Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Through the use of these motivators we are able to appeal to a larger percentage of this market and
ultimately increase a companys net sales.
Creating such a plan requires in-depth knowledge of industry specifics, marketing techniques and the
behavior of both primary and secondary audiences. For this reason we collaborate with our clients to
design both their brand and their marketing goals.
Primary Audience
Our target market audience analysis generally begins by focusing on a companys primary audience.
These are potential customers who receive direct marketing in the form of advertisements and other
media.
We separate this segment into very clear groups based on their buying tendencies. We use well defined
buying personas like spontaneous, methodical and competitive to define how they will respond to certain
marketing techniques.
Our efforts can then be specialized to fit each group. Targeting methods, such as keyword distinction for
online pay-per-click advertisements, direct these customers to pages with individualized sales content that
is far more effective then general advertisements.
Secondary Audience
Advertising directed at the secondary audience is usually made through indirect channels. This includes
word of mouth, messages on social networking websites and content which in some way relates to the
industry. Achieving success with this group requires more in-depth analysis to determine their buyer type
and spending trends.
Young Cosmopolitans
Upper middle class is a term that is used often, yet it's rarely defined. Now you can get not only
a precise definition, but also put your upper middle class marketing strategies into action to
reach this profitable sector. When marketers use lifestyle mailing lists from Experian and
Mosaic, the distinctive connection between geography and households enables them to
naturally utilize targeted segments across all phases of analysis, planning and execution. The
traits on this page describe most of the people in one specific upper middle class marketing
sector.
Overview
Residents are young, single, college-educated and earning upper middle class incomes as
white-collar professionals, managers and executives. They live in luxury apartments and condos
in fast-growing cities, including a number of college towns.
3.22 percent of U.S. households
Demographics
Many are under 35, single and earning above-average incomes as white-collar workers
Commute to work in sporty subcompacts, and nearly half hold college degrees
Earn dual incomes if married, as it's a given that both spouses work
Lifestyles
These upscale young people work hard, play hard and live comfortable lifestyles
Keep up with the latest in home design and shop at Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn and
Ikea
Have prosperous leisure lives and travel frequently for business and pleasure
Like to look good and feel good, whether they're on the town or at home
Keep fit with jogging, weightlifting, yoga and cardio machines at health clubs
Are big purchasers of all kinds of tech gear, including iPods, BlackBerries and Xbox
consoles
Media
Are often too busy to stay at home to watch television or read a magazine
Would rather go out and get their entertainment on a stage or a big screen
Make a strong audience for news, comedy and late-night talk shows
Keep their radios tuned to alternative rock and adult contemporary music stations
Are not fans of magazines other than youth-oriented fashion and fitness titles (Shape,
Elle)
Increasingly spend time online at news and travel sites and social networking forums
Family life cycle: newly married, married for 10 20 years, with or without
children.
This information should be available to you through your local town , hall, library, or
psychographics as your guide:
Lifestyle: conservative, exciting, trendy, economical
Subjective Measurement
Reputational Measurement
Objective Measurement
or provide a product that can be marketed to the masses but customizable to the
individual.
To be sure, understanding the nuances of selling to Bobos is a big opportunity for
entrepreneurs. It would not be unrealistic for a company to adopt a Bobo-centric
strategy and transform an underperforming business line into a highly profitable
money maker.
If you have ever started a business, you must be aware that no matter how
great your product or service is, your business wont head anywhere unless
you make a sale. Marketing helps you get the product to a consumer, but as an
art, it is extensive. Consumers must be grouped according to various
categories (market segmentation) based on some similarity or commonality.
There are various ways to segment a market: Geographical segmentation,
lifestyle or psychographic segmentation, distribution segmentation, price
segmentation and demographic segmentation, just to name a few.
However, our focus is on the demographic segmentation, which generally
involves grouping the markets into sub-categories based on demographic
variables such as occupation, age, religion, nationality, gender, income, race,
family size and education. Most marketers prefer segmenting a market based
on demographic variables, partly due to the fact that a customers preferences
are closely related to variables such as age and income.
Types of Demographic Variables
Age
This variable segments a market according to the age of consumers. It is based
on the premise that a typical consumers needs and desires change as they age.
This variable classifies a consumers age into four stages:
1. Children (infant)
2. Teenaged
3. Middle-aged
4. Older popularion
A child will demand to have toys, while teenagers want to keep up with the
latest fashion trends.
Furthermore, some consumer segments have more purchasing power than
others. Consider this; In the United States, there are around 76 million baby
boomers, which refer to individuals born between 1946 and 1964. This buying
group forms the single largest consumer market, as they outspent other age
groups by $400 billion in 2009. A small business owner has much to gain by
targeting this age group.
Income
Income is the most important and commonly used base for segmenting a
consumer market. The purchasing power of a typical consumer varies based
on the level of income earned. Based on this demographic variable, consumers
are grouped into three categories; high, middle and low income, with the
market also classified on the same basis. This is due to the fact that highincome consumers tend to give pr luxurious goods such as designer clothes.
