Skip to main content

Small Segment Marketing Small-Segment Marketing could be an alternative route to avoid competing in a larger market.


                                                                       
Small-Segment Marketing helps firms become leaders in small markets by specializing and targeting at profitable Niches, a narrowly defined customer group with little or no interests to larger firms. Small-Segment Marketers has three tasks:
  • Creating Micro-segments
  • Expanding Micro-segment
  • Protecting Micro-segments
A firm entering new market should initially aim at micro-segment, rather than targeting the broad market.

 What does a Small-segment Market Look like?.
A small segment market is fairly small, but has size, profit and growth potential, and its unlikely to attract any other competitors.The customers have a distinct set of needs; they will pay a premium to the firm that best satisfy them; and the marketer gains certain economies through specialization.
A small-segment market plays by specialist role. The key idea of the small-segment marketing is specialization. Here are some possible small-segment initiative firm could adopt:

  • End-User Specialist: A firm could specialize in serving end-user-customers. For example, a value-added reseller could customize computer-hardware and software for customer segments and earn a price premium in the process.
  • Customer Size Specialist: A firm could concentrate on selling to either small, medium, or larger customers. Major niche marketers specialize at selling to small customers neglected by the bigger firms.
  • Specific customer specialist: A firm could limit its selling to one or a few customers. An agricultural input firm might specialize in selling poultry feeds to one or few poultry farms.
  • Geographic Specialist: A firm could specialize in selling only in a certain locality, region or area of the world. For example, a retailer could concentrate on selling only in one city. Everyday Emporium in Port Harcourt city is a good exemplar.
  • Job-shop specialist: A firm could customize its products for individuals. This is common in Fashion & Design Industry.
  • Quality-Price Specialist: A firm could specialize in producing and selling high quality products. HTC phone is a good example.
  • Service Specialist: A firm could specialize in offering one or more services, not available from other firms. a bank might take loan request on phone, and hand-deliver the money to the customers.
  • Channel Specialist:A firm could specialize in serving one channel of distribution. A beverage manufacturer might sell to wholesalers only.
However, small-segment marketing has a risk in that a small market might dry up or be attacked. The company is then stocked with highly specialize resources that might not have high value alternative uses. Because small segment-markets can be weaken, small-segment marketers must continually create new ones. Firms should stick to small segments but not necessarily one market. That is why multiple segment-marketing is preferable to single one. By developing strengths in two or more small-segment markets, firm increases its chance for survival.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sweet Spot

How do you create a digital strategy that involves customers in an energized social community?  How do you create an engaged, active “go-to” website?   Prophet's David Aaaker says, You must change the orientation of marketing from selling the offering, the brand, and firm to becoming an active partner with a shared interest program around a customer’s “sweet spot.” A sweet spot reflects customers’ “thinking and doing” time, beliefs and values, activities and passions, possessions or places they treasure. Ideally, it would be a part of, if not central to, their self-identity and lifestyle and reflect a higher-order value proposition, much beyond the benefits provided by the offering. To illustrate, Pampers went beyond diapers by creating the Pampers Village community that provides a “go to” place for all issues relating to babies and child care. Its five sections – pregnancy, newborn, baby, toddler, and preschooler – all have a menu of topics. Its online ...
Post a Comment
Read more

New ways to business capital

A Business capital, often referred to as capital in a business context, is the financial resources or assets that a company or a sole proprietorship uses to operate, invest, and grow. Traditionally, it can come from various sources, including: 1. Equity Capital: This is the money invested by the business owners or shareholders. It represents ownership in the company and can be in the form of common stock or retained earnings. 2. Debt Capital: Debt capital is borrowed money that the business must repay with interest. This can include loans from banks, bonds issued by the company, or other forms of debt financing. 3. Working Capital: Working capital is the money a business uses for its day-to-day operations, such as paying bills, salaries, and purchasing inventory. 4. Fixed Capital: Fixed capital refers to the funds invested in long-term assets like buildings, machinery, and equipment. 5. Venture Capital or Angel Investment: Startups and high-growth companies may secure capital from vent...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is Liberalism under attack?

I believe the answer may be yes. It's yes because two powerful states in Asia: China and Russia have consolidated authoritarian regime, that the end points may not be visible soon.  These two forces are working tirelessly to globalize oligarchy and authoritarianism. Their gospels has been noised abroad. Their influences influences have been displayed in some nations (with pseudo democracy) in the global south,  In Africa, liberal democracy have been badly weaken by the character of people in leadership: abuse of offices, stealing of public funds without questions and necessary punishments, plus rigging of presidential elections, leading to changing fortunes ànd quagmires. Beside, the curent hyper-inflation in Nigeria is blamed on the recent resurgence of Adams Smith and liberal economics doctrines (and partly by loyalty to Washington consensus: policies and insititios designed by the US government to globalize capitalism and it's associated cultural systems). The market is now...
Post a Comment
Read more