Start networking and exchanging professional insights

Register now or log in to join your professional community.

COLIN JOHN
by COLIN JOHN , Business Analyst

Segmenting your customers is very important to do your marketing more efficiently. Marketing activities for your product or service can be done differnently based on the segment which you are targeting.

For example, say you are selling women clothing, now you can segment your customers based on gender. For men segment, you can market the product by catching hold of the sentiment by focusing your product as a gift to their beloved and for women segment, you can market the same product differently by focusing on how it will enhance their style. Now you can again segment your audience by the occassion or use of the product. For example, for office segment you can run ads or marketing activities on your office wear product line. 

 

When you don't have a segmented audience, you will end up running the same marketing activity to the whole group where your conversions will be limited or you end up burning more on your marketing activity to reach the right audience.

Now in digital marketing Google Adwords, Facebook ads Managers etc have detailed segmentation which will help you reach the right audience segment which will have high conversion rate with minimum budget.

 

First and foremost is to understanding your marketing objective. You need to define your objective as in whether you need to create awareness for your product or whether you need conversions/sales etc. Understanding your audience and segmenting them is very important for your business to use the right marketing channel based on your marketing objective. For example, say you are selling iPhone cases. If you want conversions/sales, you need to market your product to the segment of iPhone users rather marketing it to the general audience segment. When your target audience is iPhone user segment, you are marketing the products directly to the group which is high likely to make a purchase. 

Same way, when your marketing objective is to create awareness of your brand, you can market your brand to the general audience segment of mobile users which will include  iPhone users, Samsung users, Nokia users etc. In this case the conversions might be less but your objective of creating awareness about your brand (which is your marketing objective) is achieved.

 

Tamer Ali
by Tamer Ali , MARKETING MANAGER , PROMOVISION ADVERTISING

Additional benefits of target market segmentation

Besides better addressing the needs and wants of various groups, there are other benefits from this strategy. A company that segments its target market can significantly reduce its risk of marketing failure. Instead, they can make more accurate decisions about the where, when, who, and how of marketing. Since companies often have limited resources to spend on marketing, the choices made for each group can result in better responses and increased revenues.

In recognizing the differences between the various segments, there can be more clearly defined messaging that appeals to each group. This focus on differentiation can also set a brand apart from the competition that delivers a generic message to all its target audience members.

At the same time, similar needs, wants, and values can also be defined across the segments to provide an overriding consistency to branding and messaging. In combining the similarities and differences, a brand should be able to address all the dimensions that go into how a consumer or business approaches its decision to purchase a product or service.

From this information, a company should be able to generate a detailed product positioning statement that frames the entire marketing strategy and messaging. This positioning is aligned with specific needs and wants that then make the product or service as desirable as possible to that particular target market segment.

Best approaches to audience segmentation

There are two primary ways to develop a segmentation strategy: concentration strategy and multi-segment strategy. Within these segmentation strategies, there are numerous factors to use, including geography, demographics, behaviors, and psychographics.

First, a concentration strategy focuses marketing efforts on only one market segment with one marketing mix. The benefit to this approach to audience segmentation is that a company can focus its efforts on one segment. For example, a luxury fashion brand will only focus on a wealthy target audience.

However, if that segment declines in interest or demand for a company's offering, then that company will struggle. Plus, it will take considerable time to start concentrating and attracting a new segment.

Second, a multi-segment strategy for market segmentation looks at two more market segments and develops a marketing mix for each segment it identifies. The overall benefit is greater sales versus those from just concentrating on one segment. However, there are greater costs involved in this approach due to the time and money necessary to study each segment and implement multiple marketing programs.

Types of marketing segmentation

No matter what approach you take to get the greatest benefit out of segmenting your target market, you will have to decide what type of segmentation to undertake. Widely used segmentation methods include:

  • Geographic segmentation includes larger groups by country, region, or state. It also involves more focused groups divided by city, neighborhood, and even zip code. This type of segmentation is beneficial if you are selling a product range that addresses various climate needs. Alternatively, geographical areas may have specific economic or cultural needs that are important factors for marketing.

  • Demographic segmentation involves factors like age, occupation, education, religion, race or ethnicity, gender, income and family size. Many factors link to specific needs, wants, and purchasing power.

  • Behavioral segmentation considers the knowledge and attitude of different groups in response to a particular product or service. This information is collected from studying past purchases.

Additional segmentation factors

Other segmentation factors include the following that certain types of brands find useful:

  • Psychographic segmentation builds on the geography and demographics by applying more factors that influence purchase decisions. These factors include values, lifestyle, social class, and individual personalities. It is the area of the world and generation that a particular audience member that can separate them from a group of potential customers in a different area or from a different generation.

  • Certain types of groceries or personal care products are regularly bought throughout the year. Therefore, this type of segmentation factor can be important to certain brands.

  • Benefits segmentation may also be considered. When a product has multiple benefits— some of which may be more important to one aspect of a target market than another—this type of segmentation can be useful. For example, one group may prefer online payments while another uses traditional payment methods.

Generational segmentation

Looking at various generations and how they approach purchase decisions has become one of the most important and widely used target market segmentation areas in recent years. Certain generations, such as millennials and gen Z, are wielding significant influence. As a result, more companies are making this segmentation factor one of the most widely used.

Each generation has certain values and perceptions about certain products and services as well as expectations about price and service experience. If a brand wants to win over these groups, they will have to deliver on their perceptions and expectations.

Deciding which segments to focus on

If there are multiple segments within your target market, then decide how many to focus on. Base this decision on your current budget size. Consider measurability, accessibility, sustainability, and how able they are to act on their needs and desires.

Market research helps you determine these factors for each segment. From there, you can narrow down the segments. Over time, you may also adjust which segments you pursue after tracking results from each.

Gwendaline Rodrigues Foulds
by Gwendaline Rodrigues Foulds , Executive Secretary to General Manager , Delicious Holdings

In order to understand the needs and wants of the customer/ client.

Issam AlAwlaqi
by Issam AlAwlaqi , Head Of Finance , Osool AlAmran

in order to under stand the needs of this segment and serve it in the right way.

eslam zean
by eslam zean , مدير فرع توكيل ملابس , silver sun

The most important departments of the company and have a key role in the success of the product or service company

 

Whether the administration is large and has more than one individual or a small management and sometimes employed by one individual only There are some of the main tasks that should be done by the administration, we address here six basic functions of them.

 

in order to dominate the market and gain more customers.

Firdaus Jahan
by Firdaus Jahan , Independent Consultant , Self Employed

Because of focused target audience. This way it helps building a more robust marketing plan and buget management. Thereby will improve results and ROI.

Abdulrahman AlJoubi
by Abdulrahman AlJoubi , Management Consultant , Retaj Lubricants & oil refinery

I'm with the marketing should be segmented due to the needful to cover the digital market & classic one. 

Deema AlObaid
by Deema AlObaid , Marketing Director , SAVIT (GACA IT)

Segmentation helps reaching out to the exact audience, through analyzing the performance in each segment. It also helps reduce the coast, meet business goals and increase brand loyalty.   

In a Simples words its Companys goodwill.

منصور حافظ
by منصور حافظ , مدير تسويق , مجموعة غاية

THis will ipmrove marketing socitey as well 

More Questions Like This

Do you need help in adding the right keywords to your CV? Let our CV writing experts help you.