Why it Matters
Overview
Teacher resources for Unit 3 can be found on the next page.
Segmentation and Targeting
Resources for Unit 3: Segmentation and Targeting
Slide Deck - Unit 3: Segmentation and Targeting
Simulation Unit 3: “Simulation: Segmenting the Ice Cream Market”
Unit 3 Assignment: Submit Marketing Plan Template
During this course, you will learn to develop all the essential elements of a Marketing Plan. The purpose of this assignment is to make sure you are familiar with this course’s Marketing Plan Template. It is a well-designed tool for learning and reference about what a Marketing Plan includes and how to create one.
Student Instructions:
- Download the Marketing Plan Template: Open it in MS Word or Google Docs, your choice.
- Take a moment to look over the Marketing Plan Template and notice the different pieces of information it includes.
- Add your name to the header or another easily identifiable location in the Marketing Plan Template.
- Save the template with a new name using this convention: first initial.last name_MKT Plan_v1.
- Example: J.Workman_MKT Plan_v1.doc
- Submit this document as an assignment.
Marketing Plan Resources
Finding Information for the Creation of Charts and Graphs in MS Word
Pacing
The Principles of Marketing textbook contains sixteen units—roughly one unit per week for a 16-week semester. If you need to modify the pace and cover the material more quickly, the following units work well together:
- Unit 1: What Is Marketing? and Unit 2: Marketing Function. Both are lighter, introductory units.
- Unit 15: Global Marketing and Unit 16: Marketing Plan. Unit 16 has more course review and synthesis information than new material per se.
- Unit 5: Ethics can be combined with any unit. You can also move it around without losing anything.
- Unit 8: Positioning and Unit 9: Branding. Companion modules that can be covered in a single week.
- Unit 6: Marketing Information & Research and Unit 7: Consumer Behavior. Companion units that can be covered in a single week.
We recommend NOT doubling up the following units, because they are long and especially challenging. Students will need more time for mastery and completion of assignments.
- Unit 4: Marketing Strategy
- Unit 10: Product Marketing
- Unit 13: Promotion: Integrated Marketing Communication
Did you have an idea for improving this content? We’d love your input.
Why determine market segments and target customers?
As you work through this module, you will learn about segmentation, targeting, and how they work. You will also learn how these tools help you shape the marketing mix to reach your target audiences effectively.
Learning Outcomes
- Explain the purpose of segmentation and targeting in marketing
- Describe common segmentation approaches
- Explain the process of selecting an appropriate segmentation approach and deciding which customer segments to target for marketing activities
- Explain how targeting influences each element of the marketing mix
Suppose you have just accepted a product marketing job with a technology company called Chumber. You’re excited about the company and the team you’ll be working with. Chumber’s main product is an automated, fully online system for checking the references of job candidates and getting feedback from coworkers about their professional skills.
After a morning orientation session and a product demonstration on the first day, your boss gives you your first assignment: spend a half day doing research. Then come back to her with recommendations about whom Chumber should be targeting in its sales and marketing activities, and why.
After you give your boss a puzzled look, she adds, “Don’t look so worried. I already know who I think we should be targeting. But with you coming in fresh, I’d like to hear what you think. We can probably learn something from each other!”
As you sit down at your new desk, the wheels start turning in your head.
Q: What problem is Chumber’s product solving?
A: The hassle of checking references for job candidates and finding out who is really a good fit.
Q: Who has this problem?
A: Companies that hire people.
You recognize that this is a business-to-business marketing challenge, not a business-to-consumer issue. But “companies that hire people” covers a lot of ground. How effective will Chumber be if you try marketing and selling to every company in the world? And within any given company, which people would be most interested in using this product?
The question of whom to target is a foundational part of any marketing activity. Marketers use the tools of segmentation and targeting to answer this question. Segmentation helps you understand your market and divide it into groups that share common needs and characteristics. Targeting helps you figure out which of these groups to focus on in your sales and marketing activities.
LICENSES AND ATTRIBUTIONS
CC LICENSED CONTENT, ORIGINAL
- Why It Matters: Segmentation and Targeting. Provided by: Lumen Learning. License: CC BY: Attribution