Likewise, consumers with middle incomes will opt for medium-priced and
durable goods, while consumers with low income purchase and often
prefer lower-priced products to satisfy their physical needs. This is because
they have less disposable income and hence are sensitive to price changes.
Manufacturers of home appliances, cars and motorcycles classify their
markets based on consumer income.
Size of Family
The number of family members or family size is another demographic variable
that can be used to segment a market. This is mainly due to the fact that the
number and size of family members directly affects the usage rate of consumer
goods. The size of the family also affects the size of packaging.
Gender/Sex
This variable classifies a consumer market into two segments; female and
male market. Since the desires, wants, interests and needs of females and
males differ, marketers take this into consideration when designing their
marketing strategy.
Social Class
When formulating your marketing blueprint, you can also segment a
consumer market based on social class, which is divided into three categories:
1. Lower Class
2. Middle Class
3. Upper Class
The behavior, purchasing power, and motives of consumers vary depending
on their social class. As such, upper class consumers tend to buy luxurious
products more, while the middle class consumers tend to buy durable and
quality products whilst keeping a close eye on prices and quality. Likewise,
consumers in the lower class buy low-priced products that satisfy their
physical needs.
Learn more about segmenting consumers based on social class in
this marketing course.
Consumer Occupation
The occupation of the consumers can greatly influence their buying decisions.
This means you must keenly identify professionals that would be interested in
your products. In fact, some companies focus on making products that satisfy
the needs of certain occupations. Ideally, a senior company executive will buy
luxury cars, expensive clothes and subscribe to a golf club membership.
Similarly, a teacher will purchase books, papers and pencils as well as lowerpriced clothes.
Family Life Cycle
The stage of the lifecycle may differ among individuals of the same age; some
young people may be single, others young and married but with no children,
young and married with children, older married persons with dependants,
older married persons with no dependents, older divorced persons living alone
as well as middle-aged married and with dependent children. The list is
exhaustive, and is classified based on the products sold. The differences in life
cycle stages influence the objectives of the purchase, desires, buying behaviors
and wants. Manufacturers of luxury cars such as Ferrari tend to target middleaged men with no children or young (and wealthy) men with no children.
Religion
The religion of a particular demographic is a key variable that influences sales
of certain products. Have you noted that Muslims usually eat cow meat,
instead of pork? Likewise, Hindus consider a cow as sacred. They also view
pigs as dirty animals and hence wont eat it, unlike Christians who regularly
include pork as part of their menu.
Education Level
The education level of a particular individual tends to influence his buying
decisions. This necessitates subdividing the consumer market based on
education level, which creates two groups; educated and uneducated
consumer segments. The educated group is sub-classified further into
elementary, high school, associate degree, bachelor, masters and doctorate.
This grouping is commonly used by book publishers who classify a market
based on the education level of the targeted consumers.
Racial and Ethnic Background
Multinational companies tend to use this form of classification, which holds
premise that consumer needs and buying patterns differs from one racial or
ethnic group to another. The global market can be classified into American,
African, Europeans and Asian. As such, food processor will package cow meat
for sale to Chinese market, but process chicken meat specifically for Indian
markets only.
Psychographic Variables
In case you are not familiar with the term, psychographics is the study of
lifestyles, personality and interests of various people. Psychographic variables
are also called IAO variables as they deal with exploration of interest, activates
and opinions. Under this classification, marketers consider factors such as
environment, behaviors and culture. Lets have a look at two key variables;
personality, lifestyle and motives.
Learning how to interact with the culture of even your local
neighborhood is a good place to start on learning how to find
opportunity to make money.
Motives This category lumps consumers based on the reasons why
they buy a particular product. It includes safety, personal appearance,
health, status and affiliation. These motives not only influence the type
of products bought, but also determine the choice of retail outlets from
which the products are bought.
Personality Characteristics This can be used especially where
there are several competing goods. You must always structure the
product with certain personality traits that the target market views
positively. Individuals with high self-esteem tend to respond well to
marketing messages that appeal to their ego and project a suitable
image.
Lifestyles- This method of segmenting a consumer market based on an
individuals lifestyle is anchored on the belief that it directly influences
his choice of a particular product. As such, dont be surprised if you ask
an environmentalist what is his idea of an enjoyable holiday only to be
told it is a rally driving experience or a hunting expedition.
Conclusion
There are many approaches you can use to segment a market and develop the
best strategy to capture as many consumers as you can. However, it is
recommended to use several strategies at once for the best
results. Identifying a marketing strategy that incorporates
demographic variables is easy to understand and the key to
maximizing your sales.
Targeted Marketing
Explore the Strategy of Targeted Marketing
Southwest Airlines advertises itself as a low-cost, low-frills carrier with frequent flights to many
destinations around the United States. The airline focuses its marketing efforts on middle-class
families, small business owners, those traveling short distances, and young adults.
Related...
Conversely, United Airlines focuses its marketing on individuals who are college educated or have
graduate or post-graduate degrees, are employed full time (particularly in a management or
executive position) and have a household income of $50,000 or more. This is because business
travelers are more likely to pay in full for airfare than those traveling for pleasure.
