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They love your niche. They read all the trade magazines, follow the websites, attend the conferences. . .They can cite comparative statistics on product performance, name the key people in your industry, and go head-to-head about which configuration is better, and why. Get them on your side, and they'll be not just fans but champions, ambassadors, even evangelists for you. But anger or even disappoint them, and they'll quickly become your sworn enemies.
They may or may not know your company, but they certainly know your top competitors.
Shel deliberately targeted this group when he wrote an article called "Cognoscenti vs. Hoi Polloi":
Yeah, the big words in the headline are on purpose. . .and very relevant. Cognoscenti are those in the know, the experts, connoisseurs (same route word, I believe---but French origin, rather than Italian). The secret society, if you will.
Hoi polloi are the rest of us, the masses. What Edward Bulwer-Lytton called "the great unwashed."
Sometimes you want to market to one, sometimes the other. There's actually a lot to be said for marketing to an in-group, especially if you don't have to pay to reach those not in your target audience. When you make your prospects feel special, they're more likely not only to do business with you, but to