Looking for a market segmentation template?

This post provides a market segmentation template, but first you may need an introduction to market segmentation.

What is Market Segmentation?

Market segmentation will help you, as a small business owner, to understand your elusive markets, to get answers to questions about your target markets, and to market more effectively?

It helps you to improve your marketing and your business by discovering more about groups of people who are important to your business’ success.

The purpose of market segmentation is to enable you to target a subgroup of a larger group. In the case of marketing, I call this subgroup a target market. You may use the term target audience, target customers, or target publics.

No matter what you call this group of people, market segmentation enables you to discover how they differ from everyone else. This information enables you to target people in the subgroup with appeals that are relevant and specific to them. Such targeting is vital if you want to improve your marketing and your relationships with target market members.

Click to read more about market segmentation and why small business owners need it.

My Market Segmentation Process

I occasionally mention my own matrix market segmentation process on this blog. I invented it while a professor to help my students better understand different groups of people so they could better communicate and relate to people unlike themselves.

It’s a simple process that requires no statistics, technical ability or special software. It synthesizes hundreds of research articles into simple tables that I call matrices. Using it is as simple as pulling rows from different matrices that represent the people whom you want to learn more about; Then copying and pasting each relevant row into a target market matrix and looking for shared characteristics across the rows.

Characteristics repeated most across the most rows provide the best appeals for your target market. Market segmentation is quick and easy using my matrices.

A Market Segmentation Template

My Matrix Market Segmentation report provides a market segmentation template, using United States Internet users as the market and provides a step-by-step guide for using my process.

Below is a template for Internet users in the form of a matrix:

Notice that some words and phrases in the matrix above are colored. I use color to help me see the shared characteristics. Once all the matrices have been pulled together, the next step is to look for those characteristics repeated across rows and to color code them to better see them.

• Work related words are in blue. Work is important for five of the seven segments and is mentioned a total of 8 times.
• Family related words are in red. Family is important for four of the seven segments and is mentioned a total of 7 times.
• Home related words are in orange. Home is important for two of the seven segments and is mentioned four times.
• Education related words are in purple. Education is important for two of the seven segments and is mentioned twice.

How To Interpret This Market Segmentation Template

Shared characteristics reveal that the most important appeal for Internet users is related to their work. The second best appeal is related to their families. Because home is connotatively associated with family for many people, it also provides a good appeal even through it is only important for two of the segments. Education provides a fourth appeal, but one that should be subordinate to the others. It would be most effective presented as a means to improve Internet users’ jobs and careers.

By using the matrices provided in my e-book, you can quickly produce matrices for a target market to get four to five characteristics that will be effective with your market’s members. For a more detailed and focused analysis, you can add information from secondary research to the matrices. I have not done so here because I wanted to keep the matrices simple. However, when learning all you can about a target market, secondary research should be considered in the matrix or in the analysis of the matrix characteristics.

As demonstrated by the Internet users example, my segmentation process is a simple one that only involves secondary research. No statistics, software or complicated technology is necessary. Thus, it is practical for anyone needing to analyze markets. Small business owners to large corporations can utilize the process with just a little time and research.

Get Complete Instructions For This Market Segmentation Template

You can get a report on my matrix market segmentation process containing all the information in this market segmentation template. Just complete the form below:

Posted 2-14-08: Market Segmentation Template

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