I’m a foodie at heart. There is little else that makes me happier than pictures of rich, delicious food with step-by-step direction of how I can make it appear in front of me.

Naturally, my favourite online sites are food blogs and I am often searching for new recipes and inspiration. One day I made an amazing discover: Food blogs of compiled food blogs. It was life-changing! There is row upon row of food in seemingly never-ending pages.

My favourites are foodgawker.com

punchfork.com

and tastespotting.com

Food bloggers form quite a tight-knit community and often reference each other in their own blogs (with the majority never ever meeting each other face to face!). For instance, a well-known food blogger’s husband died last fall and she dedicated a peanut butter chocolate pie, his favourite dessert, blog to him. Before I knew it, the majority of food blogs I viewed that week were chocolate peanut butter pies or variations of it all dedicated to this food blogger to offer their condolences and support.

So how is this related to eMarketing?

Some companies have started to advertise on these food blogging sites. By putting up ads on sites that a particular niche consumer visits, businesses are able to target an individual that would be interested in their product. Perhaps your company sells a particular knife set whose sales would benefit from putting your product in front of those eyes. Or perhaps you could endorse an influential food blogger by giving her a set.

Here is the point: targeting sites your consumers visit is the most effective use of advertising dollars. Whether you sell premium whisky or energy conserving light bulbs, do not just throw ads up everywhere, but dig deep and discover where your niche customer goes. It may not be enough to place that light bulb ad in a general hardware site, but go a step further to place it on a site that provides environmentally friendly, cost-saving tips around the home. Be focused!