One result of the publishing industry’s growing pains is a plethora of new terminology. Like “vertical community.” I’m not sure who initially coined the term, but the concept behind it is fascinating, and one I’ve been thinking about lately.
Apparently, marketing widely, to reach as broad an audience as possible (would this be horizontal marketing?), is part of the old model. In its place is marketing vertically – reaching more deeply into a “narrower,” more specific, audience or reading community. So instead of a mass mail approach, the author should first identify their niche and then dig in: develop friendships, support others’ efforts, familiarize themselves with the “language” of the community, contribute to the niche “culture,” build a fellowship of readers / followers, and stoke their enthusiasm. It’s about relationships, not numbers.
A vertical fan base is made by digging in rather than spreading out.
Call it hair-splitting, if you like. But it makes a lot of sense and raises some questions about genre niches and niche marketing. For instance, building a “vertical fan base” assumes that there are more people in a niche than meets the eye, or that there is more energy in a fan base than what has been harnessed. Think of it in terms of website “lurkers.” Do you have any of these folks? They show up in your stats, read your stuff, watch the conversation, but they never join in. Until one day, they pop in and say…
“…first time, long time.”
So what brought them out of the shadows? Usually, this is slightly different than what brought them to your website in the first place. And this is the difference between traditional marketing and the more vertical approach. Those differences might look something like this:
| HORIZONTAL MARKETING |
VERTICAL MARKETING |
| Broadening your audience | Deepening your audience |
| Acquiring new readers | Engaging existing readers |
| Spreading out | Digging in |
| Increasing numbers | Increasing passion |
The point is obvious: We must distinguish between getting people to our website and keeping them there, attracting readers and engaging them. Both are important. But garnering more traffic is just the first step to thinking vertically. Website optimization, interesting topics, compelling headlines, and great content are important. But they’re just the first part. Verticality is about building relationships with our readers and tapping their passions; it’s about drawing them out of the shadows. A vertical fan base is not measured in terms of how many people know about you, your book, or your website, but about how passionate, supportive, intrigued by, and “committed” to you they are. It’s really a whole other way of thinking.
* * *
QUESTION: Are you more of a Horizontal marketer or a Vertical marketer? Can you think of some other differences between a Horizontal and a Vertical approach to blogging? What are some ways that a blogger can better tap the enthusiasm and passion of their readers?
I think this is why commenters are a good indication of a blogger’s real fan base. These readers are no longer “lurking.” They have surrendered their anonymity, in a sense. This is a big step for a lot of people.
You’re probably right. I still get first-time commenters who begin, “I’ve been reading your blog for a while now…” and I puff up a little. Seriously, there is an “anonymity threshold” that, once one crosses, may signal something good for a blogger / author.
Blogging for a writer is a little different than business but the same principles apply. Part of my freelance work is in helping businesses make their social media investment pay off. Most concentrate on one of these to the exclusion of the other. Either they are so vertical they miss out on the 3rd and 4th generation visitors that will find their site over time or they are so horizontal there’s is nothing there with enough depth to interest anyone for very long. Here is what I mean by generations of followers:
1st Gen – Visit your site because of personal awareness.
2nd Gen – These are the friend of a friend type visitors. Direct links on other sites, “likes” on Facebook, tweets, etc… Google searches for specific things you happen to cover.
3rd Gen – No direct connections at all. These are people who find you by what some would call accident. Smart social media people know how to create these accidents.
4th Gen – The true accidental visitor. Maybe they just like to read and stumble across you because they were bored one day and thought they would see what Google might offer up as a gift.
Like good discipleship there is no doubt a wise writer will concentrate on the groups one and two but will always keep groups three and four in mind. There is no doubt you are on the right track Mike.
I have lurkers….and a handful of faithful commenters either on the site or through email/twitter/facebook. Heh..if I was more interesting they would come.
Mike,
As an advertising professional, the topics you’re exploring here are very relevant. Have you read anything by Seth Green? His book “Permission Marketing” is very good.
