Marketing Compost (EAWAG) - The Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

4.6 Targeting market segments
You have now segmented your market and developed detailed market
profiles, including scale of demand, seasonal dependence, attitudes, and
quality requirements. You should now be able to make an informed decision
about which segments your business can serve well and thus, which
markets to target.
It is usually an advantage for a business to target marketing towards a limited
but diverse number of market segments (e.g. bulk markets: farmers and real
estate developers, and cash market: domestic users). Your product, price and
location are likely to be better suited to certain segments than others. Being
selective in your targeting operations means you focus your energy and resources
on segments most likely to result in sales. Many businesses find it
useful to focus on a mixture of bulk and cash markets as a strategy to secure
a steady and reliable market, i. e. mitigate risk.
Remaining flexible
Although you can now make informed choices about which segments to target,
but your decisions need not be final. As you think more about your product,
market position and pricing, you may have to refocus. Also, markets are
not static; in time, new opportunities may arise or existing ones cease to be
profitable.
This does not mark the end of your market research, as further information
about your customers is required to develop effective promotional strategies.
It is also important to review and update the market study frequently
(e. g. every year).
52 Marketing Compost—Market assessment