In addition, those with a higher income often select first class options over economy class. Because
of this targeted marketing, United sells more full-cost fares and increases their overall revenue.
Airlines identify those who are more likely to respond to their particular offerings, such as low fares
for middle-class earners or more luxurious accommodations for affluent business executives using
targeting marketing strategies. (See also Marketing Airlines)
Targeted marketing appeals to individual demographics or preferences, causing those who view
targeted marketing tactics to respond and purchase the advertised product or service. In turn,
companies find that this highly effective advertising results in increased overall sales and brand
awareness.
Geographic Strategies find audiences in a certain location, such as a certain state or neighborhood.
Demographic Strategies find audiences with certain characteristics like race, age or gender.
Psychological Strategies look for desired personality attributes such as religion or previous purchases of a
certain product.
Attractiveness and Relative Ability - Once these elements have been determined, the focus of the
marketing campaign is narrowed by determining if the identified audience is likely to be interested in the
specific product. This is evaluated in association with the ability of the company to meet that audiences
needs and wants.
Targeted marketing identifies an audience likely to buy services or products and promotes those
services or products to that audience. Once these key groups are recognized, companies develop
marketing campaigns and specific products for those preferred market segments.
Promotional messages and advertisements are sent to those primary groups instead of mass
marketing without regard to the specific characteristics of the audience. (See also Niche Marketing)
For example, the company Glaceau began to market its vitamin-enriched water to men and women
between the ages of 18 and 49 who indicated that they were interested in health and fitness.
Because of this targeted marketing, the Glaceau Smartwater brand grew approximately 28 percent
in less than a year.
ages of 18 and 49. Not coincidentally, this is the same demographic of users most likely to use an oral
contraceptive.
Pepsi Co.
Pepsi-Cola Company was struggling with slow sales of its Mountain Dew flavored soda because consumers
viewed the soda as something primarily consumed by low-income individuals in rural areas Essentially,
Mountain Dew was not considered cool. As a result, an ad campaign targeting youth between the ages of 18
and 24 in urban areas featured skateboarder Paul Rodriguez and hip-hop artist Lil Wayne was launched in
cities such as L.A., New York City, New Orleans and Miami. This ad campaign was design to respond to
trends in popular music and sports, getting the attention of young hipsters in urban areas by implying that hiphop artists and skateboarders prefer the taste of Mountain Dew to other soda brands. Because of this
targeted marketing effort, overall sales of Mountain Dew increased.
Future advertising for the online gaming company might focus on appealing to middle aged women
and focus less on young men, if females between the age of 30 and 45 are shown to have the most
interest in the game.
As the popularity of social media grows, so does the need to use social media for business
purposes. A social media manager plans and executes marketing campaigns using online social
media networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Within this position, social media is utilized to
increase visibility of the company and interact with targeted markets in order to increase brand
awareness and sales.
Education/Experience
A social media manager needs a bachelors degree in marketing as well as several years of social
media experience. Companies are seeking candidates with extensive personal and professional
social media experience as well as an understanding of online search engine optimization and target
market analysis.
Director of Advertising
A director of marketing helps guide an entire companys marketing efforts. This includes using
targeted marketing as well as other marketing strategies such as data collection and analysis to
decide the best audience for specific advertising campaigns. The director of marketing oversees all
current marketing campaigns and creates new marketing efforts directed at the audience most likely
to respond. This includes creating online, television and print advertisements, and managing the
deployment of these ads.
Education/Experience
A director of advertising needs at least a bachelors degree in marketing, although a masters degree
in marketing is preferred. In addition, a job candidate should have several years of experience with
targeted marketing and advertising campaigns.
Share on Facebook
Tweet on Twitter
Who is the upper middle class? The socioeconomic class between working class
and upper class may be comprised of professionals, highly skilled laborers, and
lower and middle management. These individuals may have greater purchasing
power, but there are other reasons why targeting this market is wise.
Affluent consumers are more likely to be repeat customers than those that are
overly concerned with price. Product areas with buying habits greatly influenced
by class include cars, home furnishings, leisure activities, and reading/media
materials.
Motivation to Buy
What motivates one person to buy may be very different from what motivates
another. Understanding both demographics and psychographics of your market
is essential. Gender, age, profession and interest should be considered. How you
will advertise will depend on the habits and priorities of your market.
While young ones can be more readily reached through pop culture, creating
products of superior quality, backed by white glove service, and
complementary marketing communications is key to succeeding in reaching the
upper middle class.
Focus on Value
Your unique selling position or differentiation strategy should not focus on price.
When youre competing for an upper middle class market, you need to
understand their consumption habits. Focusing on value is more likely to move
your prospects and customers up thepyramid of customer loyalty. Charging a
higher price will attract those that can afford to pay it. People also associate a
higher value for anything they pay more for. Matthew Loop makes a good
argument for Why You Should Charge More.
