Market Segmentation, for superior targeting & positioning strategy

What is "Market Segmentation"?

Market segmentation is the identifiable of groups of potential customers with similar needs or characteristics who are likely to exhibit similar purchase behaviour.

Market segmentation is arguably the most powerful tool available for generating strategic marketing advantage.

Market segmentation activities focus around identifying different groups within the market that share similar needs, wants, behaviours or demand characteristics - targeting & positioning them to create better customer satisfaction.

Market Segmentation should insightfully identify groups of customers and potential customers by their Attitudes, Usage & Behaviour. Market Segmentation is the key to making better marketing decisions, building better marketing strategy and real competitive advantage... exactly why management should insist upon the best segmentation study possible!

Approaches to Market Segmentation - What is the best way to segment a market?

SME's often fall victim to believing their market is significantly effected by proximity - limiting their opportunities.

Too many untrained marketers fall into the demographic trap, and never truly identify segments in their market.

Naive marketers can be wooed by psychology-led market research - often good, but dangerous for larger businesses that need more than 'theory' to secure sustainable competitive advantage.

All market segmentation really does is identify consistencies in buyer behaviour... so isn't is logical to focus on what a buyer does, rather than what that say they will do?

Market segmentation strategy: Advantages of a segmentation study

Market segmentation is the corner-stone of customer-oriented business strategy & planning, leading to sustainable competitive advantage, successful marketing management and control.

The purpose for segmenting a market is to ensure your marketing advertising, targeting & positioning focuses on the subset of the market that are most likely prospects. Market segmentation done properly generates the highest return for your marketing/sales expenditures. Depending on whether you are selling your offering to individual consumers or a business, there are definite differences in what you will consider when defining market segments.

Market segmentation analysis leads to superior marketing strategy:

• Selection of the optimal product portfolio to meet the needs of the marketplace.
• Development of superior, cost-efficient advertising & promotion.
• Improving long-term market position - image, customer satisfaction, competitive advantage and cost-effectiveness.
• Better corporate planning and development of marketing strategies

Market segmentation is a four-step process:

1. Segment Identification - Identification and assessment of heterogeneous groups

2. Segment Selection - Choosing attractive segments that are appropriate for the organisation to pursue.

3. Segment Targeting - Allocating marketing resources to fulfill the needs and wants of the prime target audience/s you have selected .

4. Positioning - Using your insight and understanding to manage the elements of the marketing mix so as to optimally meet the needs and wants of that segment.

Market Segmentation - Understand the consumer so you can provide the best choice they can make

Using our proprietary Customer Value Management process, Launch Engineering identifies meaningful and usable market segments using insight and extensive experience COMBINED with advanced academic knowledge: You enjoy a synergy of empirically supported, informed strategy.

If you are less than100% satisfied with your marketing results, ask for a Launch Engineering segmentation study now.

The Background and Importance of Market Segmentation

Market Segmentation is regarded by many to be the single most important business strategy to have in place as it drives many sales, marketing and system processes. Market Segmentation aims to group customers into discrete homogenous groups based on identifiable factors

Market segmentation aims to provide a framework to assist in :

• Tailoring our value proposition to each segment
• Viewing customers based on business drivers – theirs and ours
• Discuss and agree priority segments
• Identify higher value and higher opportunity segments
• Allocate resources based on agreed priorities
• Develop sales approaches, targets and KPI’s
• Develop messages to these segments
• Adjust value propositions per segment – as necessary

A more insightful, commercial applicable, and comprehensive market segmentation study

"Perfect Information leads to perfect decisions”: The value of a segmentation study is simply too high to leave in the hands of less experienced, theory driven, or robotic researchers. You need experts at information analysis and interpretation

Launch Engineering’s consultants know the value of better market research, better analysis, and better understanding of buyer behaviour. Clients generate higher profits as a result of better segmentation strategy..

Are Focus Groups Good Value for Market Segmentation?

Millions are invested on focus group research every year... groups of 4, 6 or 8, target audience prospects (IF they tell the research house the truth!) are being used and effecting marketing decision making. A statistically unreliable, small number of challengably-honest individuals, reliant on interviewer skills, randomness of personality conflicts, and responsive to frugal economic inducement are all too often the basis for psychographic segment development. Regardless, segmentation strategy is being built on them! But there is a better way...

Ask yourself if your existing market research firm measures up to these segmentation strategy benchmarks:

• The market research consultants who actually manage your market segmentation & strategy are respected nationally and internationally.
• Your market research firm owns advanced (proprietary) market segmentation methodology that has produced successful strategy when used by clients and others research companies, alike.
• Your marketing information management regularly helps you make better marketing strategy decisions.
• Your market research firm saves you from wasting marketing budgets, provides insight that generates strategies you know generates more profits and wins more market share.

You'll marvel at market segmentation frameworks that review customer retention, cross sales, customer loyalty, customer profitability and paint clear segmentation strategy.

  Request a quote for a segmentation study & introductory consultation