Target Markets: The “Who” of DCE

This chapter begins to investigate the digital marketing processes of market segmentation, targeting, and positioning/repositioning. Specifically, this chapter focuses on the segmentation of a large market into specific groups of consumers who use or identify with a product or service. As state previously, this chapter will address the WHO of content design. The chapter takes a historical look back at these fundamental marketing principles, and then applies them into a new context, inbound marketing. You will review the different targeting approaches relative to a mass market approach, appealing to everyone, or defining the target markets into more refined segments based on some type of qualifying criteria. You can explore the use of demographics, psychographics, buyer behavior, and other segmentation variables that will allow you to break up your digital audiences into readily identifiable and accessible groups. Finally, we discuss the topic of product positioning and repositioning, which in the real world of products and services is different from brand positioning. Unfortunately, not many of you have developed products yet to sell via a website; therefore, in this class, brand positioning and product positioning are relatively the same because you will be digitally marketing an idea, rather than a product or service. But we will still discuss product positioning and repositioning so that you understand the difference if and when you are hired after graduation into a product or service role. You have already developed a positioning statement, but after this level you may want to go back and consider a reposition of your brand/idea. Repositioning can be a common occurrence at the launch of any new brand or product as time demonstrates a better representation of the interested consumers.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Review the differences between a market, target market, and market segment.
• Learn the target market selection within The Digital Engine model.
• Differentiate between mass marketing, concentrated and differentiated target strategies.
• Discover how to identify market segments within an entire market.
• Realize segmentation principles in both traditional and digital contexts.
• Explore re-positioning your practicum brand based on a better understanding of target market research and segmentation principles.

Below you will see your chapter content and assignments. You need to check your course syllabus for the due dates for each of these assignments. Each assignment will have different instructions regarding the submission process, so please pay careful attention to the directions, including due dates, as to garner full course credit for the assignments.