Keeping Up Appearances
Whether for a hobby or an everyday luxury, the affluent seek out boutiques,
specialty shops, and labels that present the image they desire. From SUVs that
have never seen dirt to diving watches that have never gotten wet, its the idea
or opportunity that the affluent seek to purchase. The upper middle class seek
products of the highest quality. Even if they never wear those high end hiking
boots outside the city limits, at least they feel like and look like they could.
Offering enhanced performance and more features will help target the more
affluent as will creating a brand image of superior quality. Diversity of offerings
has a way of making an individual feel that they are, well, and individual. If a
boutique orders very limited quantities of items, even one each perhaps, it is
sure to gain regular patrons that dont want to be seen with the same purse
that someone else in town has.
Personalized products, custom blends, and made-to-order items make buyers
feel as if they themselves are participating in the production. These items are
more likely to catch the eye of others, be boasted about, and create
wonderful word-of-mouth marketing campaigns for you.
If you understand the motivations behind a purchase, the psychographics of
your market, focus on quality, and have a truly unique value proposition, youre
sure to have success selling to the upper middle class.
Have you spoken to and been heard by the upper middle class? Please share
your story in the comments below.
Look at the age and gender of the people who use your product. You can do
this by surveying the consumers or deciding what age and gender you want
to attract to your product.
Find out your consumers' education and income levels. You may be able to
market differently to those who have earned a college degree versus those
who haven't and to those who are in a high-income bracket versus those who
aren't.
Notice the marital status and family life cycle of your target consumers. Find
out whether they are single, newlyweds, have been married for many years,
or have children or grandchildren. Each type spends money differently.
Look at the ethnic and religious background of the people who use your
product. This may make a difference in many cases, and is often good to
know.
Put all the demographic information into a customer demographic profile. For
example, you may find that your target market includes people in their 30s
and 40s who graduated from high school, have a middle class income and
are married with young children.
Look at the target consumers' lifestyle. See whether they are conservative,
trendy, or enjoy traveling. Every little detail can tell you the type of people
they are.
Figure out what social class your consumers belong to, whether lower, middle
or upper class. This tells you how much extra money they may have to spend
and whether or not they spend it.
See whether your consumers are opinion leaders or followers. Find out
whether they tell others what products they should use or need others to tell
them what is trendy and what works.
Look at their activities, interests, attitudes and beliefs. Find out what they like
to do in their spare time, what their hobbies are, what sort of music they
listen to and whether they are interested in environmental issues or politics.
Put the psychographic information into a customer profile along with the
demographic information to figure out who your market is and how to go
about advertising to the market. Once you find this out, you can advertise to
the people where they hang out, where they work out or where they shop.
Once these distinct customers have been defined, a marketing mix strategy
of product, distribution, promotion and price can be built by the business to
satisfy the target market.
Geography
Demographics
Psychographics
Benefits sought
Usage rate
Geographic Segmentation
One of the first variables that the team could use in their segmentation strategy is geographic.
This would allow the team to break the market into sections by climate, density, market size,
world or states. Many companies use climate if their products or services rely on the weather,
such as snow shovels, melting pavement salt, wave runners and boats. Our Town USA is more
interested in targeting geographic locations that are located near the park in a 100-mile radius.
They believe some customers will fly in from out of state, so in addition, they will target largedensity areas nearby.
Demographic Segmentation
Demographic segmentation is extremely important to all marketing departments since the
data is easily available and does drastically affect buying patterns. Age, income, gender, ethnic
background and family life cycle are all important factors of demographic segmentation. The
park is going to use an age range of 2-60 years of age so they can include kids, teens, parents
and even grandparents. The income level would have to be middle to upper class - $50,000
annual income or above - since park tickets are very expensive. The amusement park is not a
gender-specific product, and ethnicity will also not affect the overall plan.
The marketing team is very interested in the family life cycle sub-segments. Family life cycle
segmentation is a series of stages determined by a combination of age, marital status and the
number of children in a household. Obviously, the park is very interested in the family life cycle
of young single, young married with kids, middle-aged married with kids, young divorced with
children and middle-aged divorced with kids. They plan on advertising via social media and
local cable ads where parents and kids congregate.
tweensBaby BoomersGeneration X
Psychographic Segmentation
A very complicated way to segment the market is through using
psychographics. Psychographicsegmentation is segmenting a market based on personality,
motives and lifestyles. When the amusement park team identifies their target market's
psychographic traits, they will look at consumers with personalities who enjoy fun, like
spending time with their family, enjoy leisure time and are outgoing in nature. The television ad
for the park will consist of people laughing, screaming on exciting rides and enjoying a day of
freedom.
demographics classifications
free social grade definitions and demographics classifications and
geodemographic classes
Here are some free listings of commonly used demographics, lifestyle and geodemographical
classifications.
The word 'geodemographics' combines the analysis of demographic lifestyle and geography.
The term demographics is from the Greek words demos, the people, and graphos, meaning written,
in the sense of representation, analysis and diagrams.
