When I grew up being called a geek or a nerd was a very negative thing. (See infographic below for the difference between the two.) Over the last several years, being called a geek has become a badge of honor, so much so that you can now geek out over your subject of choice. For instance:
- Food Geek or Foodie
- Film Geek
- Fixie Geek
- Architecture Geek
- SCUBA geek
What’s interesting about this is that the term has evolved into something that actually labels someone who is passionate about something other than popular culture. These people define a niche and make great target markets with the opportunity lying in your ability as a marketer (and hopefully member) to develop deep relationships. I’ve posted about Mountain Punks, Fixe Geeks and the goal of getting deep without destroying the niche. The Internet has enabled this type of self-identification and apps will really flesh out behavioral differences between these groups. Apps like Forkly are perfect for Foodies, while apps like Strava are meant for Cyclists. Genres of geeks are at the bottom.) Facebook knows they need to play with niches, since they’re currently the Walmart of social media and the 60 apps they chose to partner with, is the first step. TechCrunch recently posted about the rise of Interest-based Social Networks and people who share the same social objects are geeks.
So, if you’d like to make a lot of money and have passionate customers; target a niche your in. Reveal your inner geek and share the love!
