Competition among companies is increasingly fierce, but there is a fundamental marketing strategy to be able to differentiate oneself in the market.
In marketing, segmentation refers to that strategy of dividing the market into specific units.
Knowing how to segment the market means breaking down the demand so much that it intercepts potential customers not yet reached by competitors, whose needs are poorly met by the current supply.
Let's take a concrete example: you plan to start producing cars, you want to understand which potential customers to target and, consequently, how to organize production.
Now it is essential to segment the market to understand who to address.
Segmentation and Positioning
Your goal is to find the target audience, that is, that group of potential customers with similar characteristics, ideal for you: the family head with an average salary who can afford financing, or a businessman who's just waiting to purchase the new top-of-the-range model?
The activity of segmentation has one sole objective: to find the right target of potential consumers ready to make use of your products or services.
We are talking about finding the niche of your market.
Let's now discover how to do market segmentation.
How to segment the market
To carry out this strategy it is essential to search for homogeneous variables that allow you to divide the demand into small groups (defined as clusters).
These micro-groups are selected based on characteristics, usually standardized but that can vary depending on the industry and the product or service being offered.
- economic variables: going back to the previous example, without a doubt, it will be essential to understand the spending ability of your ideal consumer (this will obviously influence the price of your product or service).
- socio-linguistic variables: these aspects will be especially useful for developing an appropriate communication model.
- geographic and cultural variables: variables like these are fundamental to avoid major communication issues and to develop marketing plans tailored to each narrow group of people you want to address.
- demographic variables: it's crucial to keep in mind the average age of your potential customer in order to better communicate your products.
Segmenting the demand is an essential marketing activity.
Only in this way can you understand which audience to target, what price to propose, and which communication strategies to develop.
After dividing the market, homogeneous groups of potential customers with certain characteristics are selected; these will represent the target for your company!
Let's summarize: from market segmentation, you can develop your reference target, manage to position yourself in as specific a market niche as possible (differentiated marketing is now a fundamental requirement), and set up an effective marketing mix for your target audience.
In the strategy of market segmentation and differentiation, there are so-called """ decision makers. Small groups of individuals who follow the same logic and choose your potential product over that of another competitor.
Having said that, let's return to our example.
Now you know that your target is a man in his thirties, who has a stable job with career prospects and loves elegant cars.
Finally, it is also important to periodically update market segmentation to explore new trends and new needs of potential customers not yet intercepted.
You can do it too, you just need a lot of commitment and an excellent marketing and sales platform.
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