Essay on Marketing Segmentation

‘Market Segmentation is the art of analyzing and categorizing prospective clients in different groups possessing common traits which help in framing and executing business criteria by the enterprise marketers’ (Hutt, MD 2017). Identifying customer preferences is crucial to attend to and figure the value of client segments, which can be a challenge that marketers meet (Powers, L. Thomas, J. Sterling 2008). A company is doomed to fail if they only analyze demographic information to determine the actual needs of customers. I wholeheartedly believe, if I were a business manager, I would incorporate both macro and micro bases for market segmentation depending on the situation and expectations of a particular company. By understanding micro & macro bases, it will assist the marketer in meeting their criteria for evaluating desirability through the measurability, accessibility, sustainability, and responsiveness of their client base. I will discuss the various factors that must be considered when deciding what route to take for segmentation.

Firstly, macro segmentation identifies clusters of countries that demand similar products (Alan Zimmerman & Jim Blyth 2018). Macro-segmentation uses geographic, socioeconomic, and demographic variables such as location, GNP, population size, or family size to determine how to promote their product/service. For example, Toyota is a car manufacturer that has showrooms located all over the globe in all locations in countries to cater to various income types seeking a vehicle. Micro-segmentation, on the other hand, is a security procedure that allows finely graded policies to get assigned to data center applications, up to the workload level. The method enables security models to get positioned deeply inside data centers using the software-limited and virtualized approach.

Macro segmentation covers a much broader scope and focuses more on aspects going beyond micro marketing scales. The mechanism addresses issues at the nexus link between society and the market. Macro segmentation much helps marketers study various opportunities and shortcomings in the field of marketing (Huntington, 2017). Macro marketing aims at enhancing marketing processes and systems. The mechanism also emphasizes the interaction between purchase patterns of consumers and production processes. Instead of focusing on the examination of a small customer basis, this marketing process covers the spectrum as a whole.

Employing the micro-macro methodology offers business competitive strategies by combining forces of both bases. Combining the more comprehensive and local scope of both segmentation processes provides the competitive strategy of differentiation, niche, and cost supplier (Kotler et al., 2016). The hack makes the implementation process cheap, offering business cost efficiency and control. The micro-segmentation brings in a detailed understanding of company purchases and understanding the functioning of each role in the business. Using both macro and micro bases allows businesses to understand the most delicate terms of customers in matters quality, price to develop lasting relationships with their customers.

Macro segmentation provides the company with critical organizational variables in the decision-making process, namely, location, size, and industry. Macro segmentation in a big company is dissimilar to that of a small company, thus helping the business acquire formality in its buying process (Wedel and Kamakura, 2015). The technique also helps the business utilize various departments specialized with procedures such as quality control and purchasing. The method also helps the company to determine the profitability of its operations and take the necessary measures.

Macro segmentation also allows a company to identify its niche in the specific industry the business operates in to determine its purchases. For instance, a company could be dealing with electronics to customers in various industries, but cannot sell the same products to its clients in different niche (Hassan et al., 2016). Macro segmentation allows geographical segmentation, as mentioned earlier, to make it easy for businesses to work across constraints that exist in different national, regional, and local cultures. The aspect of this base helps enterprises to make various purchase decisions and consultations before moving forward with operations.

Micro-segmentation, on the other hand, provides companies with the criteria to make choices, so the business does not wander from its market. On getting the choice criteria, the firm then can work on achieving the best and premium products for its target market (Bourguignon et al., 2014). Through such information from the technique allows the organization to have a marketing mix when it offers various choice criteria and earn different profits from multiple customers.

Micro-segmentation helps in the customization of business data to improve the relevancy of the company’s communications. The result of this customization is improved engagement, retention, and building of revenue. The breaking down and clubbing of customers into groups based on specific repetitive characteristics (Wedel and Kamakura, 2015). The technique acts as a progression of the primary segmentation mechanism that allows modern marketing managers and marketers to take sharp approaches to the market.

However, being a manager, I would opt to combine the macro and micro base segmentation. Businesses should stop wasting resources and dig deep into customer data to find beneficial customers and access the results (Hassan et al., 2016). Employing a macro-micro method in business help combine the strongest of merits from both segmentation methods to achieve data harmonization, niche groups, business locations, and business decisions. For instance, the use of macro segmentation alone, even with the mechanism’s broad scope, means achieving the business purpose narrowly and waste of time and resources.

Combining macro and micro-segmentation offers an accurate definition of customers by not assuming the small business, a factor that binds the full scope of macro segmentation of marketing (Huntington, 2017). Therefore, the company can use both bases to demonstrate the effectiveness of the advertisement. Micro-segmentation provides back-up into digging dep where the principle of segmentation wides rather than limiting the business into ways they know only and how it targets its clients to demographics alone. Combining both techniques offers organizations to leverage client demographics to allow effective segmentation of marketing determinations.

Combining both techniques also ensures that the company not only knows the consumer’s demographics but also develops and utilizes customer personalities to improve marketing energies. The businesses also enjoy a hybrid of customer demographics, developed and accurate personas, and leverage data to continually add attributes to advance segment the customers into target divisions (Bourguignon et al., 2014). The combination of both bases reduces marketing capital that could otherwise be used to reach the most loyal, desired, and relevant customers. The duo also assists in technological advancements such as the use of POS systems, Google Analytics, Online CRM, and e-commerce store to further advance the company’s profits.

References

Bourguignon, F., Bussolo, M., & Cockburn, J. (2014). Guest editorial macro-micro analytics: background, motivation, advantages and remaining challenges. International Journal of Microsimulation, 3(1), 1-7.

Hassan, S. S., Craft, S., & Kortam, W. (2016). Understanding the new bases for global market segmentation. Journal of Consumer Marketing.

Huntington, C. S. (2017). Reevaluating segmentation practices and public policy in classical performing arts marketing: a macro approach. The Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society, 37(2), 127-141.

Kotler, P., Roberto, N., & Leisner, T. (2016). Alleviating poverty: A macro/micro marketing perspective. Journal of Macromarketing, 26(2), 233-239.

Powers, T. L., & Sterling, J. U. (2008). Segmenting business‐to‐business markets: a micro‐macro linking methodology. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing.

Wedel, M., & Kamakura, W. A. (2015). Market segmentation: Conceptual and methodological foundations (Vol. 8). Springer Science & Business Media.