Social class definitions and geodemographics are mainly used by marketing professionals, statistical
researchers and social and lifestyle commentators, but the study and theory of demographics, and
the systems within it, are very helpful for anyone who has an interest in people and behaviour (US,
behavior), social science, lifestyle, relationships, management and business generally.
Terms like 'ABC1' - as a definition of consumer types - are often used to describe a profile of users or
target customers.
Demographical and social grade definitions enable the classification and measurement of people of
different social grade and income and earnings levels, for market research, targeting, social
commentary, lifestyle statistics, and statistical research and analysis.
A basic assumption, and probably a proven accepted principle within demographics, is that people
living in similar 'neighbourhoods' (US, 'neighborhoods') generally exhibit similar lifestyle and
spending tendencies. This enables businesses and other providers of services to adapt and 'target'
their offerings and communications according to geographical areas, and/or in other ways so as to
understand, communicate and deliver the most relevant offerings to the most relevant people.
Researchers and social scientists also use demographics, whose principles enable surveying and
analysis of individual and group behaviour at a deep and complex level.
Much of the basic data used in demographics is derived from national census information,
traditionally gathered by governments (and for some while now theoretically available to us all in the
UK and most other developed nations). Demographics services organizations, like the examples
here, perform a vital role in interpreting these vast amounts of national data - typically too
cumbersome to be easily used in a 'raw' state - in developing user-friendly profiling and analysis
systems like the ones explained here below.
Included in the explanations here are NRS, CACI ACORN and INSIGHT classifications, including the
excellent free ACORN UK population percentages reports.
While this demographics guide focuses on UK consumer profiling systems, the principles of
demographic profiling broadly transfer everywhere else.
I am open to suggestions to add summaries and resources from providers of overseas and
international demographics profiling systems.
Whether or not you use ACORN classifications, it is useful to know broadly how such a profiling
method operates. The classifications also provide a thought-provoking profile of the different social
groupings in Britain today - which to varying degrees is reflected across the developed and
developing world. Societies everywhere are much more mixed than ever before, and they will
continue to become more so.
For historical reference purposes the 2010 CACI ACORN UK Demographics Profile and User
Guide (originally published October 2010) remains available here as a free pdf file. This is a big file
(6.7MB). CACI's 2010 ACORN demographic profile was based on the 2001 census, which provided
about 30% of the data, and ongoing research via CACI's consumer lifestyle databases, covering the
UK's [then] 46 million adults and 23 million households. It is superseded by the 2013 Acorn
standards.
In turn the 2010 Acorn standards superseded the 2004 CACI ACORN UK Demographics Profile and
User Guide (big file - 8.5MB) which also remains available here for historical reference purposes.
CACI provide annual percentages population figures each year for each classification, although the
large Demographics Profile Report and User Guide is not updated every year. When it is next
updated I will endeavour to make the new edition available here, subject to agreement with CACI.
The ACORN resources, demographics classifications and percentages and reproduced here with
CACI's permission, which is gratefully acknowledged.
I encourage you to visit the CACI website and Acorn microsite, which contain many other useful
resources, and offer useful demographics analysis functionality free online, including a certain level
of free demographics reporting by specified area, in addition to chargeable demographic reporting
(by postcode, etc), based on the ACORN UK demographic classifications.
geographic,
demographic,
psychographic,
behavioral, and
benefits sought.
By using any of these segmentation bases, either individually or in combination, an organization can
construct market segments for evaluation to help them select appropriate target markets.
Note: This topic discusses segmentation bases for consumer markets, there is a separate topic area
relating to business market segmentation bases/variables.
SEGMENTATIO
N BASE
Geographic
Demographic
Psychographic
Benefits sought
MAIN
CATEGORY
SEGMENTATION
BASE
EXAMPLE/S
Geographic
Country/continent
Demographic
Psychographic
City
Urban/rural
Climate
Coastal/inland
Age group
Generation
Gender
Male, female
Marital status
Family size
Occupation
Education
Ethnic background
Religion
Lifestyle
Values (VALS)
Social class
Personality/self-concept
Benefits Sought
Needs/motivations
Behavioral
Occasion
Buying stage
User status
Usage rate
Heavy, light
Loyalty status
Brand knowledge
Shopping style
Involvement level
Please note that these are some examples only there are many other ways to segment (divide) a
consumer market. The important things to remember are: the major categories, that there are
hundreds of potentially useful segmentation bases, and that these bases can be used in combination
(which is known as hybrid segmentation).
more at http://www.citeman.com/8813-the-role-of-social-class-in-segmenting-markets.html#ixzz3lKZlPkCD
Who will have the most to lose by not dealing with these issues?
If you can demonstrate that the cost of NOT sorting out the problems is GREATER than the cost of dealing with them,
then your case becomes compelling.
Remember to take into account aspects like emotional upheaval, stress and the risk to reputation when implementing
your solution, as well as a bottom line cost. It is all these factors that make up the value in your offering.
4. Think about your market
Today we live in the world of niche. For example, we are no longer prisoners of television schedules. We can watch
what we want at our convenience from almost anywhere in the world; meaning every person can enjoy a unique
viewing experience.
