Five Criteria Necessary For A Market Segment

by Linda P. Morton

You can improve your marketing by knowing and utilizing the criteria necessary for a market segment.

Every successful marketing campaign targets a specific group of people. These are the people most likely to become your customers. They comprise your target market.

After identifying your target market by segments. Then you can design your marketing tactics specifically to meet their needs and preferences.

The five criteria necessary for a market segment are:

First Criteria Necessary For A Market Segment: Commonality Of People In The Market Segment

Second Criteria Necessary For A Market Segment: Heterogeneity Between Market Segments

Third Criteria Necessary For A Market Segment: People In The Market Segment Can Be Identified And Counted

Fourth Criteria Necessary For A Market Segment: An Accessible And Actionable Market Segment

Fifth Criteria Necessary For A Market Segments: Ability To Make A Profit

Knowing all the criteria necessary for a market segment will improve your marketing. You can learn about the first two in this article and go to my blog to learn about the remaining three.

First Criteria Necessary For A Market Segment: Commonality Of People In The Market Segment

A segment having commonality means that all the people in it have characteristics in common.

For instance, social classes comprise market segments. The working class share common characteristics. Middle class members share characteristics. However, the two classes’ characteristics are different. If you try to market to the both the same, your marketing will fail with one or both.

When the people in a market segment share many characteristics, it’s easier to design a marketing campaign for them.

The more alike the people in a market segment are, the easier it is to target them with the same product or service. The more they have in common, the easier it is to select appeals and language to market across the segment.

Second Criteria Necessary For A Market Segment: People In The Market Segment Have Different Characteristics Than The Mass Market

Being able to distinguish how the people in a market segment differ from everybody else is an important market segment criteria.

If the people in the market segment are not substantially different from everybody else, you have:

No characteristics to distinguish the market segment from everybody else,

No purpose to target the market segment with a marketing campaign, and

No basis to design a unique marketing mix.

If there are no important differences between people in different segments, there is no foundation for target marketing. So having segments differ from one another is another criteria necessary for a market segment.

Because no segment is alike, you have to design marketing tactics specific to each segment.

Criteria Necessary For A Market Segment: Summary With More Access

If you identify a market segment in which the people have lots in common, but are quite different from people in other market segments, you have the beginning of a successful marketing campaign.

If you identify a segment that is homegeneous within the segment and heterogeneous from other segments, you still must know that the segment provides enough people to warrant a marketing campaign. You also must know that if successful, the campaign will produce the results that you want.

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