Important Facts Regarding Market Segmentation Strategy

By Christi Larsen


Mass marketing is one of the oldest forms of advertisement. The idea here is to broadcast a message to a large population of people and hoping that some potential customers will emerge from this population. Modern business has recognized this method as being very ineffective. Market segmentation strategy aims at subdividing the customer base into smaller groups based on various criteria. The result of this is an increase in the efficiency in the manner in which various customer needs are met.

There are many attributes that may be used to come up with different segments. Each of these attributes may be modified to suit the specific type of business as well as specific customer characteristics. The main objective to be achieved while segmenting a market is to establish ways in which a product can be modified in a manner that meets the specific needs of the customers optimally.

Ideal segments possess a number of characteristics in common. The size is easy to measure so that any trends taking place can be easily picked up by the marketer. In addition, this size is large enough to generate profits whenever positive interventions are undertaken. It is very important to ensure that there is uniformity within segments. Different segments may be heterogeneous.

An ideal segment remains stable over time. This should be several years at least. The significance of this is that it provides enough time for changes to take place and hence help in the improvement of sales. A constantly changing segment is quite difficult to work with and may even lead to losses.

There are a number of characteristics that can be used to segment the customers into smaller groups. One of them is the geographical location of the customers. This may include, for example, countries, cities, states, neighborhoods and so on. Various customer profiles are created using demographic and geographic data. With these profiles, the marketer will be able to make more accurate decisions on how best to satisfy customers found in a given geographic location.

Coupling demographic characteristics to psychographic characteristics yields another segment. The factors to consider here include lifestyle, personal values, communal beliefs and so on. The marketer may use these characteristics to create customer profiles that are used to effect product differentiation.

Behavioral segmentation uses the knowledge of goods and services to categorize customers. There are many types of behaviors that may be considered here. Occasional buying is one of them. By recognizing the presence of this group of customers and the particular occasions, one will be prepared well beforehand to ensure that goods and services are provided as and when they are required.

Market segmentation strategy will use virtually any discrete variable to create various customer groups. These variables may either be preexisting or they may be created after one conducts market research. If preexisting, the result is referred to as priori segmentation. If variables are created after research, the outcome is called post-hoc segmentation. The bottom line is that the main objective of this strategy is to identify the most specific customer needs and to respond to them by either modifying product design or changing service delivery.




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