Email marketing: what it is and how to implement it

Market Segmentation

Market segmentation is a marketing strategy that involves dividing the broad target market into subgroups of consumers with common needs and applications for related goods and services.

Depending on the specific characteristics of the product, these subgroups can be divided according to criteria such as age, gender, or other elements of discrimination, such as location or income. Marketing campaigns can then be designed and implemented to target these special segments of customers.

What is the concept of market segmentation(Definition)?

Market Segmentation: A research-based business practice that leads the way businesses divide their target market into smaller and more manageable groups, target customers in each segment of the market simply have similar characteristics that companies can use to improve their marketing, advertising, and sales efforts.

Stages of market segmentation

The process of market segmentation depends on the implementation of many stages, the most important of which are:

Study phase: Relying on the role of specialists in exploring all the influences and factors that have a key role in supporting customers to make purchasing decisions, and data is obtained at this stage by preparing a questionnaire that includes the following: the importance of product specifications, brand evaluation, the nature of product orientation, and geographical distribution of target customers.

Analysis phase: relying on the application of analytical and mathematical means to reach relationships and factors affecting communication, to identify segments affected by specific factors, and it is important to minimize the number of factors, helping to facilitate the implementation of market segmentation.

The stage of defining and selecting market segments: relying on confined factors that contribute to the characterization of each different market segment.

Segments identification phase: a process based on strategies used to segment the market, i.e. what kind of strategy will be applied in the market.

Find an appropriate marketing program that helps implement market segmentation: choosing a marketing program that helps officials in the marketing process, to achieve the desired goals and depend on providing the desires and needs of individuals effectively.

Features of market segmentation

Market segmentation is a modern term; production enterprises have been interested in manufacturing large quantities of a single product in conjunction with the use of many advertisements and distributions of this product, but with increased competition between enterprises, low product prices, and declining revenues for enterprises, it has become difficult to control the price rate; The facilities help achieve the following advantages:

Comparing marketing opportunities, where the needs of each segment are examined, contributes to competition for goods, especially with parts of the market characterized by a low level of satisfaction, as services and goods can be provided that contribute to achieving overall consumer satisfaction.

Develop a marketing program to ensure that the characteristics of each part of the market are provided.

The importance of market segmentation

Market segmentation is important for enterprises because of the benefits they provide to enterprises when dividing markets into several parts, and this importance can be reviewed according to the following points:

Contribute to clear marketing objectives, helping the establishment prepare appropriate plans to reach the desired results.

Access to the best competitive location because of the role of shopping retail in helping the business overcome direct competition with other major enterprises in the market by providing products with clear competitive characteristics, compared to other competitors in the target part of the market.

Help the business find out where competitors are to avoid these places.

Support the business to provide consumers with the best ways and means compared to competitors.

Participate in building the marketing mix, to apply it efficiently.

Help the enterprise provide the appropriate resources to export products or services to the target part of the market, rather than to parts that are difficult to deal with in the market.

What are the types of market segmentation?

The application of market segmentation depends on the use of a set of foundations targeting consumers and target customers and here is data on the most important types of these foundations:

The basis of geographical division strategy: the distribution of markets to a range of geographical units, including cities, states, or states, this basis of division depends on the fact that individuals have different purchasing habits, are associated with the region or place where they live; products within the geographical area.

The basis of population division strategy (demographic): The market segmentation process is based on a range of demographic factors, including age, income, family size, education, and other factors, and thus attention to directing all marketing processes towards the needs of individuals affected by previous factors.

The basis of geographic division (strategy): the segmentation of the market into groups according to their characteristics or lifestyles affecting means of communication, services, and consumer goods. The basis of behavioral division: several variables process based on consumer behavior towards certain services or goods, examples of which include:

Product benefits: Provide consumers with the needs when they buy the product, so they are interested in getting products that contribute to meeting their needs.

• The nature of use: the market is divided into two types; the first contains individuals who use the product, and the second contains individuals who do not use the product;

• Usage rate: A description of the number of times a consumer uses the service or commodity over a specified period, divided into the following parts: users in large quantities, users in medium quantities, and users in small quantities.

Market segmentation strategies

According to experts, to have a good market segmentation, the group must meet five criteria:

1. It must be possible to identify and measure them.
2. It must be big enough to deserve all this effort.
3. It must be easy to access.
4. You shouldn't change quickly.
5. They should be responsive.

Market segmentation strategies that meet these criteria can cover a wide range of consumer characteristics, and subsets of basic demographics such as age, race, or gender, for example, can be defined.

Other qualities such as educational background or income can also be used, and the site can sometimes be used.

Some of the most powerful potential variables that lead to market fragmentation are behavioral ones, including social class, lifestyle, and interests.

In most cases, there will be at least a few consumers who fall into more than one category, but marketing strategists usually allow this phenomenon.

In fact, overlap in standards among consumers often leads to additional fragmentation and requires modified marketing strategies.

A marketing plan that targets people in several groups — such as women over the age of 30 with high incomes, for example — may be more successful than those focusing on just one limited feature.

market segmentation Other benefits 

In addition to its role in developing new marketing approaches, market segmentation can help the company identify ways to enhance the loyalty of existing customers.

As part of the process of identifying specific groups within a larger customer base, the company will often run surveys that encourage customers to suggest ways to improve the company's products or services.

This may lead to packaging changes or other similar cosmetic changes that do not necessarily affect the primary product, but sometimes a few simple changes in appearance send a clear message to consumers that recognizing their needs is as important to the company as it is to achieve sales.


This good handling of the company helps strengthen the relationship with the consumer in the long run.

Market segmentation is not only beneficial to the manufacturer or retailer but also has benefits for the consumer.

People in a particular segment of the market may get premium product offerings with the company's focus on that group, or find that these products are more widely available.

When the company responds to consumer opinions, it can mean that these people get changes in composition or packaging that better meet the user's needs.

Market segmentation defects

One of the biggest drawbacks of this marketing technique is expenses. It often takes a great deal of research to be done to identify these subgroups that are most important to the company correctly, and this takes a long time and a lot of money. 

Once you select major subsets, you need different marketing messages that are usually developed for each. In addition, changing the appearance of the product adds to production costs. If the market is not effectively fragmented, all this money will be wasted.

When the market segments identified are too narrow, it can be difficult for the company to be profitable. Product marketing can work for some industries.

But if the tastes of the target group change or a stronger competitor enters the field, the company can lose its customers quickly if it focuses on this part of the market only.