What can 350 Travel Bloggers at #TBEX Girona Teach Brands About Targeting and Differentiation? And Brands Them?

Photo: http://www.only-apartments.com

This article discusses the importance of clear targeting and differentiation. It applies to anyone looking to connect with consumers, from part time travel bloggers through to the biggest brands in the world. 

Defining your target consumer and what you will uniquely offer to them are 2 of the most fundamental decisions that will drive your product, your promotion - and determine your chance of success. 

I am at a major travel blogging conference called TBEX (Travel Bloggers Exchange) in Girona Spain. Over 350 travel bloggers are attending this event. Up to 1000 are expected to attend the next event in the USA. It drove home to me just how popular travel blogging is. It also reminded me of how important it is for every company, every brand and even every blogger to focus on targeting and differentiation if they want to succeed in cluttered marketplaces.

The fact that TBEX attracts so many bloggers proves that it is a cluttered category with thousands of blogs covering the segment. It has really got me thinking again about the importance for every brand to be clear on who they are talking to, and what makes them different from all the others. Something that is easy for a travel blogger to forget as they excitedly blog away about their love of all things travel. Something that is also easy for brand owners to forget as they get on with making, selling and promoting the brand they love.

To illustrate how important it is, I am going to use the example of travel blogging to make the point. But the point applies to every brand in any segment.

There are at least 2 key questions that every brand, (and every travel blogger for that matter) needs to answer:

• Am I focused on a specific segment and target that I could take a leadership position with, or at least be a very major player within?
• The fact that 350 bloggers are at the European TBEX event illustrates how critical it is to ensure that each one has thought about what distinctive, differentiated or clear niche that they can own and lead. Just like every brand should do in the market they compete in.
• Bloggers, like brands, should be thinking about competing. Bloggers are competing for attention and visits. Just as brands are competing for attention and preference. 
• For example, instead of just trying to talk to people interested in travel, a travel blogger must target tighter and more clearly. They could, for example, target gap year backpackers, or new mums looking to travel with babies or over 60s adventure tourists or people interested in doing classic journeys on travel icons like Orient Express.
• In large markets, like travel, there is obviously an opportunity to segment the market and to talk to a defined group within it.  You should be able to get enough volume to make it worthwhile as the market is large. 
• You will also be more able to generate revenue from it, as you can also more clearly target companies that have products and services for that market. For brands that means more efficient marketing and better profits as they can reach and communicate more directly with a distinct group of people.
• It is better to be known and seen as a leader in a segment than a tiny generalist player in the total market. For example, the most visited and used blog for gap year backpackers will trump every time a blog with more visits in total - but with visitors that are fragmented across lots of interests, ages etc. The leading blog of a segment will not only appeal better to their readers but, as it can be more focused, it will also be more appealing to companies looking to reach that target.
• Bloggers and brands both need to have a clear and well defined target, and focus on the things that resonate with them. They both need to ensure they do not get sidetracked by what others are doing and chasing topics that are off that focal point.

• Am I different and unique from the others in my segment, and consistently ensuring that I am standing out from the crowd?
• In busy and popular markets there will be competition. There will be more than one blog targeted at gap year backpackers, new mums looking to travel with babies and over 60s adventure tourists. So defining your target is only the first step. The next is to figure out what makes you distinctive and unique.
• It can be challenging to define clearly what it is that sets you apart. It takes focus and strategic thinking. But it is essential that you define what it is that you do that will be unique and different to the any of the others that are competing in your segment. 
• To help you do that, there are 2 simple sentences that I have used over my years in marketing to help to find the answer. It is by working to complete 2 statements. If you can do that, and get sentences that you think are distinctive and unique for your segment, then you have a strategy to focus on to ensure you are consistently different and standing out in the crowd. The 2 statements are:
• “Only I ………” 
• “Unlike the others in my category, I …….”.

It will be interesting to see how many of the 350 bloggers at TBEX have a clear target and are clear about what makes them different. They will be easy to spot as they will stand out in the crowd when talking to other bloggers and brands exhibiting at the event. They will be the ones that get remembered. Proving the point!


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