Market Segmentation: Types, Process, and Benefits | Coursera

在這個單身日致力於職業發展。 享受全年的 Coursera Plus，享受 40% 的折扣。
Discover how segmenting your potential customers into groups defined by shared features can create more personalized and effective marketing.
Market segmentation is the process of dividing potential customers into smaller groups based on shared characteristics like age, location, income, or buying habits.
Effective market segmentation allows organizations to move away from a one-size-fits-all strategy and instead create personalized marketing plans.
Marketers commonly use five types of segmentation: behavioral, attitudinal, demographic, geographic, and psychographic to better understand and reach their customers.
Implementing segmentation can lead to higher conversion rates, reduced acquisition costs, and more efficient use of a company’s marketing budget.
Read on to learn more about the steps involved in the market segmentation process and how different marketing roles utilize these strategies. Afterward, build your digital marketing skills with the Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce Professional Certificate.
Market segmentation is when a business splits potential customers into groups based on shared characteristics. These characteristics include location, age, income, credit rating, usage rates, or buying habits. Market segmentation can help inform and create a marketing plan that meets the needs of a target audience instead of creating a one-size-fits-all marketing strategy.
Given that marketing and advertising have begun to focus more on personalized marketing and retargeting, market segmentation is often a key piece to marketing success.
In your research into market segmentation, you may come across a similar term: customer segmentation. The main difference between these approaches to segmentation is the following:
Market segmentation divides the market of potential customers into segments.
Customer segmentation divides your existing customer base into segments.
You can segment your market in several ways. As a marketer, you’ll need to decide which segmentation strategy works best for your business:
Behavioral segmentation groups consumers based on their use of or response to a product. Behavioral segments are typically difficult to identify because behavior is not always consistent over time.
Example: Banking customers can be divided into segments like online banking users and those who use physical branches. Online banking products may then be more successful when marketed to a receptive group of online banking users.
Attitudinal segmentation categorizes potential customers based on their attitudes, beliefs, opinions, and values. Unlike behavioral segmentation, which is based on observable actions that consumers take, attitudinal segmentation focuses on the psychological and emotional aspects of how consumers behave.
Example: An eco-friendly company can market to consumers who prioritize sustainable products and practices.
Demographic segmentation is a very common form of segmentation. Your market can be divided based on characteristics such as gender, family size, age, income, occupation, education level, and nationality. Generational segments and cultural segments can also be included on a demographic basis for segmentation.
Example: Diapers will likely sell best to families with infants and young children.
Geographic segmentation groups consumers based on where they live. This could mean country (national marketing), state (regional marketing), city (local marketing), or neighborhood (micro-marketing). Firms that employ geographic segmentation may market differently to potential customers in specific areas to maximize the effectiveness of their marketing efforts.
Example: New Orleans marketing might mention the Saints and the term Big Easy.
Psychographic market segmentation is a system that groups consumers by their interests, opinions, and lifestyle perspectives. This system rests on the idea that people's psychological traits influence consumer behavior.
Example: Outdoor gear companies may choose to target people who consider themselves active, adventurous, and outdoorsy.
Marketing segmentation is an initial step in marketing your business. Once your market is split into segments, you can use appropriate marketing strategies to target these segments effectively. The steps involved in this process are as follows:
The first step is to define the boundaries of the market, such as a specific geographic area, an age group, or income level. Develop a clear picture of the products or services you offer and the type of consumers who might want to buy them. If you’re highly specific, you can build better segments.
Split up the market you've identified into groups that share common characteristics, including behaviors, attitudes, demographics, location, beliefs, and more.
You need to develop a good understanding of each segment. Consumers in each may have different needs, wants, desires, and buying behaviors. Your research can involve surveys or other types of research, such as focus groups and interviews.
Once you have defined and researched each segment of target customers, you can develop the products and marketing strategies to best reach each group. Your strategy should tell you how each product fits into the market, what price to charge, what promotions to run, which channels to sell through (e.g., online versus in person), and so on.
Before launching a new product or marketing campaign, test it out with a small group of people from within that segment. Improvements can then be made before going ahead with a full launch. Honest feedback from consumers is important for a product’s success.
After launching a new product or marketing campaign, collect customer feedback and review how successful it has been. Evaluate success based on sales volume, profit margins, and other key metrics. Make any necessary changes, and use the process again with future products or services.
Market segmentation strategies allow you to create tailored me