What is important in a marketing plan that will most effectively reach your potential customers and clients? Your marketing efforts should be convincing, of course. In addition, it is well known that you Know your target group precisely for effective marketing must. But many forget the essential step before that: market segmentation.
Only when the market has been analyzed can targeted marketing be carried out that supports the company's goal.
In the following article, you will get an insight into different types of market segmentation and tips on which segmentation suits your business.
What is meant by market segmentation
In general, it is a matter of informing the potential purchasers and identify and after Sort commonalities. At the beginning, we have a heterogeneous, i.e., mixed, overall market. In market segmentation, an attempt is made to define this market by certain criteria to be sorted according to similar consumers. These homogeneous groupings then yield the Target groupswhich we know from the marketing world. Through this identification, a suitable and effective marketing strategy can be developed for the specific target groups. Marketing strategy be selected.
The market segmentation follows these three steps:
- Capture of the market
- Market division process
- Market development with appropriate marketing strategies.
Market segmentation is a purely analytical task at the beginning. It looks at which people would buy the product and what attributes these customers share. In addition, the competition, the economic situation of the market and the past performance of the product or service are examined. As the word analysis implies, existing data is used for this purpose. This Data must be recordable and traceable. Without these prerequisites, you can't do market segmentation that works. So make sure you have analytical programs that give you KPIs about the product or service.
By decomposing this data, similar consumer groups filter out. These can be distinguished by various criteria. In the following, we will explain the four criteria and explain which characteristics could possibly be the best fit for your company. Indeed, it is of great importance that these characteristics are adapted to your company or offer and voted are.
Demographic segmentation
For many companies, it makes sense to do a demographic segmentation of the market. Here you sort by:
- Gender
- Age
- Education
- Origin
- Income
- Marital status
This classification proves particularly useful if your product or service is appeals to a specific group of people. For example, if you sell pacifiers, you are without question appealing to young families. Singles or people without children do not need pacifiers and do not think about making a corresponding purchase. In such situations, demographic segmentation is a good approach.
Geographical segmentation
Depending on the location, the behavior, interest, and needs of prospects differ. If your company offers a service or product in different countries or different locations, the preferences of the clientele may differ. Attention must be paid to this location-dependent change.
- Location dependent interests
- Location dependent needs
- Location-based preferences.
For this reason, Pepsi is sweeter in America than in Germany. American customers prefer it a little sweeter than the German consumer group, and so they have adapted to the geographical changes in the market.
Psychographic segmentation
This segmentation is also very important. It aims at the Purchasing behavior of people, based on their:
- Values
- Personalities
- Lifestyles
- Interests
- Opinions
This segmentation is particularly useful, as combinations of the above properties can still result in more specific segments can be formed. An example of this is people who have a particular interest in healthy eating. In combination with "lifestyles," for example, the products or services they sell can differ significantly. The important thing is that they can pick up people as close as possible to their living environment.
Behavioral segmentation
The criteria of this segmentation are
- Consumption
- Price awareness
- Decision Patterns
Here, particular attention is paid to purchasing behavior. What is important to people, what is looked for in a Purchase decision value is placed. Here habits of buyers and buyers can be a useful guide.
First the market segmentation, then the marketing strategy
After you've figured out if and to what extent there are different market segments, it's time to consider what fits your business.
After all, it is not always efficient to play to all segments. You should consider in which segments you can achieve the greatest success. The above-mentioned examples can help you do this.
In addition, you should be exactly clear, what makes your product unique and this align appropriately with the markets. Because this can create different marketing strategies:
- If no segments fit your product or service, no marketing strategy is necessary.
- It may be the case that one segment in particular appeals to your company: then you should pursue a focused marketing strategy. This means that you concentrate on this one target group and play on it with the appropriate advertising.
- If you choose the most promising segmentations, you will be doing differentiated marketing. You play on these target groups with suitable content and focus on convincing these segments of your product or service and building a good customer relationship.
- Lastly, there is the possibility that you play advertising on all segments. This is usually the case when the segments cannot be meaningfully differentiated. The market is then processed in a standardized way and no difference is made in image and language.
Conclusion
Before you can do insightful market segmentation and decide on a strategy that works, you need to know your business and your products. After all, the right market segmentation depends on what you offer and what you want to achieve. If you deal with it, it will be easier to capture targeted actions and create an optimal targeting for your business.
