The Long Tail phenomenon - the fragmentation of markets into many small niches, creates exciting new opportunities for smart marketers.
Your first problem though is coming up with the data you need - traditional market research methods fail to deliver that data.
Surveying merely thousands of people is not enough since niches, by definition, would be represented by too few of the survey respondents. You need either a huge panel, or a standard one whose members are also members of some niche. In both cases, costs soar.
But hold on a second - how did you learn about the existence of that niche in the first place? You only asked the questions that you thought were important, so if you didn't know of a niche, respondents wouldn't be able to tell you about it. Even if some of them somehow did, then surveyors may not realize (or care) that the information is noteworthy.
So, in order to recognize new market niches for your current or future products, and to profile their members in order to position, place, price and promote your products correctly, you'll need a different kind of market research. It will have to be based on huge panels, to make sure that niches are well represented, and it will have to somehow point niches out to you, even though you didn't know that you needed to ask about them.
HiveSight is a uniquely Long Tail-friendly market research solution. First, our panel is huge, encompassing millions of Americans, so every odd niche interest is well represented. Second, our data is composed of what people tell the world of themselves, in their own words, so all those interests you've never heard of and would never have thought to ask about, come out.
Here's how it works: Our system automatically flags terms that are not yet recognizable. Our analysts then categorize those terms - giving them meaning. They have so far painstakingly categorized hundreds of thousands of such interests, and they're adding more each day. The result is a huge database of all the things that people do, care about, buy, listen to, watch, read, eat, drink, smoke, wear, play, drive and worship. In short, all that is human. It is all connected in intricate ways, and it's all laid out for you to learn from.
What will you learn about consumers today?
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