Monday, December 23, 2013

Important Facts Relating To The Use Of Behavioral Segmentation In Marketing

By Harriett Crosby


Behavioral segmentation is a key advertisement strategy that involves the categorization of large markets into smaller units. The smaller units are easier to manage and satisfy. The creation of the segments depends on the various behaviors of customers as relates to the use of various goods and services. The patterns of responses of customers as related to changes in the market are studied and this is used in marking important decisions related to production. The popularity of this strategy has grown over the years due to its numerous advantages.

The use of market segmentation as a general marketing tool represents a major shift in doing business. The traditional way of reaching out to consumer was mainly through mass marketing. This method was very ineffective. In the mass marketing approach the entire pool of consumers was regarded as a single homogenous pool of customers. The message is sent out to the whole pool in the hope that a large number of potential customers will be reached.

There various types of behaviors frequently used in the creation of segments. Occasional buying refers to the act of buying goods or demanding for services at given times and at no other time. For example, the demand for Christian gifts tends to be particularly high at the time of Easter and Christmas. Similarly, cakes and chocolates sell highly during festivities. The business needs to recognize the presence of these buyers and to plan accordingly.

Even for the same product, there is some form of difference in the reasons that lead to usage of the given products. Some customers will choose to use a product for a given reason and others will use for an entirely different reason. The producer needs to be aware of the existence of the various groups and to modify their products in a manner that all the concerned groups will be satisfied.

Product or brand loyalty helps to keep a business going. It is a fairly common behavior among customers. To establish the presence of loyalty, a business needs to conduct research. It will be possible, after such research, to classify consumers into those who are loyal and those who are not. Efforts should be made to retain the loyal customers and to bring the not so loyal closer.

The market can also be broken into segments based on the different usage rates of products among customers. The main groups here would be the heavy, moderate and the lesser users. Heavy users may welcome a decision to repackage products in a manner that helps them get more from a smaller package.

By identifying usage rate segments, it will be possible to make important business decisions. The group with lesser usage rates, for example, can be targeted for more aggressive advertisement campaigns aimed at improving demand for the products or services. Similarly, the moderate and heavy users can be rewarded so as to encourage them to continue using the products frequently.

Other than behavioral segmentation, there are many other ways in which a market can be segmented. Geographic, demographic and psychogenic characteristics can also be used. All the segments that have been created must be economically significant to warrant changes in product design otherwise such a move would result in unnecessary losses.




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