Segmentation, targeting and positioning is a three tier strategy used by marketeers across the world. This framework is mainly used for market segmentation and is useful for brands when developing new products or creating an entirely new brand.
Segmentation
This first stage requires businesses to in essence ‘profile’ people into; Behavioural, Psychological and Geographical segments. With each new segment creating further and further specific categories until they are left with a group with similar interests and behaviour. Interestingly, the whole process is completely crafted to suit the business needs and they decide which areas of interest to segment.
Use your imagination! Not everybody can be filed in a box neatly people have overlapping views and interests. Think about what the brand or product represents and the type of consumer that would likely be interested or that you want to appeal too and work from there!
Targeting
This is where the medium is selected whether that be online or offline, on a particular channel or social media platform. Once the segments have been clearly defined to the brand they can then be targeted with different messages such as;
- Undifferentiated – same message to every segment
- Differentiated – different message to every different segment
- Niche focused – Same message to one segment
- Customized – Each customer within segment gets different personalised message
This gives the opportunity for a focused campaign that would motivate each segment either individually or as a whole, making the whole process unique to the brand and the ability to achieve maximum potential whatever the medium used.
Positioning
The final stage is to decide where the product will fit in the marketplace, positioning is crucial in order to be noticed and priced correctly. This also has a significant effect on who your competitors in the market are, the goal is to offer something none of your competitors are offering whether that be; better service, cheaper product, endurance or security.
This will inevitably lead to customer perceptions of your brand or product, at all stages you should maintain the USP and communication which will highlight the worth to the consumer which in the long term would leave positive salience with the brand and lead to repeat custom.
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