The 3 C’s of Marketing (company, customers and competitors) is a popular model used to help businesses and marketers develop marketing strategies by encouraging them to think about their customers and what they value, what they have to offer that address what customers value/need, and what others (competitors) are offering. It’s a model that also aligns very well with another three-pronged marketing approach: segmenting, targeting, and positioning.
A Look at Segmenting, Targeting, and Positioning (STP)
STP is a very important concept in marketing. It’s a first step in determining how you will market your products and services so they have the most appeal to your target audience. This involves:
- Segmenting: of all of the people in the world, which segment, or segments, will you attempt to interest in your products or services? This can be based on a number of demographic (traits) and psychographic (beliefs or attitudes) attributes. For instance, geographic area, gender, income, education (demographic), interested in business topics, enjoys recreational sports (psychographic).
- Targeting: knowing who you wish to reach and influence, and given what you know about their needs and interests, what channels will be most effective in reaching them (for instance, Facebook? the evening news, billboards, direct mail, etc.)?
- Positioning: based on what you know about your customers, and what you have to offer, how can you position, or present, what you have to offer in ways that are meaningful to your audience? The goal is not to be the same as your competitors, but to offer something that differs from and is better than what competitors have to offer.
It’s obviously important that your STP decisions are based on accurate knowledge of your target audience and what it values, your competitors and what they offer, and how your products and services stand out in ways that are more meaningful to your audience. Effective STP can help you laser-focus your marketing efforts to get the best results for the least cost.
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Strategic Communications, LLC, works with B2B clients to help them achieve their goals through effective content marketing and management with both internal and external audiences. We work with clients to plan, create, and publish high-quality, unique content. Whether on- or offline, or both, we’ll help you achieve your desired results.
(Strategic Communications is certified as a Woman-Owned Business Enterprise through the Wisconsin Department of Administration.)
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Tags: attracting and retaining customers, Customer Communication, customer segmentation, customer targeting, effective targeting, Marketing, segmentation, STP, Strategy, targeting customers