Assignment: Explain and discuss how companies identify attractive market segments and choose a target marketing strategy.
Marketing can be defined as a way of identifying and satisfying consumer needs in such a way as to achieve the organisations objectives for profitability, survival or growth. When looking to develop a new marketing strategy for a certain segment there are a number of stages that are important, if the campaign is to be a success. Initially companies will analyse the current internal and external situation. In the macro environment companies will study the political-legal, economic, socio-cultural and technological environment (abbreviated as PEST) to ensure there are no issues that might affect marketing and performance. In addition, it is crucial to examine resources, offerings and past results within the organisation to make sure the capabilities are there to create a successful marketing strategy.
A market segment is a proportion of the total market that can be described as homogeneous. Meaning the people in the segment are similar to each other in their attitudes about certain variables. Due to this similarity, they are likely to respond in the same way to a marketing strategy i.e. have similar feelings about the marketing mix (consisting of the product, price, place and promotion). How to identify these attractive market segments is attributable to the research and analysis of markets and customers. When beginning to investigate your markets and customers you must examine trends in market share, product demand, buying patterns, customer needs and perceptions, demographics, and customer satisfaction. By doing this hopefully questions such as: ‘who would buy the product and why?’ and ‘how are buying patterns changing and why?’ would ...