Eggcerpts from Natalie: Bullseye: Knowing Your Market

By Natalie Grbic

Two key components of marketing plans are segmentation and targeting.

• Segmentation= dividing the market of potential customers into homogeneous subgroups. I.e:
  • consumer’s behavior patterns
  • attitudes
  • demographic characteristics
  • psychographic profile
• Targeting = selecting a certain market segment and directing all of your marketing efforts to that segment.

When it comes to segmentation and targeting, pay attention to these variables:

-Age: The most frequently used variable in segmentation. Companies usually target their products/services to a specific age category.

-Social Class: Different types of marketing strategies are used to segment and target the upper and lower class.

-Gender: Men and women differ tremendously. Women are typically slower at making decisions and are more persuadable; therefore, segmenting and targeting to this market will be considerably different than to men.

-Geography: People in different countries receive marketing messages differently than people in the United States. You must look at the advertising techniques that work in a specific country and target and segment the way they do.

Susan:

My best advice is to know your market. The first question I ask potential clients is “who is your target market?” If you don’t know, don’t waste your time marketing until you do.

Natalie brings up geography as a component of targeting and segmentation. Today, it’s easier to sell products and services globally, so including a global campaign in your marketing plan may be necessary. But keep in mind that not every country accepts marketing messages the same as the U.S:

• Other countries have bans on marketing food products to children.
• Translating “Got Milk?” into Spanish got people in Mexico in an uproar…it means “Are You Lactating?”
• Here are some other amusing but fatal global marketing mistakes to peruse.