Consider checking out this article too :http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/03/1000_true_fans.php
It explores focusing on the benefits of having “1000 True Fans” … a core group of dedicated enthusiasts versus a huge audience of mildly interested onlookers.
Dave
Thanks for the link to that article! Not only will it be fodder for an article I’m working on for a client but it’s food for thought for all genre writers. In this age of hyper-specialization writers need to more aware than ever of who their target audience is. And, how to nurture them.
No, I haven’t read anything from that author, Dave. I think I first heard the “vertical” term applied to publishing by Mike Shatzkin. Thanks for the link!
I’m so far out in left field that marketing becomes a an almost impossible puzzle to put together for me. How do I reach an audience? What kind of audience do I want, when I write Christian spec fic, but I spend most of my spare time studying British enlightenment? How do I meld my diverse interests?
Your blog is a curiosity to me because you don’t have a large # of blog followers, but you have a dedicated readership. I found your blog through Twitter (I think so, anyway!). In any case, I was both interested and fearful at the same time to realize you write Christian supernatural, because competition has that kind of effect on most people. The market is so small, and will there be room for more? So Twitter=horizontal. Your focus on the genre=the beginning of vertical. Your style of blog posts=a deeper vertical. Personally, I enjoy being hooked by debates. I don’t prefer giving polite responses on blogs.
Jill, before you answer the “How do I reach an audience” question, you must answer the “What kind of audience do I want to reach” question. My initial observation would be that there’s a kind of cognitive dissonance between your interests in “British enlightenment” and “Christian spec fic”. Not that you can’t pursue both, but that finding an audience for both on the same blog might be hard.
“Your blog is a curiosity to me…” Ha! Trust me, it is to me too. I did not not start with a marketing background, computer skills, or a platform of any sort. I’ve just persevered and tried to keep things interesting. And know I have a LONG way to go. I believe the adage about “good content.” Many of my posts take hours to write. Seriously. Call it OCD or Pharisaical nitpicking. But I just can’t seem to shake it. And, oh, I’m not afraid of controversy and debate (which, as you pointed out, is one of the reasons you like to visit). I’ve said this before, but I feel like many Christian writing blogs are a dime a dozen; we Xian bloggers are kind of homers, shills, afraid to bite the hand that feeds, overly-polite, and, in a way, dishonest. No — I’m not promoting rudeness (at least, not intentionally). I prefer to think I’m promoting honesty. However, I can only conclude that being open about problematic elements of Christian fiction has generated some readers (and probably, some enemies).
Anyway, I appreciate you reading this blog, Jill… even if you “don’t prefer giving polite responses.” 😉
“Many of my posts take hours to write.”
It shows and how I wish I had that same kind of time (or drive, or ability to function without sleep…). You are definitely seeing the fruits of your labor, which has to be exciting.
And funny you say that about dishonesty. I was listening to Alistair Begg yesterday, and he was speaking of those who make it seem as if all your troubles will go away if you accept Jesus and become a Christian. He said those who white wash the Christian experience and portray it as all good with no bad are lying, and they will have to answer for it on judgement day. Whoah. Those are hard words to swallow, but they resonated, I think because of the white washing I’ve seen in Christian art. It has always irritated me but I didn’t know why. After hearing Alistair’s words, now I know why.
It takes me hours to write a quality blog post, too. Hence, my lack of quality blog posts. At least I know I’m not the only one who doesn’t seem to flow w/ naturally perfect sentences and arguments.
I was both interested and fearful at the same time to realize you write Christian supernatural, because competition has that kind of effect on most people. The market is so small, and will there be room for more?
I heard an interesting quote the other day that I plan to use often in my life as a writer–if only to myself and my friends.
“A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.”
I think it’s appropriate in the world of writers where so many are so wary of others, viewing those others’ success as a potential barrier to their own.
A fellow blogger once said in her email newsletter that one should not leave comments just to garner more readers, but drop comments like gifts, sincere offerings of friendship. That being said, I am a little bit of both in the marketing. I would love more readers, but I want to engage the people who come back, include them in discussions, and really get to know them in line with my brand. But I also want to engage new readers, bloggers, and network friends to build a community rather than just build numbers.