The web is fantastic at delivering personalised products and services, cutting out many of the distribution challenges
that previously existed.
It is these factors that mean it is a more effective strategy to be a big fish in a small pond rather than the other way
round. It will be easier to build your reputation and gain referrals. You will also find you get more from your marketing
endeavours.
Therefore, with the previous knowledge gained, start to segment your market. Do you want to work:
with particular types of people - high net worth individuals, men, women, golfers, and so on?
It may be that for some marketplaces there is no answer. However, in certain sectors or geographical locations there
may be a compelling response to that question.
If you are unable to answer the question, you either have the wrong target market or the wrong offering. In this case,
more work will need to be done before you start targeting your potential customers.
Written by Grant Leboff of Sticky Marketing Club.
A single male in his early twenties renting an apartment in NYC and making
more than $100,000 a year
Each of these vignettes contains only a few details of the peoples lives, but you
begin to form a picture. Its true that in the first example, a huge amount of
variation is possible. Your prospect could be an investment banker working a
hundred hours a week, a novelist that found early success with a book and is
struggling with creativity on his next project, or an architect with a passion for
urban environments. These other details hang on that scaffolding and give it
context. Its the context that helps you sell.
Still, without a fundamental understanding of where your prospect is coming
from and how she lives her life, digging deeper into her needs and motivations is
going to be a challenge. Always build your audience profiles on a solid
demographic base.
2. Whats Their Most Pressing Issue, Problem, or Desire?
Every person on that list has something that keeps them awake at night. It might
be a persistent problem such as an inability to get an entrepreneurial venture
off the ground, find the willpower to be healthy, or sustain a healthy relationship.
It might be a momentary issue such as insomnia, the need to hire a great personal
assistant, or a desire to figure out how to deal with a difficult client.
Whatever the issue whether longstanding or short-term its the entre into
the discussion and your invitation into their lives. If you understand this from
two perspectives, youll be much better equipped to be everything from create
powerful content.
More broadly understanding what is driving people to seek out products and
services like yours will expand your arsenal of topics, approaches, and more.
As you develop your audience profile, do your best to articulate what drives them
in terms that they themselves would use. This permeates every level of a
successful marketing effort.
1. Sharpen your focus
One of the most effective things you can do to market your product smartly and
efficiently is narrow your gaze in other words, prioritize. Which efforts should
you prioritize? Here are three tips to help you focus your marketing approaches:
A. Determine what needs your product fulfills
Who is most likely to use your product? As you answer this question, consider
factors like age, buying power, geographical location, and marital status. Take, for
instance, a recent college graduate who has just started her first job she will
have different needs than a mother of four teenage children. Both women require
food and shelter, but at the same time, they might choose to spend their
discretionary income in very different ways. Almost 50% of millennial women, for
instance, shop for clothes more than twice a month, compared to only 36% of
women from older generations. Millennial men, meanwhile, spend twice as much
on clothing as non-millennials do.
What does this mean in a business context? If you are a clothing retailer, whether
you are offering $15 t-shirts or $500 coats will lead to you very different target
markets. T-shirts that retail for $15 can be bought multiple times each year, while
a $500 coat might be a once-in-a-lifetime purchase. If you plan to sell $15 tshirts, you now have a clearer idea of your target market: millennials who want
variety at a lower cost.
This Business Builder will take you through a step-by-step process that will help you identify specific
target markets within your industry and provide you with the know-how to create a customer profile.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE GETTING STARTED [top]
In order to market your product or service, it is imperative that you tailor your marketing and sales
efforts to specifically reach the segment of population that will most likely buy your product or
service. It is critical that you first determine or clearly identify your primary market. Your energies and
funds then can be spent more efficiently.
If you dont know who your customers are, how will you be able to assess whether you are meeting
their needs? Since success depends on your being able to meet customers needs and desires, you
must know who your customers are, what they want, where they live and what they can afford.
Weve all heard a business owner say, "My product is terrific! It appeals to everyone." Many of us
have also seen small businesses that try to be all things to all people. This is a difficult, if not
impossible, bridge to cross.
Targeting your market is simply defining who your primary customer will be. The market should be
measurable, sufficiently large and reachable.
For example, a printers target of mid-sized firms with mid-size projects is not a measurable
definition. However, a target market of firms within a radius of 20 miles, with annual revenues of $10
to $25 million and a need for four-color printing runs of approximately 5,000 pieces is a clear
definition.
Once your target market is defined through your knowledge of product appeals and market analysis,
and can be measured, you should determine whether that target market is large enough to sustain
your business on an ongoing basis. In addition, your target market needs to be reachable. There
must be ways of talking to your target audience.
Types of Markets
A market is simply any group of actual or potential buyers of a product. There are three major types
of markets.
1.
The consumer market. Individuals and households who buy goods for their own
use or benefit are part of the consumer market. Drug and grocery items are the most
common types of consumer products.
2.
