience, Horner and the other co-founders thoroughly researched the economy and all aspects of the wedding industry as a whole-not just the groom segment-to ensure their idea was feasible. “It’s a recurring industry with a new client base every year,” Horner says. “It’s recession-proof-people are still going to get married.”

Expand marketing efforts. Scope out opportunities to drive traffic to your business. “You have to look for different ways to bring in people from different areas,” Horner says. For example, readers can sign up to receive the site’s free monthly online newsletter, which contains links to articles on the site, top 10 registry products and polls. Couples that register on TheManRegistry.com between specific dates also have the chance to win a Nintendo Wii gaming system, a promotion that has increased participation on the site. Regardless of how you do it, the more you get your name out, the better.

Get online. There’s no doubt about it: The popularity of online networking is growing rapidly, thanks in no small part to its convenience. That’s why it’s important to establish a presence on these sites. TheManRegistry.com has capitalized on this by establishing a presence on popular sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Wedding Wire. Learn more about online networking .

Boost media coverage. To really expand awareness of your business, aim to increase media coverage by writing and sending out press releases to media outlets. Highlight something unusual or newsworthy about your business to pitch to reporters. That’s what Horner and his coworkers did. As a result, TheManRegistry.com has been featured in stories by ABC News, theknot.com, Entrepreneur magazine, The Kansas City Star and numerous blogs. Once TheManRegistry.com was mentioned in a few stories, other media outlets gained interest in covering the business. “We’ve gotten quite a bit of coverage in the media,” Horner says. “Oftentimes, one story leads to another.”

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...