This was a fascinating analysis. I never really thought about the differences between the two types before. As you said, we want to increase traffic but ENGAGING is another whole ball game.
I think I fall into the vertical category. I don’t have a lot of people who comment on my site, but those who do happen to be people/readers who I’ve gotten to know very well. They are all so awesome and they’re really sweet about spreading word about my new projects. I would love to broaden my audience and discover new readers, but right now I really enjoy having the opportunity to get to know them personally. It’s possible that my Twitter relationship is more horizontal, but I think my FB model is vertical too. I guess that fits my personality best.
You could be immediately a little more horizontal by typing in your link w/ your name. I like clicking to discover new blogs. 🙂
Jill,
Yikes, I did have a link attached to my name. I guess the computer-imps deleted it. Argh. Well, hopefully it will show up this time. A slew of bizarre errors seem to crop up whenever I post using my iPad. Sometimes it changes my name to Merriest and I don’t catch it. Sigh.
Thanks for helping me pay some bills through an idea you spurred on through this post. Here is a section of an article I just sold that addresses what you are talking about here. Your commission check is in the mail 🙂
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A term from neuroscience is “reticular activating system.” RAS has to do with the concept of selective attention, meaning we naturally gravitate toward information or ideas that we are invested in. This is illustrated by what happens amidst the den of jumbled conversations in a crowded room. For some time you process nothing from the conversation outside your immediate sphere until someone mentions your name or something that is meaningful to you. Suddenly, that conversation of interest has our brains interest and thus ours.
Think of the internet like a giant network of muddled conversations. Your task is to write about topics and use keywords that raise the RAS factor for visitors. Adults, in particular, are much more interested in content that addresses an immediate problem or need. If you want your social media content to be heard amidst the jumble of competing content, get specific and target a specific audience. The more relevant your content is to that group of people, the greater attention it will receive.
Once you have captured that group the process of organic growth of your internet presence takes off. That loyal group of followers will spread the word through social media in ways you have neither the time nor resources to accomplish.
Tim,
I missed commenting on your reply to me left in another post. What I was going to say was “anyone who butts heads with me is in very good company” and that I don’t hold grudges about head-butts. But I do thank you for your nice agreement on the latter post.
What you say here is very prescient for the marketing of social media and those who use their blog to that direction.
Thanks Katherine. Truth is I agree with a lot more of what is said around here that it may appear but somebody has to be fly in the ointment.
I feel sort of guilty, because in the seven years I’ve been blogging I’ve never really cared that much about building a brand or creating an audience. For me it’s always been about having two things:
1) a public space
For a writer like me who loves the craft but fears taking her work public, this has been a very good way to develop a number of callouses and grow into the idea of publishing widely.
2) A “truth” space
I know that all fiction is a sort of therapy for the writer. But I’ve read literally hundreds of stories which are ruined by the authors’ needs to put a sort of message or personal therapy session in their work at the expense of character and plot. Having a place where I deal with my waking, true self keeps my writing less tainted by the preaching. (And when I say “preaching” I don’t just mean with Christian fiction. Some of the worst offenders to my mind have been Michael Crichton, Bernard Cornwell and Patricia Cornwell.)
Because I respect the fact that people take their precious of gift of time to read my blog–time they could be doing an infinite number of other activites–I can’t see them as “fans” but as “friends” of a sort. I’ve managed to cultivate a nice stable of friends, and that to me personally is a much greater gift than Brand Building, etc. Not that there is anything inherently wrong with those marketing concepts, but I just would rather “be” than “do” when it comes to the blog.
Katherine, whatever you feel about blogging or brand building, I think you have a lot to offer and personally get a lot out of your comments. How that translates into a fan base I have no idea. But I really appreciate your comments here.
Mike, thank you for saying that. I appreciate both your kindness and patience. 😉
Great advice. Knowing WHAT to do is the first step. Knowing HOW to do it is the next. On my part, this HOW has become a big learning curve, harder than the writing by far. That’s not “me” but it will have to be if I want to see my work read by anyone.