Essay on Markteing

There are several ways in which a company can approach a market. One of those ways to penetrate the market is target marketing. Target Marketing is where the company/seller identifies one or more possible groups of buyers and develops marketing to tailor their needs or wants. There are three stages to target marketing segmenting, targeting and positioning. By doing these stages Marketing managers are able to find their marketing opportunities more efficiently and do not have to scatter their marketing efforts.

The first step to Target Marketing is segmenting. Segmentation is a process where are buyers are categorised based on similarities. They are segmented into; geographic, demographic, psychographic, and behavioural variables. This is an important step for marketing managers as it allows them to make informed decisions about the market and develop the right product for each target market. It also allows them to adapt their price, advertisements, and distribution channels to suit the target market efficiently.

Following on from segmenting is market targeting. This is where the seller will make a choice of which segments to serve, by evaluating the attractiveness of the segments. The marketing manager decides on how attractive a segment is by looking at three factors; size and growth, structural attractiveness and company objectives and resources. They then develop a strategy for market-coverage. The strategy can be undifferentiated (where they don't look at segment differences), differentiated (where they develop different market offers for different segments), or concentrate all their marketing and planning onto one or a few markets.

The next step once the target segment(s) and the strategy have been chosen the company must then decide how it will position itself in the segment. A products position is the way they are defined by consumers in their minds on certain attributes. To have the position the company wants in a segment, they must have a strategy so that they can deliver the desired position to target consumers. Several strategies they could use are; by positioning their products on specific attributes, usage occasion, product class or by user class, quality and country of origin. To position themselves the company must make their offer distinctive from competitors' products which can be achieved through a competitive advantage over the other brands and/or products.

By doing target marketing, marketing managers can understand their potential customers more than through other approaches to markets, as they look at different segments and evaluate whether or not to go after them. With the three stages the company and marketing managers are able to have more effective products and marketing mixes which benefit both them, and their consumers.