1. These trends, long in the making, will disrupt some businesses while unlocking new opportunities for others. Consider the example of Antonio Swad. In 1986, he moved from Ohio to Dallas to open a traditional pizzeria. Realizing that he was located in an area with a large concentration of Hispanic consumers, he changed his eatery's name to Pizza Patrón and focused his marketing efforts on the Latino community.
2. The key to success, he observes, is to realize that "this is a community that you need to serve primarily and sell to secondarily."
3. Don't break your target down too far! Remember, you can have more than one niche market. Consider if your marketing message should be different for each niche market. If you can reach both niches effectively with the same message, then maybe you have broken down your market too far. Also, if you find that there are only 50 people that fit all of your criteria, maybe you should reevaluate your target. The trick is to find that perfect balance
4. You may be asking, "How do I find all this information?" Try searching online for research others have done on your target. Search for magazine articles and blogs that talk about your target market or that talk to your target market. Search for blogs and forums where people in your target market communicate their opinions. Look for survey results, or consider conducting a survey of your own. Ask your current customers for feedback.
5. Defining your target market is the hard part. Once you know who you are targeting, it is much easier to figure out which media you can use to reach them and what marketing messages will resonate with them. Instead of sending direct mail to everyone in your ZIP code, you can send only to those who fit your criteria. Save money and get a better return on investment by defining your target audience.
6. The beauty of target marketing is that it makes the promotion, pricing and distribution of your products and/or services easier and more cost-effective. It provides a focus to all of your marketing activities.
7. While market segmentation can be done in many ways, depending on how you want to slice up the pie, three of the most common types are:
8. Geographic segmentation relies on the notion that groups of consumers in a particular geographic area may have specific product or service needs; for instance, a lawn care service may want to focus their marketing efforts in a particular village or subdivision that has a high percentage of seniors.
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11. Demographic information is crucial for many businesses. For example, a liquor vendor might want to target their marketing efforts based on the results of Gallup polls, which indicate that beer is the beverage of choice for people below the age of 54 (particularly in the 18-34 year old age range) while those aged 55 and older prefer wine.
12. Not all customers are the same. So stop taking a one-size-fits-all approach to your marketing and start segmenting your customers into smaller groups,
14. Segmentation is simply a way of arranging your customers into smaller groups according to type. These distinct sub-groups or segments should be characterised by particular attributes. Now you can target specific, relevant marketing messages at each group.
15. And it's not just about what you say. How you communicate is also vital, and segmentation often requires a carefully structured marketing mix. That's because some customers may prefer the direct approach, such as telephone marketing, while others respond better to a local advertising campaign.
16. By increasing your understanding about what your customers are buying, you can also maximise opportunities for cross-selling or up-selling. I'm reminded of the builders merchant who sells a tonne of bricks but doesn't cross-sell by selling the sand and cement. By grouping together all the customers who regularly buy certain products, you can target them with relevant offers encouraging them to increase their spend.
17. What's more, if you are a regular customer, a targeted message shows that you are appreciated and valued. Conversely, a general message, which doesn't acknowledge previous purchases, could well make you feel unloved and taken for granted.
18. The key is to draw a picture of an individual that represents the type of person you are aiming at. If you take two very different types of prospect, you can see that they will have very different needs, wants, values and opinions. And they will respond quite differently depending on the marketing method you use.
19. Being second to market is the best strategy if you're a smaller firm with fewer resources. Costs and risks are lower, and you need to focus more on differentiation than innovation to tap into a growing market
20. Target marketing is the overall term for directing your marketing endeavors toward a group of people. Market segmentation is the breaking down of the market into smaller groups with the intention of promoting your product or service differently to each of them.
21. Market segmentation involves grouping your various customers into segments that have common needs or will respond similarly to a marketing action. Each segment will respond to a different marketing mix strategy, with each offering alternate growth and profit opportunities.
22. Undifferentiated Targeting: This approach views the market as one group with no individual segments, therefore using a single marketing strategy. This strategy may be useful for a business or product with little competition where you may not need to tailor strategies for different preferences.
23. Concentrated Targeting: This approach focuses on selecting a particular market niche on which marketing efforts are targeted. Your firm is focusing on a single segment so you can concentrate on understanding the needs and wants of that particular market intimately. Small firms often benefit from this strategy as focusing on one segment enables them to compete effectively against larger firms.
24. Multi-Segment Targeting: This approach is used if you need to focus on two or more well defined market segments and want to develop different strategies for them. Multi segment targeting offers many benefits but can be costly as it involves greater input from management, increased market research and increased promotional strategies.
References:
http://toolkit.smallbiz.nsw.gov.au/part/3/10/49
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