The industrial market. Individuals, groups or organizations that purchase your
product or service for direct use in producing other products or for use in their day-today operations.
3.
The reseller market. Middlemen or intermediaries, such as wholesalers and
retailers, who buy finished goods and resell them for a profit.
IDENTIFYING YOUR MARKET [top]
Here are three steps to follow when identifying your market:
The first step in identifying your target market is understanding what your products/services have to
offer to a group of people or businesses. To do this, identify your product or services features and
benefits. A feature is a characteristic of a product/service that automatically comes with it.
For example, if a toothpaste has a stain-removing formula, thats a feature. The benefit to the
customer, however, is whiter teeth.
While features are valuable and can certainly enhance your product, benefits motivate people to buy.
An example is anti-lock brakes; they are features on a car, but the benefit to the consumer is safety.
By knowing what your product/service has to offer and what will make customers buy, you can begin
to identify common characteristics of your potential market.
For example, there are many different consumers who desire safety as a benefit when purchasing a
car. Rather than targeting everyone in their promotional strategy, a car manufacturer may opt to
target a specific group of consumers with similar characteristics, such as families with young
children. This is an example of market segmentation.
In one column, list the features of your product/service. In the other, list the benefits each feature
yields to the buyer.
Features:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Benefits:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Case Study Career Options, a job placement firm, has a target market of the unemployed. While
its true that anyone looking for a job is a potential customer, developing a focused marketing
strategy to reach such a broad market would be difficult, if not impossible.
Instead, Career Options should target the following segments within the broad group of people
seeking employment: recent college graduates and professionals in transition. Both groups share
one important characteristic they need a job but the two groups have different characteristics,
different needs and wants. New college graduates, for example, are young and often unsure of
career paths. They have little experience in resume writing and interviewing. Professionals in
transition may be dealing with the trauma of being fired or laid-off. They usually have a defined set of
skills and a career path.
Another example of market segmentation is the athletic shoe industry. Major manufactures of athletic
shoes have several segmented markets. One segment is based on gender and the other segment is
based on the type of sport or activity. They have different promotional campaigns for each market
segment.
Larger markets are most typically divided into smaller target market segments on the basis of
geographic, demographic, psychographic and behavioristic characteristics:
Consumer Market
Age
Income
Gender
Profession
Education
Family Size
Homeowner
Marital Status
Business Market
Geographic location
Size of Company
Annual revenue
Number of Branches
Number of Employees
Industry
Age of Company
Fun-Seeking
Family Stage
Trendy
Hobbies
Status Seeking
Sports Enthusiasts
Conservative
Forms of Entertainment
Socially Responsible
Publication
Environmentally Conscious
Influencer
Subscriptions
Family Oriented
Technical
Workforce Type
Management Style
Other
Business Market
Business Style
Industry Leader
Business Stage
Innovative
Employee Relations
Conservative
Trade Associations
Socially Responsible
Business Products/Stable
Services Used
Employee Friendly
Publication Subscriptions
Workforce Type
Management Style
Most businesses use a combination of the above to segment their markets. Demographic and
geographic criteria will usually qualify your target markets so you can establish if segment members
have enough money to purchase your offering or if theyre in a location thats accessible to the
product. Most businesses then use the psychographic and behavioristic factors to construct a
promotional campaign that will appeal to the target market.
For example, Career Options is limited to the geographic region where their office is situated
because their target customers want to work in that area. In their advertising they will appeal to
psychographic factors such as the desire for stability and income.
Take a moment to decide which segmentation criteria will be most helpful to you in segmenting your
target market:
geographic
demographic
psychographic
behavioristic
_____Yes
_____Yes
_____Yes
_____Yes
_____No
_____No
_____No
_____No
Next, identify what is important to your customers and rank these on a scale of high, medium, low or
not at all. Are they price sensitive? Are they looking for the highest quality? Is great customer service
important? Or, is location a deciding factor?
High
Price
Quality
Brand Name
Variety of services
Salespeople
Customer Service
Special Offers
Promotional Campaign
Packaging
Convenience of Use
Medium
Low
Not at all
Convenience of
Purchase
Location
Guarantees
Store/Office Decor
Payment Terms
Other
Step Three: Research Your Market
Some or all these reference tools can be found in the reference collection of any public library or
college library that supports local business or a business school:
Federal Government Data:
A great deal of demographic data is either free or inexpensive because it is collected and published
by the federal government. The following publications are from the Commerce Department and
Census Bureau.
The SMA Data Book provides demographics for each state and metropolitan area, as well as
counties and central cities.
Commercial Sources of Demographic Statistics:
Online databases and CD-ROM products have made it much easier than it used to be to sift through
the mountains of information created by the Census Bureau and other gatherers of statistics. For a
complete listing of demographic and other databases, consult the Gale Directory of
Databases (available at most large libraries). The following sample of databases is available through
database vendors such asDialog. You can also use online search engines such as Yahoo! and
Google to find database compilers and other vendors.
Population Demographics from Claritas.
