Sound familiar? You have a limited marketing budget, but you need to make meaningful connections with your target audience. Adding to the challenge Jewelry Retouching is that your target audience is not known for its tech savvy. That's exactly the position Thao Le, vice president of marketing at Hyland's, set out to conquer when he was tasked with promoting the homeopathic medicine company's Hyland's Leg Cramps product to active Jewelry Retouching seniors. She never anticipated that the journey would lead to the creation of a hyper-niche content platform called the Pickleball Channel. Yes, pickleball! Within two years, the Pickleball Channel has become the world's largest medium for this quirky, tennis-like sport; he now has over 15,000 Facebook “likes” and over 1.2 million views.
The channel mainly features video content which includes advice on how to improve your game; player wellness and inspirational stories; and media coverage of pickleball tournaments and events. pickleball channel website “We knew we wanted Jewelry Retouching to engage more with baby boomers and active seniors,” says Thao. The first hurdle, however, was putting aside the assumption that targeting older people via digital content was a lost cause. Thao and his team, led by Rusty Howes (owner of Rumer Studios, and executive producer Jewelry Retouching and head of Hyland's Digital Media Lab), were convinced that there were active, tech-savvy seniors out there willing to engage with compelling and relevant content. The challenge was to identify content that would compel these seniors to tune in.
Turns out pickleball was the perfect fit. Building an engaged audience around a niche topic is why Thao was named a finalist for CMI's Content Marketer of the Year. Here are the lessons Thao and his team learned after determining (and then Jewelry Retouching convincing the company) that a relatively unknown sport could be the catalyst for niche content marketing success. Examples of Brands Offering Great Content Work with what you have Thao earned the nickname "mad scientist" several times during his 13 years at Hyland. She is keen to prove that a targeted Jewelry Retouching niche marketing campaign can score big engagement points. Fortunately, she says, its CEO has developed a high tolerance for guerrilla marketing tactics.