“The worm has to taste good to the fish, not the fisherman.”
~ Bernd Osterloh Volkswagen
That makes perfect sense when discussing worms but what about your company’s marketing efforts? Are product ads designed to connect with the marketing manager or owner of the company? Are ads running in media/publications/Websites that appeal to the management team? This may not be effective use of your marketing budget.
There are five criteria for successful market segmentation:
- Identifiable and Measurable – Characteristics of the segment should be easily identifiable allowing the company to measure identifying characteristics including the segment size and buying power.
- Substantial – The segment must be large enough to generate the revenue/profits needed to make it viable for the company.
- Accessible – The segment must be able accessible to the company in terms of communicating and distribution.
- Responsive – The segment must respond to the company’s marketing efforts. The segment should also respond differently than other market segments.
- Viable and Sustainable – The segment must be ready, willing, and able to conduct business with the company. The market segment should also be sustainable over time allowing the company to effectively develop a marketing strategy.
Market segmentation is key to the success of most companies. Companies should break their market into segments that may include individuals, institutions, or groups of individuals or institutions that have similar needs.
Once the company identifies the specific customer needs, they can design a marketing campaign that satisfies those needs. This cannot be accomplished without a comprehensive understanding of their current and potential customers. This includes the customer’s motivations, behaviors, needs, and wants. From this list of market segments, the company can determine which market segment is most likely to buy their product. This is their primary target market.
Until a company has selected and analyzed their target market, they cannot make effective decisions regarding other elements of their marketing strategy.
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