Choosing the Right Target Customer Segment
Every product or service is needed by a select group of customers. No product or service is useful to all the customers in the market. Different customers prefer different things in products. All customers don’t like the same things. This gives rise to the hope and scope for a large number of options for a product in the market. In marketing, the first thing any company should do is to find out the exact customer to whom its products or services are targeted.
E.g. suppose our company makes shirts for men. Now, there are shirts available in the market ranging from Rs.50 to Rs.5,000 or even much more. Where does our product fit?
Suppose we make shirts which are priced at Rs.300. Generally, which customer will buy our shirts? Can all men be called our prospective customers?
No.
Out of all men who buy shirts, those who may buy our shirts which is priced at Rs.300 will be limited. It will be a section of the total number of the male customers.
The profile of a customer who may buy a shirt for Rs.300 is different from the profile of a customer who may buy a shirt selling at Rs.5,000. Both the customers’ lifestyles, preferences, priorities, needs are totally different. Our marketing efforts should be based on this objective reality. The quality of the shirt, its packaging, the place where it is bought or sold, after sales service, advertising and other marketing activities depend upon the selection of the target customer segment.
The first task of marketing must be to finalize the right customer segment to which we will target our product.
Remember, different customers have different needs, preferences and likings. All customers are not same. And that is a good thing for all companies.
The company should be very clear about the various needs of different customers from a particular product and try to focus its attention and energy on some specific needs which it will try to satisfy through its own products.
One single product can rarely satisfy the needs of all the customers. So, we must not make a mistake to assume or aim the same.
Our product may satisfy most of the needs of a specific group of customers. We must focus our attention on these customers as our target.
Until this target customer segment is clearly defined, our marketing activities will always lack focus.
Without clear target customer, all marketing efforts remain ineffective, resulting in a huge waste of time, money and energy.
Most of the marketing mistakes start from not identifying the right target customer segment and not understanding its needs. A big number of marketing failures are examples of such mistakes.
(Expert advice to GROW your business wherever you are, whenever you want.
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