Quirky = Sales?

It’s a massive challenge to get the success we need in business. We can hit upon a billion dollar idea we think has legs and it can sink without a trace, yet we take a common notion that seems to catch the right wave and takes off. It is difficult to find any sense of rhyme or reason why a business can be so popular or not with consumers. Apart from the marketing techniques you can implement, and staff performance tactics, it is the idea itself that it all boils down to. Which is why it begs the question, does having a “quirky” business translate into success?
To begin with, let’s define what “quirky” means in this context. You see many businesses that stand out from the crowd and have a premise that really sets themselves apart from the rest. There is nothing bad about this at all, we are all trying to set ourselves apart from our competitors in one way or another, whether this is by making our website different and bold, or by selling products that corners a different market. The issue that may occur in this instance, when selling to a niche corner of the market could be the longevity of the business. Selling a product for a niche market is an excellent way to boost sales at the start, but as time wears on, you need to find ways to appeal to more people, people who would not necessarily buy your product because of its “nicheness.” By doing this, you are backing yourself into a corner somewhat which can hamper any sense of longevity. An option to counteract this is to sell your product further afield. For example, if you are only making the most of shipping items within your country, if you start to widen your scope, the opportunities will present themselves a lot more by going worldwide. By doing this, you will need the manpower to sustain it, which is difficult if you are operating under a startup guise, and that leaves you in a Catch-22 scenario. You need to support the amount of product demand, but do not have the funds to support your workforce to meet the demand. Whichever way you view it, thinking widescreen is a necessity, especially if you are selling products purely via the internet, which many companies are now doing.
If you have a quirky business idea that you believe in and want to get it off the ground, the best starting point is to test the market. Market research is worth its weight in gold, and it is a common business practice to get a true picture of the market you are aiming for. There are businesses that have a massive quirk factor in the world, and these range from having a “professional nagger” pester you to do things to sending a box of poop in the post to someone you really hate! These are both businesses that are doing very well for themselves, so you need to ask yourself why. The concepts for these two businesses are as far from the norm as you can imagine but look at it from the perspective of the need for the product. Breaking down the “professional nagger” role, who needs to be nagged? People who procrastinate. The target market is people who put things off or are lazy, and this is something that we all are guilty of doing. It is a human trait that we suffer from, which makes it identifiable. The sending a box of poop? Again, it’s a human need. One of the worst things in the world, packaged and sent to someone you really hate. The need for this product is that we want to show someone how much we don’t like them. And to add to this, it is anonymous, which again adds another angle to the need of this product in your life. Human interest makes the product an essential addition to your life, and this is what marketing campaigns do so well.
Once a product becomes marketable, this is where a marketing plan comes into play. The plan is something you can figure out in advance, especially when you know your product inside out and you know the target market. While marketing takes many forms, from the standard adverts, posters, or social media advertising, as a business that is, by all intents and purposes, a little off center, you can afford to play up to the image. Many acts of promotion work in tandem to your big marketing campaigns. For example, you can go for cap options from Dynamic Gift, with your business logo on it, and items of clothing have been a popular method of getting a business name out there. It is part of the branding of many companies, and it can be a very successful method, especially if it is seen in the right context. Surfing gear is a niche market, but it caters to a specific and dedicated audience, and clothing is worn by all people, isn’t it?! So it becomes a great little hook to hang your advertising campaign on. Other tie-in products to your marketing campaign can be things that you wouldn’t normally perceive as one. A great example for the smartphone generation is a podcast. Creating a podcast is a very simple process for a prospective return, but you need to invest time in building up a fan base. And podcasts are a great way to spend time on a subject instead of using quick 30-second commercials to promote a product. For a quirky business premise, a podcast means you can delve into the “quirky” subject matter, potentially winning over new customers!
An original business premise is a valuable currency, but it requires a keen business eye to get it off the ground and to stay there. The notion of quirky business ideas is a great thing to give your company a different audience, but it’s the strategies behind it that are still traditional and will continue to be in this vein for some time to come.