The Population Demographics database provides access to the decennial Censuses, as well as
estimations and projections developed by Claritas. The database provides census information in an
easy to use and comprehensive manner. Information can be searched by a variety of fields,
including age, sex, race, industry, occupations and geographic areas. Current year estimates and
five-year projections are also available for certain data.
ESRI reports
The company that publishes the Sourcebook of Zip Code Demographics and Sourcebook of County
Demographics, listed below, invites you to order brief local demographic reports online.
Local sources
Enter demographic data and a place name in the search blank of a search engine such as
Google or Yahoo! to find still more online sources.
Demographic Publications:
Your current customers can provide you with insight on potential customers and
how to appeal to them. You may also discover an opportunity to produce additional
products to serve this market or improve on an existing product. Ask yourself: What do I
need to learn about my customers? Then construct questions that will provide the
answers. It can be as simple as asking a current customer:
Why did you purchase this product? or, How can this product be improved? Make sure you give
them enough space to answer.
If you have a retail outlet, you have the means of distributing a customer
comment card or questionnaire. A suggestion box is also a vehicle for obtaining
information about your customers and their wants and needs.
When mailing monthly invoices or statements, include a questionnaire and return
envelope. If you provide an incentive to those who return it, such as a free gift or
premium, you increase the chances of getting it back.
Get statistics on the subscriber population for the trade journal that serves the
market you want to segment. Most major publications have demographic and
behavioristic profiles of their readership. If youre a manufacturer of a part used in
printing presses, a magazine focusing on the printing industry can provide you with
valuable segmenting information. Simply call the advertising department and ask for a
media kit. While youre talking to the publishers representative, ask if there are any
regular or special articles you should see for useful trade and demographic statistics.
Requesting a customer-organizations annual report will provide you with
business demographic information.
Work with a local college. If you need help in designing and executing a market
survey, contact a marketing professor at a nearby college and offer it as a class project.
Identify your potential customers and question them.
For Example: Career Options might go to the state unemployment office and conduct a survey, or
visit a local college and conduct a survey among college seniors.
Trade associations can provide valuable information for industries not only on
demography and market size, but on competition and trends for growth areas as well.
Trade associations usually sponsor trade shows. A printer serving the magazine market
would attend a trade show for that industry. But if this printing company was
considering targeting new markets such as book publishers or greeting card publishers,
then attending trade shows for those industries would be a prime way to identify and
question potential customers.
SAMPLE OF A CUSTOMER PROFILE AND ANALYSIS [top]
Career Options Sample Customer Profile:
Professionals in Transition Segment
Gender:
Age:
10% 26-30
Income:
25% 30-40K
Marital Status:
30% Female
70% Male
30% 31-40
30% 41-55
25% 40-50K
50% 50-75K
80% Married
Level of Education:
60% Bachelors degree
Occupations:
30% 56-64
20% Single
40% Masters degree
What is the financial condition of my firm? If you have limited resources at this
time, you may want to direct your marketing efforts to only one segment. A
concentrated advertising campaign to reach one market segment is likely to be more
effective than a diffuse campaign attempting to reach two.
What segments are my competitors covering? Are they ignoring smaller
segments that I can possibly exploit? The printing company previously mentioned may
decide to pursue small magazine publishers because there are many competitors
currently serving the needs of larger publishers. Or, Career Options may discover that
since in their geographic location there are several firms that specialize in helping
professionals in transition, they should specialize in the recent college graduate market.
Is the market new to your firm? If so, it may be better for you to concentrate on
one segment for now, and expand to others when your initial segment has been
successfully penetrated. Developing new markets takes a greater commitment of time,
money and energy.
Important Considerations:
If you pursue one segment of your target market and the demand for your
product decreases, so will your financial strength. In essence, you are putting all your
eggs in one basket.
When your firm becomes well established in a particular market segment, it may
be difficult for you to move to another segment. This may occur due to your market
reputation or popularity.
For example, if Career Options becomes known for helping college graduates find jobs,
unemployed professionals may perceive them as only having the expertise to serve that market.
After you have mastered one particular segment, you can then begin to develop
another. Directing your firms marketing efforts at more than one market segment by
developing a marketing mix for each specific segment is known as multi-segment
strategy. An example of a product that was traditionally targeted at women and is now
being targeted with variations in strategy at men is hair coloring.
The marketing mixes for multi-segment strategy may vary by product feature, price, promotional
material and distribution methods. If product variations requires additional work, you may incur
higher production costs. Additionally, different promotional plans and distribution efforts will result in
higher marketing costs. Plan carefully, to make sure the costs dont outweigh the benefits.
Now think about all the characteristics you have identified and start formulating the
promotional campaign that will best address this specific target market. Start to formulate a
picture or description of your ideal customer. Make sure everything you do, from design,
price to marketing, addresses your market.
CHECKLIST [top]
Identifying Your Market
___ Determine why a customer would want to buy your product/service.
___ Identify your products/services benefits and features.
___ Decide which segmentation criteria will best segment your target market: geographic,
demographic, psychographic or behavioral.
___ Segment your market.