Micro vertical
One process plus one product family (or one end-market) in. A short list and one dinner-test vocabulary out. It is not a problem that the slice is rigid and small. "Manufacturing ERP" is sludge. This page is how we stay narrow on purpose.
This is a GTM motion inside the existing catalog. It does not mint a
new M1_Vx. Canonical verticals and proof-transfer still live in
market verticals. A campaign
slice that works can be promoted later through the sales vertical
workflow. Until then it is a list and a language, not a new
registry row.
Why small is the design
A 50–500 plant does not buy "plastics software." The owner of a pipe extruder and the owner of a medical molder do not live the same Friday. When we widen to share a landing page, the scene dies, the association room is wrong, and proof from one process is quoted as if it transferred.
| Wide (failure) | Micro (this page) |
|---|---|
| Manufacturing / "process manufacturers" | One catalog vertical, then a tighter slice |
| Plastics | Pipe extrusion, or medical injection, or industrial rotomold tanks |
| One website, one sequence, seven NAICS | One association, one expo, one scene, one list |
| Proof from "a manufacturer like you" | Proof from the same physics, comparability disclosed |
| Language: efficiency, digital, AI | Language: that cell, that spec, that Friday |
The catalog already treats a vertical as the smallest reusable unit of operating physics. A micro-vertical is smaller still: same physics, plus a product family or regulated end-market so the rooms and the sentences match. Rigidity is how we pass the dinner test. Small TAM is acceptable. A clever sentence that fits nobody is not.
M1 is already the vertical-core motion. This page stops us from running M1 as a generic plastics blast.
1. Pick the slice (do not invent a vertical)
Stay inside an active catalog vertical unless a person has opened a
testing one.
| Catalog vertical | Example micro-slice (campaign, not a new ID) | Why it is tight |
|---|---|---|
M1_V1 extrusion | Industrial pipe and profile (326122 is already the catalog's anchor product segment) | Pipe vs film vs jacketing are different Fridays |
M1_V2 injection molding | ISO 13485 / medical molders, or specification-driven industrial molders | Medical quality record vs automotive PPAP vs plumbing fixtures |
M1_V3–V7 | Only if that vertical is the live experiment | Do not "also do rubber this quarter" from this page |
A slice needs all of:
- Physics we model — process we actually sell.
- A room they already sit in — one association or one show (see Expo signal research).
- A sentence a peer would say at dinner — not a category slogan.
- A list we can finish — hundreds of plants, not tens of thousands.
If the list is 8,000 "plastics companies," we have not sliced. If the list is 150 pipe extruders in-band, we have.
Do not create M1_V8 from a good campaign. Do not bind competitor_ids
because the slice feels unique. Proof-transfer rules still apply:
molding proof does not travel to extrusion because both are polymer.
2. Stay rigid (what we actually freeze)
| Freeze | How |
|---|---|
| Process | Site or ZoomInfo is not enough. The plant must run that process. Domain scanning and ERP signal research still qualify. |
| Size | 50_100 and 100_500. Same as the rest of GTM. |
| Persona order | P1 first in family plants. P2/P3 when the slice's room is finance or the floor. |
| Vocabulary | One scene bank for the slice. Pipe: footage, spec, coil/stick. Medical molding: device record, cavity, validation. Do not mix. |
| Content | Peer voice and CEO scene videos use this slice's Friday only. |
| Partners | Consultants who already walk that aisle. |
| Proof | Same process. Disclose comparability. Never "a manufacturer." |
What we do not freeze into a religion: a single state, a single incumbent brand, a single employee count inside the band. Those are list filters, not identity.
3. Step-by-step (how we run one slice)
- Name the catalog vertical and the slice in one line
(
M1_V1/ industrial pipe extrusion). Write the Friday in one sentence. If it needs a comma list of industries, it is still wide. - Build the list: NAICS + process verification + size band. ZoomInfo for identity. Cap. Dedup Salesforce.
- Name the one room: PPI / PLASTICS pipe events, SPE medical, AMBA, NTMA — whichever that slice actually attends. Not Gartner.
- Write ten dinner-test sentences. Kill anything that would also fit a job shop or a city ERP.
- Run one motion in that language: scene video, written note, consultant intro, or peer-voice email. Not all four in week one.
- Measure replies that say "that's right" or that correct the scene. Do not measure "accounts in TAM."
- Widen only after a person decides the physics and the rooms still hold. Widening is a sales catalog change, not a landing-page toggle.
Communication
Same instructions as any message. The slice only changes which scene we are allowed to open on. It does not license a hypothesis as fact, a feature tour, or "we are the pipe ERP."
No-oriented close stays: "Would it be a bad idea to look at the Friday where the spec and the floor disagree?" The spec is their spec.
What this is not
- Permission to add a row to market verticals.
- A reason to quote extrusion proof into molding.
- "Niche" as a slogan while the sequence still says manufacturing.
- A 500–5000 cross-vertical platform play.
Related knowledge
- Market verticals
- Markets — M1 is vertical core
- ERP signal research
- Expo signal research
- Consultant partnerships
- Peer voice content
- Communication instructions
Change log
- 2026-08-31 — Micro-vertical as a rigid campaign slice inside an existing catalog vertical. Small TAM is acceptable. Width is the failure mode.