The riches are in the niches! 🙃 Even though many marketers are tasked with targeting a broad market, if your marketing efforts are too wide, you will waste a lot of marketing resources on the wrong audience. It's like casting a massive net into the ocean and pulling up random junk instead of the treasure that you seek. Worst of all, your ideal customers won't even know your product was made for them and that even you're talking to them!

At AssetMule, we took a niche, vertical-specific approach. We initially launched focused on solving sales asset creation issues for single product marketers at smaller B2B software companies within the United States (mostly). There were a few other segmentation criteria that we used to curate our initial audience.

Most startups should take a vertical marketing/GTM approach initially however larger companies should also have vertically-focused teams.

Introducing B2B Vertical Marketing - a hyper-focused, niche approach for marketers! It’s all about focusing your efforts on a specific industry or niche, creating tailored messages that speak directly to the hearts (and wallets) of your target audience.

Sounds awesome, right? Let’s break it down

B2B Vertical Marketing 101

Vertical marketing is a strategy where you aim your efforts at a specific sector, like software, healthcare, finance, education, or manufacturing. Instead of trying to appeal to everyone (a recipe for blandness 😐), you get laser-focused on one industry’s needs, challenges, and goals 🎯.

Think of it like hosting a wedding party. You’re not just inviting random people off the street; you’re curating the perfect VIP guest list and tailoring the vibe to make them feel right at home.

Here are some examples of popular vertical markets 👇

What's cool is that it gets even better. You can be even more focused by segmenting your approach to target "sub-verticals" which are more specific niche markets within a broader industry vertical.

For example, if "food and beverage" is a vertical, then "organic foods" is a sub-vertical within that category.

Here are some examples of popular sub-vertical markets 👇

Why Deploy a B2B Vertical Marketing Strategy

Taking a vertical-focused approach allows you to be more effective and personalized. Ultimately it creates a better customer experience for your buyer. Here are some key strengths of vertical marketing:

1. Hyper-Relevant Messaging: You’re not saying generic stuff like “Our product is great!” Instead, it’s more like, “Hey, product marketers at growth stage software companies, here’s how our AI tool can reduce your time-to-market by 40%.”
2. Become Trusted Industry Expert: Knowing your customer’s industry inside and out makes you look like the expert they’ve been searching for.
3. Stronger Connections: When you’re dialed into one sector, it’s easier to build relationships and partnerships. You’re speaking their language!

Examples of B2B Vertical Marketing in Action

Here’s how brands crush it with vertical marketing:

• Slack (Vertical: Engineering Teams): Slack’s “Where Work Happens” campaign isn’t just workplace chatter. They specifically tailor messages for industries like software development, showing how Slack simplifies workflows for busy engineering teams.
• HubSpot (Vertical: Marketing Agencies): HubSpot positions itself as a must-have CRM tool for agencies by offering features and content specific to marketing pain points like client management and ROI tracking.
• Salesforce (Vertical: Financial Services): Salesforce crushes vertical marketing by creating industry-specific CRM solutions for finance professionals, complete with compliance-friendly features and integrations.
• LinkedIn (Vertical: Recruitment and HR): With tools like LinkedIn Recruiter and targeted ads, LinkedIn is a go-to for HR pros and recruiters. Their vertical marketing makes sure their messaging is spot-on for hiring needs.

How to Execute B2B Vertical Marketing

Here are some steps to apply vertical marketing for your business:

1. Pick Your Niche: Look at your customer base. Which industry gives you the most revenue at the highest margin? Focus there.
2. Understand Their Pain Points: Research what keeps them up at night. Then, craft solutions to make their lives easier.
3. Create Tailored Content: One-pagers, blogs, whitepapers, videos, podcasts - whatever you do, make it laser-focused. Talk their talk. Speak their language.
4. Network in Their World: Attend industry events, join online communities, and stay visible in their ecosystem. For example, if you're in B2B GTM Tech, Pavilion is an awesome community to join.

B2B Vertical Marketing Is All About Relevance and Personalization

In today’s noisy market, vertical marketing is a critical strategy to standing out. By going niche, you’re not just another vendor shouting into the void (and on LinkedIn 📢!) you’re the go-to expert for your ideal customers and for professionals within your industry's ecosystem.

So, what’s your B2B vertical? Pick your lane, and let’s go deep, narrow, and personalized!

If you have any questions about B2B vertical marketing, sales assets, or product marketing -- please reach out to me or my Co-Founder Justin Dorfman!