Segmentation & Needs

Segmentation is at the very heart of marketing.

A segment is a group of individuals or companies with a common attribute that causes them to share similar needs. Marketers tailor their products, services and communications to these common attributes in order to ensure that their offering meets market requirements.

Segmentation is a means of capturing value – customers receive and pay for benefits they value; conversely they neither receive nor pay for benefits they do not value.

B2B International are amongst the most experienced market segmentation experts in the industry, and we have written extensively on the subject. A selection of this thought leadership is shown below:

 

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Infographic: Divide and conquer

Following ten instructed stages – starting from the rationale behind the segmentation, through to the final implementation – this step-by-step guide will lead to successful business segmentation.

Infographic: Food for thought

Effective segmentation is not easy – especially in the B2B environment – but it is the key to success. Only by appreciating the challenges you face, can you ensure your approach is correct.

White Paper: Small Businesses - An Anthropological Insight

If you are reading this White Paper, you most probably work for a “corporate”, that breed of company that employs hundreds of people and has revenues of millions if not billions of dollars. Big ...

White Paper: The Impact of Behavioural Economics on Market Research

Market researchers are dogged by nagging doubts. We ask someone why they bought their red Porsche and they tell us that it was because they value reliability. What can we make of that? ...

White Paper: Implementing Organisational Service Excellence

For service to make a worthwhile difference, service excellence must become a part of everyone’s daily activities.  But that’s easier said than done.  Good implementation of service...

White Paper: A Practical Guide to Market Segmentation

10 Steps In Market Segmentation

White Paper: Getting People to Switch

What does make people switch? What is it that makes someone change their mind or their behaviour? These are crucial questions to any marketer and particularly baffling to the business-to-business...

White Paper: Market Segmentation in B2B Markets

Satisfying people’s needs and making a profit along the way is the purpose of marketing. However, people’s needs differ and therefore satisfying them may require different approaches. Identifying nee...

Article: Business Models And Competitive Advantage

High growth depends on how you set yourself up to deliver value into the market. Colin Mason at the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship, University of Strathclyde and Ross Brown at Scottish Enterprise report on how fast-growth enterprises design their business models. The commercial landscape is littered with examples of firms with innovative products or services which failed because they could not achieve profitability – typically either they could not attract sufficient customers or were based on unsound economics. A...

Article: Market Research And Sales Managers

The essential element of the sales manager's survival kit is good information, particularly in four areas: the company's sales, the structure of' the market, detailed knowledge of buyers and the strengths and weaknesses of the company vis-a-vis the competition. Know The Company's Sales Every company is sitting on a wealth of information which need not be difficult to revamp into a form which is useful. The first requirement is very simple: a regular (at least monthly) list of the company’s top twenty customers showing their purchases for the latest...

Case Study: Needs-Based Segmentation Research

Our Client is a global leader in the paper, packaging, and wood products industry with operations spanning the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Australasia. As with all commodity markets, our Client wanted to not only differentiate themselves from the competition but also be able to charge more for their products without directly competing on price. Therefore, a market research study was commissioned to gather information on the markets attitudes, behaviour and needs/unmet needs so that they could develop new products and services that are aligned more...