Target the Segment -- Launch a Product

While working as I do now, as a marketing and branding consultant, I took the opportunity to help a software company in Southern California by drawing up the Market Requirement Documents and the High-level Technical Requirement Documents. The company needed a redesign and update for their CRM product, which was old and based on the Microsoft Access. Yes. It was time for a serious revision, if not a complete reinvention.

When designing a product, whether software or most any other product, it’s a good idea to make it flexible enough to meet the general functions and features required

by clients in various market segments. Also, it’s a good idea to design the product to accommodate the peculiar and unique requirements of the various segments or markets.

Likewise marketing managers need to consider which segments are more important than others when planning the launch of the new product or a new version.

The table presented here, below, enables marketing managers to consider the priorities of each segment. This table provides a clear and explicit way to analyze the segments. This helps marketing managers to choose which segments (markets) to start in the product launch. This table aids also in considering the priority of the segments in which the product will be sold. The table draws out a more explicit view of the various targeted segments by certain criteria: profitability, grow, in-depth knowledge of the segment, and such.

If you sale and market your products by prioritized vertical markets, this can be especially helpful. In this case, you probably prepare promotional, marketing campaigns to sale the product for the specific needs of the vertical segment.

This chart can help you to visualize and analyze what success factors are important and how they reflect one segment over another. This allows you to make strategic decisions. What segment do you want to penetrate first? Also, it helps to decide how much expenses are reasonable to penetrate and dominate a segment. How much will the product launch cost versus how much revenue is expected to make a profit and the return on the investment to develop the product? How much budget can we allocate for a Market Campaign to launch the product for a specific segment?

As for most any product or service, it seems that the best way to launch is to pick on viable segment and focus on it.

		Segment Analysis & Priority
	Analyzing and prioritizing the attractiveness of each segment for your business
	A prioritizing tool for launching a new business model, one segment at a time.
	Attractiveness
	Attributes		Weight		Segment1			Segment2			Segment3
				score	total		score	total		score	total
	Profitability		20%	8	1.6		7	1.4		8	1.6
	Growth		15%	6	0.9		6	0.9		6	0.9
	Size		25%	9	2.25		5	1.25		6	1.5
	Inside knowledge		30%	9	2.7		7	2.1		5	1.5
	Competition		5%	7	0.35		7	0.35		4	0.2
	Cyclicality		5%	2.5	0.125		3	0.15		2	0.1
	Segment Totals		100%	41.5	7.925		35	6.15		31	5.8
	Attractiveness: these are the attributes that interest you as you develop your business
		You can change the attributes as you learn more about what is attractive to your business
		For example: I add "Inside Knowledge" as an important attribute because
			your knowledge of on Segment over another makes a
			Critical Success Factor in penetrating / dominating that Segment.
			And for this reason, I give this attribute a high Weight.
	Weight: how much importance do you place on any one of the attributes of attractiveness.
			For your business this year.
	Score: on a scale of 0 to 10, how do you grade the Segment for its attractiveness attributes.
	Total: the Weight X the Score = a total for each attribute in each Segment.
	Segment Totals: helps you to prioritize the importance of each Segment or Market.
			Each Segment has its peculiarities.
			You can add more Segments into this chart and use the chart
			to lay out a handful of Segments to see which ones
			are more attractive relative to the others.

Some companies have concerns about launching a product or service in a way that all segments are penetrated by storm or blitzkrieg or even “shotgun” approach, and thus surprise any of the competitors. However, this concern about the competition will always be there. The competition will always look for ways to crush the other businesses. That’s just part of doing business.

Developing marketing strategy enables your business to encroach certain segments in ways to ward off the competition. There is no other way around it. You have to develop a product and service that responds to and even exceeds the requirements of the segments.

Nevertheless we have to launch a product or service in a business and start turning a profit. That is commonly the main goal. As the competition tries to move into the selected segment, we will have to wage war and fight those battles as they come. Preferably we need to develop a strategy that foresees and prepares for the competitive fight. Meanwhile we have to move on.

You need to show the world that once you enter into to a segment, your business model and strategy allows you to penetrate and dominate it.

You have to show that your business model, your product and service, works and is successful one segment at a time. Once you show success in one or two markets, you gain “street cred” or the reputation of a solid, credible company with attractive products and services. This is what fortifies the brand. By succeeding in penetrating and dominating one segment and the next, it becomes easier to move into a long list of markets. Success breeds success like little bunny rabbits.

Show Success to Create Credibility

By taking baby steps, you create success. That success translates into credibility in the sales teams, the engineering teams, and other teams gain enthusiasm as a company community. The positive attitudes strengthen the momentum.

Once you show the world that you are growing in terms of paying customers, other potential clients or customers will begin to notice you and your brand waxes. As your credibility increases, the more people, sales partners, agents, affiliates as well as clients will want to jump on this new and innovative business. They will want to sell this revolutionary product and service you have to offer.

Setting a goal would be useful, say for example, using milestones in terms of larger and larger numbers of converted clients per month, and this growth reflects a percentage of the market share.

But setting up a goal like this raises the question: what elements do you need to develop a robust Marketing Campaign for the new product or services to take hold on the targeted segment?

You will have to create a complete Project / Schedule for a Marketing Campaign per segment. Make a list of all the items you need to make the Marketing Campaign a great success specifically for the targeted segment.

From this Detailed Project/Marketing Campaign, you can develop a list of all the Cost Items. How much is it going to cost to set up a full blown campaign?

You list everything possible. Once you have a complete list for the campaign, you can discover that your budget might be sufficient for everything on your list. Or it might be too expensive, more than you can afford.

So, you prioritize. What types of Promotion, Advertising and Sales costs make the most impact given the cost constraints? You work with the resources you have. You implement the campaign and move the business forward. No fears.